The gender gap within the ICT sector is nothing new and not isolated to South Africa. Women are underrepresented in leadership positions at the top big tech firms globally.
In South Africa, we are seeing positive growth of women joining the industry – The Commission for Employment Equity reported that in 2023 there were 41,3% women employees in the industry, up from 39,5% from the previous year.
“It is very positive to see this growth, however the onus is now on organisations to not only increase this number but to attract, retain and engage top women in IT,” says Bizmod director Seugnet van den Berg.
Companies need a different employment strategy if they are going to attract women to apply for roles and for them to stay with the organisation and to keep them engaged. She says that what women are looking for from organisations is vastly different to men.
A study by Statista found that:
* 78% of women said companies should promote more women into leadership positions;
* 72% wanted mentorship opportunities;
* 64% said companies should offer flexible scheduling; and
* 57% said that organisations should conduct unconscious bias training.
“To continue to close the gender gap in ICT, organisations need to put in place programmes that focus on recruiting and retaining women,” says van den Berg. Doing this allows organisations to expand the talent pool, and this diversity increases problem solving and creative capabilities. Research has shown that companies with the highest representation of women in their management teams have a 34% higher return on investment.
A programme that is specifically aimed at the recruitment and retention of women should see the IT department working hand-in-hand with HR. Together they can then evaluate the programme with a data-driven approach, assessing challenges that have been experienced and promoting the employee experience.
The retention of employees, no matter their gender, provides the following benefits:
* Reduces the resources, including cost and time, required to attract talent.
* The longer they remain with the organisation, the more refined their development journey becomes, aligning with both personal growth and the strategic direction of the organisation.
* The longer employees remain at the organisation, the more they can contribute to shaping the organisational DNA and organisation culture. We know that a strong culture provides a strategic advantage and benefits to the organisation.
* It takes time to build organisational memory and knowledge, something that no system or dataset can replace.
“As important as it is to the business to attract and retain employees, engaging them is the last piece in the puzzle to ensure overall success,” says van den Berg, engaged employees drive the bottom-line and 39% are more likely to stay at an organisation.
Additionally engaged women employees are more willing to innovate and are committed to performance.
Van den Berg says that the employee engagement programme requires the IT department to be actively involved, ensuring that their employees are engaged. These initiatives need to take place every day and to succeed they need to be personalised to what is currently taking place in the department. She says, “When trying to retain employees, engagement and daily experiences are what counts.”
The characteristics of an engaged employee are:
* Consistently exceeds performance requirements;
* Helps others for the advancement of the organisation;
* Recommends improvement opportunities;
* Has a sense of purpose and pride in their work; and
* Remains at the organisation for what they give to it.
Studies show that employees with positive workplace experiences are 52% more likely to stay, while organisations that prioritise employee experience achieve 23% higher profitability and 10% better customer loyalty.
Van den Berg concludes: “It is clear that IT leaders wishing to stay competitive and lead in innovation, need to focus on employing and retaining a diverse team.”