Since August is Women’s Month, it feels timely to explore a topic that is close to my heart: the representation of black women in leadership in South Africa. Are we truly making progress, or are we celebrating a lone female leader’s elevation only to see her replaced by a man a few months later? What concrete steps can we take to ensure that more black women ascend to leadership positions, and perhaps one day, see a woman become our president?
Equal representation of women in senior management and executive positions has long been a focal point within the corporate sector. For years, we’ve recognised that the key to closing the gender pay gap is achieving gender parity in leadership roles. However, recent findings from PwC South Africa’s 2022 Executive Directors Report reveal that, since January 2020, little progress has been made in balancing gender representation in senior positions at top JSE-listed companies.
As Leila Ebrahimi, PwC South Africa’s People and Organisation Reward Co-Lead, rightly points out, “We are all familiar with the setbacks COVID-19 posed to the equality agenda, but the world is normalising to a point where it is no longer appropriate to look for reasons why inequality persists.” To truly gauge whether we are addressing female representation appropriately, PwC analysed new hires into vacant executive roles in JSE-listed companies over the past year to assess the gender ratio of these appointments.
As of June 2022, only seven of the JSE Top 100 companies were led by female CEOs, reflecting a mere 5% representation across all listed companies in 2021. The proportion of female CFOs stood at 19%, up slightly from 17% the previous year. Across all JSE-listed companies, women make up just 15% of the entire executive population, a marginal increase from 13% last year.
This ongoing underrepresentation led us to scrutinise the recent appointments to vacant roles, where there is clear potential for improvement. Between January 2020 and June 2022, there were 208 new executive appointments across the JSE, of which only 53 (25%) were women. In the JSE Top 100, 77 new executive positions were filled, with women occupying 21 (26%) of these roles. The JSE Top 40 saw 33 new executive appointments, with women representing 30%.
The report also sheds light on the fierce competition for skilled female talent, highlighting how companies struggle to retain their key female employees amid a bidding war for their skills. As Ebrahimi notes, “In cases where the internal pipeline is lacking, women who have successfully ‘made it’ in other companies become targets for poaching. Without widespread, appropriate succession planning, the problem will prevail, particularly in the context of a wider skills gap and executive talent shortage.”
To drive and accelerate change, the report outlines several key strategies. Successful succession planning is crucial, involving more than just identifying potential candidates; companies must actively seek to fill executive committee and senior management roles with skilled individuals from designated groups. Developing an understanding of organisational culture is also vital, ensuring that companies listen to and engage with female employees to comprehend their perceptions and experiences.
Creating a supportive policy framework is another critical step. This involves developing clear, well-formulated policies that are evaluated with diversity and inclusion objectives in mind. Additionally, accelerating the change process through setting KPIs, mentorship, and skills transfer from existing leaders to female successors is essential.
As Makhosazana Mabaso, PwC South Africa’s People and Organisation Reward Partner, emphasises, “While we have observed that some progress has been made with increasing the number of female appointments to executive positions, companies also need to focus on how to retain female talent for longer periods.” On average, female leaders remain in their roles for one to five years, compared to males who often stay for three to eight years.
To retain female talent over the long term, employers must implement effective succession plans to develop a robust pipeline of female leaders. They should also ensure that women, particularly those identified as future successors, are given opportunities to grow within their roles and areas of expertise.
In the coming months, we will delve deeper into topics such as ‘Striking the Grand Bargain,’ which explores how to build trust and retain employees. This is a crucial aspect of building the necessary pipeline to achieve gender equality at senior levels. We will also examine the evolving Environmental Social Governance (ESG) landscape, both locally and globally, and how ESG is increasingly linked to executive pay structures. Additionally, we will provide tips on becoming a fair and equitable employer to ensure a fair approach to remuneration at every level of an organisation.
As we celebrate Women’s Month, let us not only acknowledge the progress made but also critically assess where we need to improve. By committing to these changes, we can pave the way for a future where black women are not just participants but leaders at the highest levels, potentially even as the President of South Africa.