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…As stakeholders call for gender equity in all fronts
By Henry Uche
Corporate and public governance professionals have been charged to follow laid down principles and procedures in their workplaces for economic growth and development.
Speaking on the ‘Role of Governance Professionals as a Springboard for Economic Growth’ during the 47th Annual Conference of Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), the Executive Director- Human Resources & Corporate Services Totalenergies Marketing Nigeria Plc, Mrs. Bunmi Popoola-Mordi, listed transparency & accountability, ethics, risk Management, effective decision making and complying with regulations as the Roles of Corporate and public Governance Professionals.
“Corporate governance professionals play a vital role in promoting economic growth by ensuring transparency, accountability, good decision-making, and risk mitigation, as they help businesses to succeed and contribute to the overall growth of economies.
“Governance ensures efficient resource allocation, fosters investor confidence and promotes sustainable growth. Similarly, in corporate environment, good corporate governance ensures that the best interests of all stakeholders are considered and safeguarded by the management.
“It helps companies deliver long-term corporate success and economic growth, promotes and maintains stakeholders relationship, helps companies to raise capital efficiently, makes them more resilient and improves their reputation” she maintained.
In an address, the President/Chairman Of Council of ICSAN, Mrs. Funmi Ekundayo, assured that the Institute would continue to promoted the ideals of corporate and public governance.
Speaking on the theme, “Sound Governance as cursor to a thriving economy: A case for Inclusiveness” ICSAN president stressed that since sound governance is a forerunner of a thriving economy, ‘Inclusiveness must be prioritized as an instrument of all-encompassing economic progress and long-term development.
“The benefits of engendering gender equity, inclusiveness and diversity management in all fronts are enormous for corporate organizations and the country to prosper” she posited.
Speaking on Gender Equity: Leveraging on Diversity for unlocking Corporate Success, the Vice chancellor, Afe Babalola University, professor Elisabeta Smaranda Olarinde, asseverated that the world would only be a better place when a fair and equal opportunity for everyone to thrive are created, as inclusion and diversity are major sources of powerful multipliers of resources.
According to her, time has come to allow gender equity and leveraging on diversity of both gender to unlock innovation, integration and progress in humanity, hence the need for everyone to be an advocate and enforcer of gender equity at all times.
She noted that despite challenges faced, organizations should Inculcate ‘Gender Equity’, reason been that- gender equity helps in leveraging on the vast qualified population of women, enhances better decision making, increases financial performance, promotes increased innovation and results in strong employer and organization brand.
“By shutting women out, a large potential workforce is being excluded and that is a large chunk of human capital that can be leveraged upon. Generally, women bring stability, balance, reason, compassion and care to the table which are enviable qualities.
“By considering diverse opinions, perspectives, experiences a gender diverse team will be able to consider broader possibilities and come up with more innovative and effective resolutions or decisions. It encourages collaboration, trust and psychological safety which are important for creating better conditions for better decision making.
“Gender equity increases the financial performance of an organisation. Studies have shown that organisations with diverse executive boards outperforms their peers as it enables having diverse skill sets, experiences, perspectives, innovation, and risk management on board”
She added that Gender Equity allows the diverse population including women to participate in innovation through generation of groundbreaking ideas; moreover, the society, customers, clients and the world generally favour gender equity as a fundamental principle of sustainability and growth.
“It is essential that our organisations and companies are not left behind in this. Customers, investors, financiers, collaborators, clients and governments want to work with an organisation that is fair, gender sensitive and gives fair playing grounds to both men and women alike.
“There has been increasing demands for corporate bodies- profits or non-profits, to increase diversity and encourage gender equity, as part of Social Justice. An organisation that engenders gender equity will be making significant contributions to ensuring a just society.
“An organisation that prioritises gender equity is dismantling social barriers that have hampered or disadvantaged women over the years and will be a champion of gender diversity and equity. It also increases the social ranking of such organisation and makes it attractive to the society and stakeholders.
“Gender equity fosters a strong employer and organization brand which makes a corporate body that inculcates this a choice employer in the competitive job marketplace. Employees in such an environment feel valued, supported, heard, appreciated and considered thereby making it possible for the company to attract top talents in the industry.
“Ultimately, this will increase employees satisfaction and retention, hence; human capital is the most important factor. Low pay is not the only reason workers leave, they could leave if they consider themselves disrespected, not valued or have limited opportunities or feel discriminated against. Gender equity gives the workers a sense of belonging”
To achieve this, she urged corporate leaders to establish a culture that encourages gender equity, design Pro- gender equity policies engenders active participation, consider gender equity in hiring process, and create a conducive work environment conducive for both gender including respecting their privacy and boundaries.
“It is important to inculcate Gender Equity as part of the values, goals and visions of the organisation. This will broaden the talent pool. Women should be encouraged to apply for specific positions and, if possible, create a percentage for women in employment ratio.
“We can have a blind recruitment process where gender is not mentioned, pictures or anything that can create bias in the mind of the recruiters is not mentioned. Performance evaluation of employees must also be fair and not skewed to favour one gender over the other.
“Professional development and training opportunities must be given to both gender through a fair process as well. Organisation must have parameters to measure and evaluate performance in the promotion of Gender Equity such as ratio of male to female staff, retention rate, feedbacks from staff through surveys.
She said “this evaluation should be carried out from time to time and improvements made based on outcomes or feedbacks received. This will reveal what areas the company is excelling at, and aspects that need improvement. It entails treating everyone according to their unique needs and challenges.
“It considers this in creating a level playing field for everyone, by ensuring fairness and equal chance of succeeding irrespective of gender. It is an essential component and ingredient for achieving success in our organisations.
“It is not a mere metric of growth but an asset; hence, an advantage and not a burden. let us have the right mindset and attitude and take necessary steps to leverage on gender equity for the success of our organisations” she urged.
Meanwhile, panelists urged women to improve themselves in knowledge that would stand them out from the crowd. “When you have something to offer, nobody would relegate or sideline you. It’s your capabilities and skills that goes ahead of you. Many corporate organizations are headed by women because the Board focused on competency not gender, any organization that pay attention to sentiments in decision-making does that its peril” hey maintained.
