Lohini Moodley, a partner at McKinsey & Company’s Johannesburg office, discusses gender diversity with Business Report...
Q: You have done some research on women in leadership in Africa: what did you learn from this?
A: There were many interesting findings, but probably the most important is that gender diversity makes sense. As in other parts of the world, we established a link between diversity and financial performance. Assessing the performance of publicly traded African companies across eight industries, we found companies with a higher proportion of women on the board of directors perform better on average in terms of earnings before interest and tax (Ebit) margin relative to the relevant industry average.
The same was true for companies with a higher proportion of women on their executive committees. Top quartile companies (with 33 percent or more women on their executives committees) were 4.7 times more likely to significantly outperform industry average Ebit margin (by 40 percent of more) than companies in the bottom quartile (with 1 percent or lower share of women on their executive committees).
However, the majority of companies do not identify gender diversity as a top strategic priority. Of the companies surveyed, only 31 percent thought gender diversity was top priority for their chief executive, while 38 percent said the topic was of little or no importance.
Q: How does Africa compare with other regions of the world?
A: On average the representation of women in Africa compares well. However, it is worth noting that no region is even close to achieving gender parity. Africa ties with the US as the top global performer in terms of female representation among chief executives. At the senior executive level Africa is the second top performer with 23 percent female representation, 3 percentage points behind the EU.
Q: What are the most persistent barriers women face when it comes to progressing their career?
A: Interviews with senior women leaders surface “limiting attitudes towards women” in the workplace (gender biases underpinned by a belief that women are less capable then men) and the “double burden syndrome” (the juggling act of balancing work and domestic responsibilities) as the biggest challenges facing women. Interestingly, compared with the women leaders, companies responding to our survey placed a lower importance on “limiting attitudes to women” as a barrier to women’s success and even fewer are taking steps to address this.
This may partly explain women do not progress at the same rate as men in African companies. While women represented 47 percent of the workforce for non-managerial positions in the companies surveyed, they only represented 29 percent at senior management levels.
Q: Are there any quick fixes the could be applied to addressing this long-term problem?
A: Not really, but certainly more chief executives taking on gender diversity as a strategic priority and setting company targets for women representation help.
Q: What will be your priority at the WEF on Africa for advancing the women in leadership agenda?
A: Talking about the business case for gender diversity in Africa and the barriers that need to be addressed.
* Lohini Moodley is a partner at McKinsey & Company’s Johannesburg office.
BUSINESS REPORT