OPINION EDITORIAL
Five actions business leaders can take now The tools for change are not new. What is missing is the will to deploy them at scale. Based on current research, five interventions consistently move the needle:
1
2
3
4 5
Set bold, specific targets – not aspirations. Vague commitments to“ increasing diversity” achieve little. Organisations making progress set numerical targets at executive and board level, attach timelines, and hold leaders accountable in performance reviews.
Replace informal mentoring with formal sponsorship. Assign senior leaders – including men – as named sponsors for high-potential women, with explicit accountability for their progression. Make sponsorship outcomes part of leadership performance metrics.
Normalise flexibility for everyone. Flexible work should not be positioned as an accommodation for women. When it is a structural feature of how the organisation operates, available to all employees, the stigma decreases and retention at mid-career improves.
Disaggregate diversity data by race and gender. Reporting on gender alone is insufficient in the South African context. Boards need to see where black women specifically sit in the talent pipeline and what barriers they face at each level.
Audit and publish pay equity. The 2023 Employment Equity Amendment Act has opened the door. Walk through it. Organisations that conduct regular pay audits, publish the findings, and commit to remediation signal that equal titles come with equal value.
38 sabusinessintegrator. co. za