of Tomorrow in the UAE
21/09/2017 05:36 AST
The subject of gender diversity is still an emerging one in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region – where levels of engagement differ across countries, industries, and organization sizes; hence, many organizations may be missing out on significant growth potential derived from having a diverse workforce. In the UAE, in particular, female participation has gone from 34% to 46% between 2000 and 2014, according to the recently release report by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) entitled ‘How Organizations In The Middle East Can Stretch Their Diversity Spend’, the report discusses ways in which GCC organizations can fully embrace gender diversity and further develop the future leaders of tomorrow, for a positive organizational and economic impact.
According the report, gender inequality creates an average global income loss of 13.5%, which can be divided into losses due to gaps in occupational choices and losses due to labor force participation gaps. This figure is the lowest in Europe (10%) and highest in the Middle East and North Africa (27%). Since 2000, almost all the GCC countries have experienced a significant improvement in women’s participation in the labor force. The UAE, in particular, has gone from 34% to 46%; however, what has come to the fore is that the increase in women’s workforce participation, in the UAE, has been accompanied by an increase in the female unemployment rate. This is partially driven by higher education attainment that was not matched by an increase in relevant opportunities in the labor market.
“To develop and empower the female leaders of tomorrow, CEOs and senior leaders should integrate gender diversity as a core part of the organization’s strategic objectives and ensure organization-wide communication and engagement. In particular, the commitment of middle management will be critical, as that is who engages every day with employees, and is responsible for performance assessments and promotions,” said Dr Leila Hoteit, Partner and Managing Director at BCG Middle East.
Large organizations in the GCC have been particularly successful in implementing cutting-edge flexible schemes and arrangements for female employees. However, initiatives are successful only if they tackle the right issues and implementing initiatives that can attract talented GCC women, such as flexible working arrangements and inclusive policies.
Diversity and Inclusion: Identifying Barriers and Bridging the Gap
In many GCC countries, cultural bias still exists, and women are perceived as unsuitable for some jobs or positions. Regulations can also represent a barrier to gender diversity despite significant improvements in the past five to ten years.
Cultural bias and lack of supporting environment – In an environment where there is still a cultural bias against women working in specific industries or roles, adopting quotas can be a winning strategy in the short term – a way to jump the cultural bias barrier by “forcing” the trend. However, the decision to impose a quota or not depends on the country’s context and the leadership’s belief on whether progress can truly be achieved without the push of quotas. For example, the UAE Cabinet, in 2012, enacted a law requiring listed companies and government agencies to reserve at least 30% of their board seats for women.
Six Actions to Empower Women Leaders of Tomorrow in the GCC
To develop and empower the women who will be leaders of tomorrow, six actions should be taken:
1.Including gender diversity as a strategic objective – Organizations should make gender diversity a core part of their strategic objectives and keep it at the top of the agenda by embedding the gender diversity agenda in the organization values; explicitly mentioning gender diversity as a strategic objective; developing specific KPIs on gender diversity to be monitored regularly and reported to the top leadership and/or published in
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