Diversity and empowerment of women in spotlight

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Stanley Bongwe, founder director of The Diversity Institute, said the real value of understanding and appreciating diversity is the enhanced corporate performance it can spark.

The business world has generally been slow to appreciate the link between diversity and better corporate performance; too often, the issue is seen simply as one of fairness or equity. Bongwe explained that the need to understand and deal effectively with diversity in the workplace applies to every member of the organisation.

Different needs

However, different audiences within the same organisation have slightly different needs, over and above the general principles. “If we can master diversity programmes not only limited to gender or colour but really look at increasing our awareness and understanding of our differences and treat each individual with respect, then we will truly see the value of diversity for personal and career success,” Bongwe said.

“It’s not just about treating people fairly, but having a real desire and interest for your people in your teams to be stronger and more successful,” he added.

One of the more significant barriers that women faces in business is the lack of role models for female success. Addressing this point Sonja de Bruyn Sebotsa, co-founder of Identity Capital Partners, shared some of her experiences as a black woman in the financial services industry, and outlined the motivation behind her company's aim to particularly assist women and youth entrepreneurs to secure business financing.

Skills required

Jenny Watkins, head of AIG’s Global Property for Africa, provided delegates with insights about the skills that would help them achieve their goals within business, and insurance in particular.

“If you take a puzzle, for example, it is made up of a number of unique pieces and these individual pieces must come together to create the whole picture. If we can look at diversity in the workplace in the same light; each individual has its own uniqueness to contribute to the business and make it successful,” said Watkins.

Annelot Schrijver, chairperson of the GWII Diversity Focus Group, said it is encouraging to see so many senior representatives, both men and women, from the financial services industry supporting this initiative.

Proceeds from the event raised over R75,000 for the Perinatal Mental Health Project based at the University of Cape Town which addresses mental illness among pregnant and postnatal women and girls.