Gender equality is an important factor in business. The success of your business is actually pegged on how well you are able to achieve the important gender balance. Besides merely abiding by the law, having female employees gives your business an edge in many critical areas. As such, your business will be much better if you have more female employees. Check out Rita Okuthe’s Interview On her Leadership Journey At Safaricom
With the many benefits that the business stands to gain with female employees on board, It is not surprising therefore that the private sector in the country has been struggling in many areas because of their ‘overly staffed’ male employees. A Kenya National Bureau of Statistics [KNBS] study found that women represent only about a third of those in employment. The worrying statistics can rightly be blamed on the struggles of start-up, and even established businesses.
To play to the tune of the global Sustainable Development Goal on Gender Equality, the fact that women take up only about 880,000 positions of formal employment compared to the 1.68 million by men needs to change. Businesses need to inject more and more female employees in their workforce.
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Here is why businesses need more female employees
Female employees add more diversity at work. This ranges from decision making, and the devising of sound strategies for the success of the business. This helps bring about different perspectives and challenge the gender stereotypes that contribute to the fall of the business. This will help the business grow sustainably. The collaboration between female employees and male employees will bring about a greater understanding and better functionality of the business. This will help the business coordinate better from its basic selling strategies to the whole idea of profit-making.
2. Create new models of leadership
Female employees also help build new models of leadership. Models that help accommodate more female employees with regards to their male counterparts impart a positive impact on leadership. The decision-making models available for the business will function much better if women are placed at strategic points in the models. For instance, when devising policies that will work for the business, having female employees actively engaged in the process will raise the level of insight and sound problem-solving mechanisms true to the operation of the business.
3. Driving change
Female employees are better at driving change as compared to their male counterparts. Businesses are more hospitable to women. This serves to outline the importance of women in business ventures and why it is important to have them. Women need to be nurtured within the company structure and helped to advance whenever it is possible. Promotions have to be available whenever they become eligible. This will help them rise to the top. Having that time and working alongside supportive colleagues will enable them to become better leaders in the business and drive necessary changes for diversity.
Businesses should consider the differences between males and females to be complementary to each other and not be the matrix for discrimination. This will enable the business to thrive beyond gender lines.
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