12 Feb 2020

Having more female representatives in senior management positions, especially in the ICT industry, can enhance business growth and profitability.

This was said by Botswana Telecommunications Corporation (BTC) managing director, Mr Anthony Masunga at a two-day Commonwealth Human Resource and ICT 2020 Forum in Gaborone on Tuesday.

He said the forum, themed: The changing shape of the workforce, brought the world’s best to explore how the power of technology could be harnessed for resources. He said true to the theme, Botswana has identified her people as her greatest asset, as evidenced by the establishment of the Human Resource Development Council, (HRDC), which has a bold and ambitious agenda to enable Batswana to harness ICT and become globally competitive.

Mr Masunga said the role of women in ICT and leadership was an urgent issue to address, not merely to offer balance to a male-dominated industry, but because of the strength and impact of its ripple effects.

“If you are to go to any ICT conference, you will see that the people who really take the top table tend to be men and the intension is to increase the women in my executive team,” he said.

He said he was of the view that women were the mothers of the nation, and that if they were in leadership positions, the country would fare much better.

Mr Masunga urged other stakeholders to boost passionate, successful ICT female role models in order to be ambassadors for the profession and to inspire the next generation of ICT female professionals.

The executive vice president of human resources, industrial relations and corporate support services, in the telecommunications of Trinidad and Tobago, Ms Carol David said it was necessary to understand or answer the question whether or not female leadership really supported growth and increase in profitability. She said women have determined career success by their ability to adjust to the male-dominated culture and business processes in their fields, adding that 40 per cent of women in the US have MBA yet only 16 per cent sit at an executive level.

“All this is happening in the space between histories, a history around how women are seen in a work place, political space and cultural space,” she said.

Ms David said women who chose to start a family frequently have their careers disrupted by maternity leave, childcare and part time working, adding that women were still asked strange questions like how they were going to manage their children when they finish school at 2 pm during interviews, saying it was not fair to them.

She called for gender diversity in the workplace, explaining that men and women should be employed at a similar and consistent rate. She also said they should be paid equally and given the same working opportunities with the same promotional opportunities. She said diversity, responsiveness, accountability and recognition were the best strategies for promoting women leadership and ICT.

The forum is a platform for HR professionals from Commonwealth countries to meet and agree outcomes that the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation could take forward in its strategic plan, 2020-2024. ENDS