International Women’s Day is annually held on March 8 to celebrate women’s achievements throughout history and across nations. The day marks a call to action for accelerating gender equality as it is also known as the United Nations (UN) Day for Women’s Rights and International Peace.
Nedbank Namibia’s Head of Human Capital, Faith Cloete shared that over the years Nedbank remained committed to creating an inclusive organisation that recognises gender diversity in the workplace. “Concerted efforts have been maintained over the past decade to ensure adequate representation of women, with just under 64% of Nedbank staff being women. Also, 56% of whom are employed in middle and upper management structures.
We also support the women in our organisation with upskilling initiatives and continious efforts towards professional development. It’s a year on year effort.”
“Collectively as the global campaign reiterates – we can make change happen, we can each help to create a gender-equal world. I encourage people all over the country to post their #IWD2020 message on social media with their “hands out” equal pose for a strong call to action for others to support #EachforEqual.”
Gloria Steinem, world-renowned feminist, journalist, and activist once explained that “the story of women’s struggle for equality belongs to no single feminist nor any one organisation, but to the collective efforts of all who care about human rights.”
Cloete agrees, “At Nedbank, we are proud of our reputation for innovation and driven by our commitment to superior service – for all customers, both internal and external, at all times. Therefore our people must remain at the centre of all we do. International Women’s Day is not specific to any people, country or organization, but it is a clarion call to a society that a change has been needed”.
#EachforEqual is about ‘Collective Individualism’ and the theme for International Women’s Day for 2020. It refers to the employer’s consent to individualism. Matt Church, author of several best-selling books on leadership explains it’s a very mature idea, one that does not always sit well in a traditional command and control environment. “Collective individualism requires strong alignment skills. It is about an organisation being okay with an individual succeeding.”
On this concept, Cloete explained that Nedbank encourages the individual successes of employees, as it benefits the Bank. “We are all parts of a whole. Our individual actions, conversations, behaviors, and mindsets can have an impact on our society at large, and that is the impact we want to make, the corporate footprint we wish to leave in Namibia,” enthuses Cloete.
The first International Women’s Day was commemorated in 1911 and was supported by over one million people. Today, International Women’s Day belongs to all groups of women and girls collectively, the world over.
Namibia let’s collectively choose to be #EachforEqual.