NTICS Notes > Women taking management and leadership positions in companies

Women taking management and leadership positions in companies

The lack of gender equality still directly impacts challenges faced by women in the corporate world. Understand how to implement actions focused on diversity in your company.

The lack of gender equality still directly impacts challenges faced by women in the corporate world. Understand how to implement actions focused on diversity in your company.

Themes such as diversity and inclusion are being increasingly discussed within companies, since society has historically understood the importance of plurality. However, women still suffer from remnants of historical and cultural concepts and do not occupy the same proportion as men in leadership positions. Much of this is due to the prejudice of a society with patriarchal remnants.

Have you stopped to reflect on how many women you know that are in management positions? Do any of them manage an area focused on technology, or economics? The answer probably must have been: “few women in management positions and those I know are highly qualified”.

This is not due to lack of capacity, but to opportunities and valuing diversity. According to the panorama woman survey, among 415 companies with the position of president, only 13% declared to be occupied by a woman. On the other hand, according to the report of the International Labor Organization (ILO), of the United Nations (UN), carried out in 70 countries, having women in leadership positions is one of the factors that contributes to a higher performance and profitability in companies. The study shows that 75% of the companies that chose women for management positions showed a 5 to 20% increase in profits.

Caliper, a North American human resources consultancy, also conducted a survey showing more persuasive behavior and risk-taking by the team coming from women leaders. The study shows a more empathic, flexible posture and with interpersonal communication skills compared to the positioning of male leaders.

Despite all these data and studies, the inequality rates in the business market continue to increase. It is still unusual and often even celebrated when we see women representing companies.

INITIATIVES ALREADY IMPLEMENTED AND REFERENCE WOMEN

UN Movement “Equity is a Priority”

 “Equity is a priority” is a movement idealized by the UN that establishes clear goals for companies that are part of the Global Compact Brazil Network to increase the number of women in senior leadership positions. Through three main pillars with the commitment and awareness letter, training and mentoring and advocacy program participants deepen in the implementation of the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) and strengthen the business’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals, especially the goal 5.5 of the 2030 Agenda, which requires full participation and equal opportunities in leadership, including in economic life, until 2030.

Women references of the Climate Movement

In 2020, an article was published by the Green Biz portal that brings 25 women in leadership and management positions who are being world references in the climate movement (SDG 13 – Action against global climate change).

Bill Gates and Melinda Gates Foundation

Melinda Gates, co-founder of the world’s largest private foundation, announced this year that combating climate change and promoting gender equality are two issues that are very present in their new philanthropy project. The goal is to work on technologies to reduce carbon emissions, helping mainly vulnerable populations as subsistence farmers to adapt to climate change. Melinda identified the urgent need of women in leadership positions in governments, finance, technology and health, stressing the importance of addressing barriers faced by them throughout the workday.

HOW TO CHANGE YOUR COMPANY’S REALITY?

The first step is efforts to break paradigms by promoting actions to value diversity (whether gender or otherwise) internally and externally, leaving some legacy for the community in which the company operates. Inclusion must become part of the company’s culture, leaving behind archaic concepts and looking at the entire chain in which it is inserted.

Generating opportunities not only for women, but also for the community, becomes synonymous of increasing the creative potential according to studies presented in this article providing greater performance and profitability.

Development Goal 10 talks about reducing inequality and has as one of the main objective until 2030, to empower and promote social, economic and political inclusion for all, regardless of age, sex, disability, race, ethnicity, origin, religion or economic condition. Investing in projects for the community that focus on activities that work towards the fulfillment of this SDG and implement social responsibility policies within the company consequently align the institution to a greater purpose providing better financial results and other benefits.

HOW DOES NTICS PROJECTS ENGAGE WITH DIVERSITY?

NTICS Projects, as a UN signatory company, engages with diversity in different ways. About 80% of the management positions in each department of the company are held by women, being these: Marketing, Financial, Innovation and New Business and the CEO of the company joining the UN movement “Equity is a Priority” and also for believing in a more systemic view present in women leaders. 

NTICS Projects is also a supporter of “Refúgio 343”, a humanitarian organization dedicated to rescuing refugee Venezuelan families in Brazil, through the process of internalization. Through the strategy of internalizing displacement planned for other Brazilian states, “Refúgio 343’s” mission is to promote the socio economic reintegration of these families in the national territory. NTICS Projects has the compromise of annually offering a job opportunity for a foreigner from the refuge.

One of our projects, the P.E.D – Education and Diversity Program, was developed especially with a focus on SDG 10 – Reducing Inequalities. Acting directly in education with an emphasis on diversity and inclusion. Through activities, teachers and students are empowered and invited to reflect on the reality in which they live, problems faced and possible solutions for a more egalitarian society. Companies generally sponsor the project, through incentive laws or Marketing budget, leaving a legacy for the community in which it operates.

Another way of promoting diversity is the implementation of social responsibility policies within the company, contributing to a more just society and a more sustainable environment. It means that the management of companies should not be guided only to fulfill the interests of owners, but also for the benefit of workers, students, local communities, customers, suppliers, public authorities, competitors and society in general. NTICS is 100% motivated by purpose, being a reference in corporate social responsibility and offering a consultancy service to other companies that wish to positively impact the city in which it operates and the world.

Would you like to be part of this movement? Understand how your company can become a reference offering benefits for the entire chain in which it operates. Contact us for more information.