Although gender diversity has been a hot topic in the workplace and a corporate priority for many years, women participation in the labour market has not significantly increased. The same can also be said about women inclusion in formal economic activities.  In Zimbabwe, a study   entitled Gender Access to Financial Services in Zimbabwe was commissioned by an organisation called New Faces New Voices which is a Pan African advocacy network together with the Central Bank and GIZ substantiated the sentiments above. The main objective of the study was to provide an in-depth analysis that would support the formulation of policies and private sector strategies to expand the role and participation of women in the financial services sector. Empirically, a growing number  of countries are adopting  measures  to increase  women ‘s representation  on corporate Boards and  in senior  executive roles, however, the  progress  has been  slow. In Zimbabwe, we now have  a National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS)  running from 2016-2020  that  came after  the realisation of the  above  and the need to achieving  gender parity  in leadership  roles in the economy. Additionally, research has also shown that there is a strong economic rationale for making progress on women representation in the corporate domain.

It’s clear that the stage has been set and it is now time for the business leadership to start implementing such best practices in organisations. The question to us leaders is: what are we doing in our various corporate worlds to make sure women inclusion as a means to the desired end is mainstreamed in all organisational policies, practices and systems.  While a lot seems to be happening globally and specifically in the Financial sector in Zimbabwe, what have the other sectors done to demonstrate their conviction on the need to increase the women representation on corporate Boards and senior Executive roles?

In order that organisations do not continually lag behind and miss that turning point to change, we recommend that corporates should individually start critically analysing those economic and social drivers around women inclusion that increase shareholders returns. There are propositions around gender staffing as some of the means to the end. However, as leaders we also need to note that such policies and practices can only yield the desired results if there is the supporting infrastructure like an organisational culture of inclusion. We recommend that the HR functions should start identifying those underlying models of the company’s way of doing business that focuses on women as the drivers to real change. Organisations should start analysing how many female vis a vis male employees are in their staff compliments. Finally, for this inclusion agenda to succeed   there is need for   shared values.

Leaders should bear in mind that organisational culture of inclusion will encompass more than having policies but actual processes and governance systems that provide and implement this diversity. Again, it is  that time  for our  organisational HR policies and practices to practically start  promoting  this  gender  equality  at different  levels in the organisation including  means  to moving into  managerial positions by women. Globally, organisations working towards this drive are already implementing the supporting interventions although the lead has been mostly in the Developmental and Financial sectors. 

It’s now topical that every sector of the economy must work on challenging social norms, attitudes, beliefs and behaviours that perpetuate gender inequalities. Overview, however, is that there is no panacea to this women inclusion agenda. Each  organisation  therefore needs  to  develop its  internal gender  inclusive  policies  particularly  those that enhance staff  performance or  enable the opening of  new business markets. Such gender inclusive organisational policies should be built into the specific gender needs and objectives of your organisations.

In conclusion, the wide  range of  research available regarding  the business  case for  gender  inclusion  is  indicative of the growing  acceptance of diversity as a core ingredient  to build sustainable , global  and profitable  organisations. However, the steps, tools and expertise required to achieve gender inclusion are not always defined hence it is critical for leaders in organisations to develop their own value chain actors. Alongside, develop gender inclusion strategies that will help female Managers to serve that untapped market of female consumer markets so as to enable the development of company products specific to women needs. Where possible nominate gender champions to drive the process. Research has also underscored the need for business to translate gender inclusion concept into action by designing and piloting strategies and operations in order to build tailored approaches to generate inclusivity for business across industries and sectors. 

Emmanuel Jinda is the Managing Consultant of PROSERVE Consulting Group, a leading supplier of Professional Human Resources and Management services locally, regionally and internationally. He can be contacted at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Tel: 263 773004143 or 263 4 772778 or visit our website at www.proservehr.com