Rani Sofjan highlights the importance of support systems for retaining working women in the male-dominated finance industry.
Chapter: Retaining female talent
About: : Rani Sofjan is a managing director and the most senior female leader at the Northstar Group, a private equity firm based in Singapore. She launched her career in 1994 as an equity analyst at Deutsche Morgan Grenfell Asia. Rani was a senior analyst at PT Bahana Securities from 1999 to 2003 and the head of research at Mandiri Sekuritas from 2003 to 2008.
What are your views on gender diversity based on your recent experiences?
Gender diversity is becoming more important for businesses, in part because of market and investor expectations, but businesses also need to balance merit-based performance with gender-focused initiatives. At Northstar, we don’t have gender diversity targets, but we share our gender data with our investors annually. Unfortunately, in the financial services sector—and Northstar is no exception—the number of women in leadership positions remains low. Women make up only around 10 percent of board-level positions. That said, I see an increasing emphasis in financial services, and at Northstar, on creating more inclusive workplaces, which should enable more women to move up the ranks.
As a female leader, what issues do you often encounter in the workplace?
Many women in the finance industry fall off the cliff when trying to move up the ladder, from associate to vice president, for example—usually earlier than men. I think this is in part because of the intensity and demands of these types of jobs as well as the challenges of balancing family and work. It’s a pity to see the analysts and associates we recruited six to eight years ago—mostly women—leave one by one as they approach their 30s. Women of that age are often starting to have families, and trying to balance family and work becomes difficult. Support from family and colleagues can make a big difference in reducing burnout and retaining female talent.
When you feel like you want to give up, having a colleague who is in a similar position can help support you mentally. Support one another—let’s not quit, let’s ride this out together—and give each other a pat on the back.
“Juggling responsibilities between motherhood and work can be challenging, so having supportive colleagues or bosses who are understanding and willing to share the workload can help ease the burden and prevent burnout.”
As a working mom, I used to worry a lot. I had guilt about my children, who I sometimes feel I left behind for work. I frequently worried how they might struggle because of my lack of presence. It dragged me down mentally and indirectly affected my potential. I never had mentors or sponsors, but reading the work of some female leaders taught me a lot about how to manage my worries and guilty feelings as a working mom. Eventually, I learned that I could balance demands and that overthinking can sometimes restrict us from achieving our full potential.
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