Building a More Gender Inclusive Environment - Focus on Culture and Policies

Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen, my name is Dupe Olusola. I am neither a Feminist nor a Masculinist; I am an Equal Opportunist.

I am honoured to participate in this programme as a keynote speaker. I would like to express my appreciation to the organisers and in particular, the leadership of PwC Nigeria for continuing the dialogue and encouraging a more gender-inclusive institutional culture.

What really makes a gender-inclusive environment?

A truly inclusive environment is one in which every person, regardless of their gender identity, feels supported and respected. In addition to this sense of belonging, a culture focused on gender inclusion has the power to elevate previously unheard voices and value diverse experiences, fostering an environment of authentic respect and trust. This type of environment not only attracts more diverse applicants; it has all of the structural supports in place to set them up for success.

To understand the power of a gender-inclusive environment, we must first discuss the effect of gender disparity on our society as a whole. Gender disparity is a deeply rooted systemic issue and therefore requires some work at the foundational level.

When I first received the topic for this speech, I thought hard about how to start and I knew it would be impossible to approach such a subject of a gender-inclusive environment without some emphasis at the beginning - at this foundational level – without addressing the foundation of culture and upbringing.

Let’s do a quick survey

If you are female and hold a leadership position, chances are, like me you have been called all sorts of names: Bossy, Aggressive, Feisty, Stubborn, Hard Headed.

If you are single, you’ll be told you will never find a man to marry, if you are married, they will say they feel sorry for your husband…..

When I fought for more, I was called….STUBBORN & UNGRATEFUL

When I spoke up, sometimes I was called DISRESPECTFUL,

And in my younger days, I was called MARGARET THATCHER by domestic staff and other family members When I stood up for what I believed in

It's not the same story for our male counterparts. Men are rather applauded for exhibiting the same traits – they are called Go-Getters, Natural Leaders, Self Driven, focused, determined, tenacious, assertive

So starting at the foundation means - as parents, aunties, uncles and adults should be careful what you tell your girls and indeed what you tell the boys because gender inclusiveness is not just about the female.

It starts with what we teach them, the confidence we instil in them and empower them with. Boys and girls should be given the same opportunities based on their interests

CHANGING THE NARRATIVE STARTS FROM HERE!

Let’s look at the data, the numbers and the wider impact

Women account for more than 50% of Africa’s combined population, but in 2018 generated only 33% of the continent’s collective GDP.

At the current rate of progress, it would take Africa more than 140 years to reach gender parity.

Across Africa, the only indicators on which there has been progress in aggregate- are legal protection and political representation. All other indicators have stayed the same or even regressed in some countries.

According to a McKinsey report, even though some African countries have made tremendous progress driving towards gender parity in some areas, gender inequality remains high across the continent.

McKinsey goes further to say on MGI’s Gender Parity Score- a measure of progress toward equality- Africa scores 0.58 in 2019, indicating high gender inequality across the 15 GPS indicators of gender equality in work and society.

As for Nigeria, where the gender bias is not only keeping women down but also restraining the country from nearing its massive potential, McKinsey opines that Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) could grow by 23% – or $229bn – by 2025 if women participated in the economy to the same extent as men. Imagine the possibilities!

But it's not all bad news. Without a doubt, there are pockets of good news but these tend to be success stories for women at the top of the pyramid and not for the millions of ordinary women working hard to make ends meet with the little or no resources they have to work with.

Global Successes

An Example of a Gender-inclusive environment

It would interest you to know that General Motors, a Fortune-500 company, a world-renowned company that has produced some of the world’s so-called masculine cars: Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC and the likes is headed by women.

has more women on its board of directors than men, at a ratio 6 to 5. In fact, the chair of the company, Mary Barra, is a woman.

Other Fortune 500 companies with gender-inclusive leadership are Bed, Bath & Beyond, Casey’s General Stores, Viacom, CBS, and Omnicom Group. These companies have at least 40% of women leadership and are doing very well with their books.

Just last week, Unilever announced that at least 50% of its management roles globally are occupied by women – a year ahead of its goal to achieve gender balance across the management.

This went up from 38% in 2010. It also has a non-executive board made up of 45% women. How did they tackle the management gender gap?

They did this simply by progressing Recruitment into departments like operations and technology, finance and supply chain which previously were majorly male-dominated with competent women. They also introduced gender-balanced interview requirements, as well as a "gender appointment ratio", which measures the track records of senior leaders in appointing women.

Let’s bring it home a bit. (WIMBIZ), “Nigeria has one of the lowest percentages of women sitting on Boards of Public Quoted Companies and State-owned Enterprises.”

At United Bank for Africa — our Chairman joined other select global leaders at President Macron's Tech for Good conference last year to co-sign a diversity pact aimed at increasing participation of women in leadership and technology by 2022.

In my current role, overseeing 20 African countries and UK, US and France – I have at least 16 females heads that report to me across these countries with different ethnicity and culture and mindset.

Across the group, 31% of our senior/executive management positions are held by women, with nearly 30% female representation on the boards within the UBA Group – we have female regional CEOs, and some critical functions are female-led –

Truly we appoint on merit – and merit alone. Last September, we announced the appointment of four new directors at UBA, two of which – by no coincidence — were women, bringing the total female representation on our Board to 30%.

At the Tony Elumelu Foundation, we currently have 50% female representation on the board, and a remarkable 100% representation in our Senior Management. In our flagship Entrepreneurship Programme, we have seen a dramatic increase in the applications from women-run businesses, from 25% in 2015 to 42% in 2019.

It Is not enough to fight for gender equality and it is not enough to get a token seat at the table. A seat must mean a voice.

That is where we come in and must play our part

Our part in Gender equity and inclusiveness

It was 10a.m on Sunday morning. I was getting ready to attend church with my family. After church, I had other plans. Nothing fancy just plans to chill with the family, watch a movie or two, cuddle with the husband while I stuffed my face with great food. It was going to be a day of blissfully doing nothing. Then the call came in. My boss, the Chairman of United Bank for Africa, Tony Elumelu, wanted me at a meeting in Abidjan and from there we would be off to Zimbabwe all within two hours! I was flummoxed. My first thought was to reel off how this was very impromptu and inconvenient and to mention all of my plans for the day. My second thought though was “What would a man do? When duty calls, what would a man do? Pack up immediately and move, that’s what.

I decided to do just that.

I have a very supportive husband and a great family structure so it was a pretty easy decision to make but most importantly, it was imperative for me to walk the talk of gender equity.

Before joining United Bank for Africa, I was CEO of Teragro, the first juice processing plant in Nigeria. When I was appointed, the business was more or less a failing one and it was located all the way in Makurdi! It meant that I would have to fly to Abuja and then do 4-5 hours on the road to get to the office every weekend. Note that I hated road travel and didn’t like flying either so it felt like I was set up to fail from the start. I had two options; I could say no to the appointment and stay in my comfort zone or I could suck it up, show up and make things work.

I showed up. For over two years, I did the journey every weekend and was rewarded with the success of the business. We were the first to sell the concentrates used to make Pulpy to Coca-Cola. It was a big deal for me and for the organization.

As a woman trying to fight for fairness on all levels, I have chosen to sacrifice and work just as hard as anyone else to keep the seat I have earned at the table. This must be the attitude of every single one of us. We cannot scream “equality” at every turn and then choose when to show up or what to deliver.

Last week Erika James was named the 1st women and 1st person of colour to serve as Dean at Wharton…on assumption, she said Frankly, I believe my gender is the least of what I have to offer. Because I am a woman, I bring a perspective on decision-making and how I engage in the community

How can we change the narrative and achieve gender parity?

• Changing the narrative of women in leadership and closing the gender gap starts with our mindset. We need to stop putting one gender against the other but advocate for a diverse culture where men and women have equal opportunities. There should be a greater focus on the entire organisation’s intellectual capacity, drawing on different types of thinking styles from both men and women to drive overall performance.
• Make gender-balance a business imperative- Don’t treat inclusion as the latest fashion trend for organizations or a box to be ticked. Change policies and structures to empower women to compete equally.
• Challenge stereotypes and bias. We should be more conscious in our language, thoughts and actions. Forge visibility for women, call out gendered assumptions and actions and maintain a gender-equal world.
• Bring men into the conversation. We need to recognize that this is everyone’s issue and by bringing men into the conversation, we create a unified voice. By keeping men and women in separate conversations regarding gender-balance, we create an isolation factor. Initiatives that address gender-balance need to be gender-balanced.

Gender-equality calls for disruption of deep-rooted mindsets, cultures and practices, we need to keep advocating for it.

We must;

Educate the people. People need to see that inclusive behaviour is a core competency and they must be held accountable for results. This is why educating people is imperative to drive the culture of inclusivity. People do better when they know better so the onus lies on the management to educate the people in order to achieve a more gender-inclusive environment.

Create an inclusion council: There may be a need to actually create a team of people who will roll up their sleeves and get the work done. This team needs to be as diverse as possible as they act as a middle man and advocate for inclusiveness.

Celebrate people’s differences: There must be an invite for people to share their respective backgrounds and traditions in the environment where inclusion wants to be encouraged. This way, everyone feels welcome and appreciated and there is little or no discrimination against diversity that has been recognized and celebrated.

Listen to the people: It takes a lot to listen. A gender-inclusive environment is intentional about listening and also doing whatever it takes to implement suggestions, ideas and framework to drive inclusivity.

Communicate goals and measure progress: What are the inclusion goals? Why these goals? How will these goals impact the mission, brand or bottom line of the organization?

Review existing policies that may not support gender inclusiveness: The world is a constantly changing global village. We must change with the times. This involves reviewing and reworking policies that may be harmful to the culture of gender inclusivity.

Involving the Youths: With 65% of Africa’s population being under the age of 30, it is imperative that we involve the younger generation in the campaign as the youths are the most innovative, best-educated and the coolest generation who want to and are changing the landscape in Africa - economically, politically, demographically and culturally. We must involve the youths at every point of this movement. They are the present and the future.

All that we need in Africa’s most populous country now, is a society that is more supportive and less discriminatory in how it treats and caters to our wellbeing, goals and aspirations. And it would take a sustained focus and commitment from both the public and private sectors, men and women with understanding and the young and old of the society to bring that about.

In conclusion, while we can cry daily for equality and equity amongst genders, it is important to note that even women do not support and celebrate women enough.

I have been privy to diverse situations where a woman would rather put another woman under the bus than stand up for her. We have a hashtag for this movement. We are quick to type #womensupportingwomen as a caption to pictures taken with other women but are we really doing this in real life?

A house divided against itself cannot stand. There is no competition, only growth and development. The next time you see another woman winning, remember that a win for one woman is a win for all women!