Cheryl Jane Kujenga shares her two-fold strategy for improving gender diversity and producing more female CEOs.
Chapter: Attracting female talent
About: : Cheryl-Jane Kujenga has more than 25 years of professional experience, 15 of those in senior executive leadership positions. She has international experience in enterprise-level transformations and has worked in strategic management with Ascendis Health and Adcorp. She was also an audit partner and Africa strategic growth markets leader for Ernst & Young. She has been recognized for establishing corporate structures that create cost improvements and for embedding a results-driven culture that improves global operations. She was awarded the AWCA CFO of the Year in 2019 and was nominated as CFO Forum’s CFO of the year in 2020.
How have you seen the workplace evolve in terms of gender equality throughout your career journey?
I started my articles training in 1997, and at the time, one of the most experienced women in our firm (a lady called Linda) had been passed over several times for partnership because she was female. The partnership was not just male dominated; it was all male. Linda was eventually promoted to partner in 1999. When I became a partner in 2008, there were a few more women in partnership but very few Black women. In fact, I was the first Black female partner in the Assurance service line, and the only one for another eight years. But the world has shifted. The 2010s brought more acceptance for promoting women into leadership and more inclusive practices for how to ensure that the female churn at these levels was minimized, especially with policies such as flexible work arrangements becoming more commonplace. There’s still more work that needs to be done. While there are more women in C-level roles, these are typically in HR, legal, corporate, and finance roles.
“We need more women leading organizations as CEOs and board chairpersons.”
What more do you think could be done to improve gender diversity and produce more female CEOs?
There should be a two-fold strategy:
The primary focus should be on providing women with the career experiences that enable them to be great leaders. Each company should sit back and think carefully about how to craft a career path for future CEOs, the nature of projects, and the training and coaching that would be required at each career turn and then expose as many women as possible to that path. This way, you counter any narrative that says, “We don’t have enough women with experience in x.” (For x, insert areas such as complex negotiations, running multi-geographic projects, leading successful client campaigns, or investor engagements.) You also enable the women to overcome any sense of imposter syndrome.
Second, empower all of your employees to have more balanced lives. Organizations that enable women and men to have the space they need to participate more fully in domestic and childcare-related activities and pursue other passions allow their employees to transition from a “work as sacrifice of self” approach to a “work as part of holistic self” one.
What should employers communicate in their brand to attract top female talent?
A robust experience, fairness, inclusivity, access, and an empowering balanced life.
How important is it that an organization conveys a calling and purpose during these uncertain times?
It’s vital. Everyone wants to feel that they are part of a greater good and that the work they are doing makes a meaningful contribution.
What kind of support can organizations provide for female talent to achieve their career goals?
Empower them by providing experiences that will grow their professional capabilities, and give them access to a variety of role models, career coaches, and mentors.
“Ensure there is flexibility in the system so women can have balance and not feel that they are sacrificing themselves.”
Request a free copy of the Empowering Women: A Collection of Thoughts from Women Leaders to Advance the Workplace.
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