Taking gender equality in workplace to next level

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulation to get 40 per cent of women to top management positions in banks is yet to be realised. The gender equality gap is also seen in manufacturing, telecom, insurance sectors. Access Bank Plc has hosted the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBP) gender empowerment session in Lagos where the bank’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe and other stakeholders spoke on why more women should be at top management positions of banks and other sectors of the economy, reports COLLINS NWEZE.

IT is no longer in doubt that women control a large portion of global wealth. From oil and gas, banking and fashion to agriculture and education, women have proven their mettle in the business world.

Notwithstanding the fact that women-led businesses constitute a large part of banks’ balance sheets and stream of income, big corporations in banking, telecom and even insurance sectors are not giving women their rightful place in board positions. This runs contrary to the Nigerian Sustainable Banking Principles (NSBP) which requires that companies promote gender equality in workplace.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has continued to review banks’ compliance with its regulatory directive that lenders give 40 per cent of top management positions to women in line with the NSBP guidelines.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele has promised to support any bank that implement the NSBP guidlines to give women their rightful positions in the workplace.

According to industry statistics, women occupies only 22 per cent of the top positions in banks. The data are worse in other sectors.

Already, there is a sense of agreement that women on boards should be increased for economic growth sustainability. The banking sector made commitment to increase the critical mass of women in decision-making process, 40 per cent of top management positions and 30 per cent of board positions should be filled by women as far back as 2014.

Even in the United States (U.S.), there are problems with women being represented on the boards of corporations. Even European Union (EU) has made it compulsory, but there are structural impediments to getting women into corporate leadership positions.

The CBN has taken proactive steps and concrete actions to promote gender equality and women economic empowerment.

To support the NSBP project, Access Bank Plc hosted the NSBP gender empowerment session in Lagos. Speaking at the event, the bank’s Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Herbert Wigwe, said the NSBP has come a long way but regretted that many institutions are not implementing it.

He said that women remain one of the best work-forces and always make great impact in establishments.

Wigwe said: “I have worked with both men and women, but women bosses do better than men. For instance, the Chairman of Access Bank has helped drive transformation in the bank. The NSBP is about giving women their rightful place in the workplace.

“We need to place women where they should be. Women have more responsibility than men. We want other sectors like manufacturing, telecom among others to embrace gender equality in work-place”.

According to the Access Bank chief, women must be economically empowered.

He said that without first addressing social concerns such as gender disparity and women empowerment, economic and environmental goals and overall sustainable development will be difficult to achieve.

Wigwe explained that just like in every part of the country, there are qualified people to fill any position, it also follows that for companies also, there are qualified women to fill any kind of position.

“The NSBP has come a long way but there are many institutions that have not adhered to the level of compliance desired. It is about giving women their rightful place. We need to place women where they should be,” he said.

The CBN said that since the launch of the sustainability banking principles and accompanying guidelines, it has developed, exposed and approved a reporting template to enable it measure performance on sustainability issues by the industry to show commitment and be transparent.

Besides, new research sheds light on a side of women’s entrepreneurship that is not yet fully understood which is that firms started, owned and ran by women are less likely to trade internationally than those owned by men.

However, the World Bank is already giving this issue a lot of attention, which may spur further actions to close the gap.

Continuing, Wigwe said the “NSBP has come a long way from where we started from five years ago. But there are still several institutions that have not attained the level of compliance that we would expect particularly as it pertains to gender equality.

“When we talk about gender equality, my sense is not about having an equal number of men to women, but it is about giving women their rightful place. There are just as many great women and competent women to put in any position as men.

He added that these disparities occur across the entire world and some of us who have been great champions for gender equality for several years before the banking sustainability principle started.

“The fact that you have more and more of our colleagues join us we can place women where they truly should be for me is something that would extremely gladden me.

“From a professional standpoint, for a gender that we know is as good as the other, we must accommodate them for several things which they do and which we don’t have.

“So, the female professional who takes time off to have children why must they have a separate pay when they are responsible for creating the next generation anyway so why can’t institutions start to think of ways to support the female gender.”

“Today’s deliberation is about strengthening it as far as financial institutions are concerned but I would urge us to take it to a different level. Let us get people in manufacturing and other fields to basically embrace what is good for the entire world which is about gender equality.

Speaking at the NSBP conference, CBN Director, Capacity Building, Mrs. Chizoba Mojekwu, said that regulation on gender equality in workplace was not working.

Mrs. Mojekwu, who spoke on the theme: “Gender balanced leadership: How to create inclusive cultures that drive innovation” said the CBN’s regulation on getting more women to top positions in banks has not worked well. She said that women in top position needed to support the younger generation in the workplace.

Continuing, she said that women equality in the workplace will help in growing the economy.

Speaking further, she said that women needed to be promoted in banks to enable them climb higher in the management ladder. She said that government support is also needed to ensure that women are given their rightful places in the workplace.

“Banks need to help in achieving sustainable banking banking practices by reviewing their goals and seeing where they are not meeting the target.

“We need to stand in the shoes of women. Many women are sexually harassed in the work-place and not much is done to punish the perpetrators. We may never get 50/50 women/men representation in the workplace but we need to measure the progress we are making. No one thinks about hiring blind women. The workplace environment was designed to get the men to the top.

“Organisations are still largely patriarchal, and regulations do not work. That is what we know because if regulations were working, there is a regulation of a minimum of 30 per cent on a board. Why is it not happening in some organisations?

“So, my view is that we are dealing with a major transformational issue more than a technical challenge and that is an adaptive challenge.”

She also added: “We should also talk about hiring blind people and people with auditory and physically challenged, so it is important we drive conversations that are holding women back in organisations.”

FirstBank Chairperson, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, said that both men and women talents are needed to drive the organisation to the desired position. “The unit of the society is the family and the family problem becomes part of the company’s problem. Women think differently from men, and the companies needs both men and women to thrive.

She pointed out that: “It is about firstly understanding and educating the populace, educating the workforce and educating the leaders in the different environment. And then being deliberate in creating an enabling environment not just talk but in real terms.

“For girls, who have babies, they want to work but if they can’t solve the problems of their babies, you have already distracted them. So, for companies that create crèche, that helps. It is about having a better understanding of the life and things that influence the ability of each gender to deliver and creating an environment to support that.”

Women empowerment

Access Bank Plc has also organised “Power breakfast with W”, where Wigwe met with leading women entrepreneurs for a feedback on the lender’s services. He promised to ensure that women-led businesses not only get credit, but also learn how to build sustainable businesses that can be passed to the next generation.

During a breakfast meeting which was held at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos, attended by women entrepreneurs, Wigwe said the lender would continue to support women-led businesses in funding, training, and provision of tailor-made banking services.

The bank chief also disclosed that lending to women presented little or no risks to his bank as they have over the years paid back their loans.

Wigwe said the lender has not recorded any bad loan from the several loans it granted to women-owned businesses, adding that the bank started the ‘W’ Initiative to empower women and women-owned businesses to succeed.

He said: “When women are involved, things get better. The ‘W’ Initiative is to empower and inspire women. We do not even have one per cent bad loans for supporting women. We are committed to ensuring that women succeed in their businesses”.

He said the meeting was to enable the lender listen to the women and identify their business needs to meet them.

Wigwe also discussed financial literacy for women, training and workshops for start-ups, business succession plan and business sustainability.

He said: “Allow your children to pursue their passion. There is no guaranty that your children will be interested in your line of business. All you need is to train them to succeed in their areas of passion.”