Gender Equity Goes Beyond Representation: Preparing the Landscape for Women Leaders

Women in leadership positions continue to face challenges that hinder their success, despite the progress made in increasing female representation in leadership. There are two major battles when it comes to women in leadership. The first battle is increasing the number of women in leadership positions through the removal of institutional barriers. The second battle is setting up senior women for success once they get into these roles, which is often overlooked.

Organisations need to be proactive in preparing the landscape to ensure that women are genuinely set up for success when they get into leadership positions. This means not only removing institutional barriers but also normalising the presence of women in leadership roles. It involves looking at who might be obstructive and setting her up for success with transparency and the necessary information on complicated processes.

Retaining and ensuring that senior women are satisfied and happy in their roles is the second part of the battle. Creating infrastructure that includes clean handovers, explicit objectives, and a clear view of the landscape, drive pathways to individual success as well as supporting the organisation’s efforts. It is also essential to consider the different experiences of women coming into leadership positions, such as the implications for Black women.

Taking gender equity as a key component to your strategy means actively working with Black women and women of colour in your organisation to ensure that their needs are also being met and that they want to build a long term career in your organisation.

Creating opportunities for women in leadership is critical, but it is equally important to work with existing leadership team and to smooth the path where needed. There are informal routes which work on a relationship level, but there must also be the willingness to follow through on governance, to retain female leaders. Governance is one of the pillars that supports sustainable practices i.e. that female leaders are supported as part of internal processes.

In conclusion, increasing female representation in leadership is not enough. Organisations must go a step further to ensure senior women are set up for success and retain them. Only then can the baton be passed down, so that the system will work even in the absence of champions within the business.