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Without diversity there’s no inclusion

By Phumudzo Luvhengo, Organisational Effectiveness Executive, Human Capital, Blue Label Telecoms

It’s the year 2025, and profit and non-profit organisations are still grappling with the concept of gender equality being reflected in who they have in their leadership structures.  Observing from the outside it seems like an easy problem to solve; appoint the right people to represent all the demographics.  The truth is that the issue is more complex than just appointing the right people, it’s also how we ensure that we are not only diverse but also inclusive.

I remember coaching a young lady who joined the organisation through a graduate programme, and she said something that changed how I viewed what it means to create an environment that is conducive for women to want to climb the corporate ladder.  In our coaching session for that day, we touched on the subject of growing within that organisation, and the young lady’s response took me by surprise.  She had no intention of growing within that organisation as growth represented her letting go of her values and principles.  She said, “Phumudzo I don’t like golf, I don’t drink alcohol and I certainly don’t want to spend time away from my family attending work social events with bosses just so that they can see my potential.”  

In this team, there was a perception that when you are a leader you do things over and above delivering positive results, and unfortunately, that’s a reality for most organisations. This young lady was identified as a high performer and the organisation wanted to retain her and ensure that her career growth was accelerated; however, the culture within that organisation conflicted with her values.  

Over the years I have watched highly talented women get promoted and within a short period, they would exit the organisation.  And I believe that’s where we have a challenge. The concept of empowering is about ensuring that an individual feels seen, has the right tools, and that the environment is conducive for that individual to thrive.  Often there’s an expectation for women to adapt to how things have always been done.  One of the barriers to creating environments for women to thrive is the misconception of what culture is, most people think culture is a social event.  We often feel like people can’t be in our circle because they don’t enjoy how we interact or do things during our social events.  However real organisational culture is how we interact with each other while driving the delivery of results, it’s how decisions are made and how you make people feel – that’s real culture.  

I want to focus on three things that organisations should be aware of when creating environments that enable and empower women to thrive:

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Challenge existing biases through holistic diversity awareness programs

We all have biases that are shaped by our life experiences.  When these biases are not challenged, they may appear like facts and impact our decision making.  In HR we get to hear many things, some of which are quite shocking –  one manager once said to me “Oh no we can’t put that individual as a potential successor because she is a single mother, and I don’t think she wants to deal with the stress of the role”.  I asked the leader if they had had the conversation with the team member and the answer was, “No”.  Then another manager said “Phumudzo I can’t employ women for this role because they need to pick up kids from school and take days off when kids are sick, and I need someone that I can rely on as this role is critical”.  Even while writing these two instances only an emoji could show how I felt when I heard these statements.

The statements above might seem a bit outrageous and quite unbelievable however if the organisation hasn’t provided adequate awareness regarding some of our biases this will eventually frustrate the organisation’s efforts to have a diverse and inclusive environment where everyone feels they belong.  The reality is that the majority of leadership roles are still held by our male counterparts and if those are the biases that leaders have against women then this is counterproductive to us creating an environment that empowers women to thrive.  Contrary to popular belief, diversity awareness programmes are not meant to make people friends but to understand that we are different, unique, and individuals even within our own ethnic groups.  Good diversity training focuses on the individual rather than the next person, assisting people to identify some of the deep-rooted prejudices that have become socially acceptable and how we have benefited from those prejudices. 

Culture

It’s important that we check the understanding of what our organisational culture entails. We often take it for granted that everyone who is in the organisation knows our culture.  Testing this understanding through an engagement survey is the starting point as it gives you the organisation’s perception of important matters.

The other channels that can be used are exit interviews and leadership surveys.  The exit interviews give us insights into why women might be leaving our organisation. They also give us an opportunity to identify if there are internal barriers that impact women within the organisation.  Whether those barriers are just perceptions or reality, it is important to put together a plan that deals with the root cause of the issue or the perception.  Perceptions are capable of frustrating our efforts to create inclusive work environments so they need to be addressed quickly.   

Leadership surveys helps us to identify areas of development for our leaders.  We need to keep in mind that our leaders are instrumental in shaping the culture of the organisation.  The leadership surveys are meant to drive a conversation that is focused on the development of the employee.

What we accept often becomes the norm.  Ask yourself if your current culture (way of working and interacting) contributes positively towards an environment that empowers women to bring their best to work.  If not, then the organisation is not ready to embrace equality and when you recruit women you will struggle to retain them.

Leadership development initiatives that foster gender equality

I am also guilty of creating leadership development programmes aimed at advancing women in the workplace.  Even though these programmes have their place, I find that they are not helpful when it comes to ensuring that the workplace is responsive to women thriving.  Consider having a mix of men and women when appointing mentors and sponsors for people who are on accelerated leadership development programmes.  This way leadership is not about emulating men in leadership positions, but it gets to be how I need to show up as a leader regardless of gender.  

I believe empowering women to thrive in an organisation goes beyond empowering the recipients but rather ensuring that our work environments are prepared. I also want us to remember that We can only be as inclusive as we are diverse – without diversity, there’s no inclusion!  When the workplace is not diverse it becomes difficult for women to thrive as they are always in the minority.  Let’s be intentional about creating workspaces that are inclusive towards women, not only in junior management roles but in all managerial levels within the organisation.

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