WISCAR, an organization focused on empowering and developing women to contribute to development and growth in Nigeria and Africa was delighted to host a panel discussion on the topic “Forces for Change”; Technology as a Tool for Accelerating a Culture of Diversity and Inclusion” at the 2020 Social Media Week Lagos themed “HUMAN.X”. The SMW Lagos is a week-long event that provides the ideas, trends, insights and inspiration to enable people and businesses understand how to achieve more in a hyper-connected world. The discussion moderated by the Executive Secretary Fabia Ogunmekan saw an array of distinguished panellist such as the President Lagos Chamber of Commerce & Industry Toki Mabogunje, the Director People Advisory Services Ernst &Young WA Lola Esan, the Founder/ Lead Consultant Davton Learn and the Executive Director Fate Foundation Adenike Adeyemi.
The panel discussion centred on the importance of Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace and how organizations can use technology to foster a gender balanced environment to drive better productivity outcome. Employees are more likely to thrive and be more productive in an environment where inclusivity is a priority. Diversity and inclusion improves creativity and ultimately better performance and also improves employee engagement and a more engaged workforce creates a better culture for progress.
The Nigerian workforce exhibits high levels of gender inequality as statistics show that Nigeria has one of the lowest rates of employed women, as a percentage of the total population, among selected countries with similar gross national income, and also the highest percentage of men in the workforce is among those aged 45-49 (99.2%) compared to just 67% of women in this same age group.
Women are at the worst end of the stick as they go through several unconscious and implicit discriminatory practices throughout the process of securing employment, maintaining the job, and securing promotion to managerial executive positions. Although organizations are starting to realize that a businesses with a healthy balance of men and women are 21% more likely to outperform their competitors, teams that are gender diverse make better decisions up to 87% of the time. There is still a long way to go especially for this part of the world.
A key factor that can significantly reduce gender bias in the recruitment process is the adoption of the use of technology as it has influenced every aspect of our lives, from our daily living to performing more complex issues. Technology like Artificial Intelligence is now being used to solve recruitment problems so all working people can experience true equality. Technology can also be used to support job maintenance and facilitation , as it promotes flexible working mediums that enables employees work from anywhere outside the organization, this evidently makes provision for women who are on maternity leave , the disabled and the lists goes on. Businesses that do provide remote and flexible working options stand to benefit greatly in terms of attracting and retaining key talent. Rather than hampering productivity, plenty of research has indicated that many workers are actually more productive when they are provided with flexible working terms.
This discussion was truly a fount of knowledge, and some key points taken away from this panel are thus:
- Statistics show that business with a healthy balance of men and women are more likely to outperform their competitors
- Gender diverse teams make better decisions up to 87% of the time
- Engagement with relevant technologies that can make us more efficient and overcome biases and stereotypes is required
- Work place of the future need to promote cross cultural communication
- Technology aids a flexible working environment which is advantageous for women who have children
- Diversity and Inclusion is everyone’s business
The program was brought to a close with the panellists urging everyone to make conscious effort to actualize a gender balanced society
