GROOMING WOMEN FOR TOP BANKING POSITIONS

Well I am back from my brief rest and now it is a question of catching up. This is the post that would have been done on 22nd December.

Go ladies, Go! It's about time that women started doing things for themselves and taking their rightful place in the world - watch out men - here we come!

Grooming women for top banking positions
Theo Garrun

15 November 2007 at 11h00

It is time to rid ourselves of cultural hang-ups regarding the role of women in business. That's the word from Max Makhubalo, chief executive of the banking sector education and training authority (Bankseta). Speaking at last week's Women's Development Programme conference, Makhubalo said "we are selling ourselves short if leadership is only provided by males. Organisations need to change to adapt to the new reality." He said although business has embraced Western culture, women in South Africa have shown that one does not need to be hard and ruthless. They have also shown that there is place for emotion in the workplace.

Absa Retail Market executive director, Venete Klein, spoke on leadership transition - the art of effective succession planning. She reminded delegates that there are 2-billion women worldwide, who work in a male dominated workplace. They perform two-thirds of the world's working hours, produce half of the world's food, but only earn 10 percent of the world's income and own less than 1 percent of the world's property. A number of factors were inhibiting women's success, including the limited number of female role models within the financial services sector, the fact that women often undervalued themselves and a failure to stand up for themselves.

Bankseta deputy CEO and Women's Development Programme director, Sandra Dunn, described the Bankseta's Women's Development Programme as a Seta success story. Although the pilot programme has only recently passed the halfway mark, with much learning and personal growing still to take place, the programme had already exceeded her expectations.

"I have been humbled and inspired by the women on the programme. It has been an awesome experience to observe these women's growth in becoming authentic leaders," she said. "Many of our goals have already been achieved. We also wanted the women to acquire good leadership competencies and this too, has occurred through the programme," she explained. The group of women on the programme has just returned form a study trip to China and Dunn says that while South Africa and China were very different countries in many respects, important lessons could be learnt."

One learning in particular, stands out: the Chinese tend to look at opportunities rather than obstacles. They tend to judge a person on contribution, rather than on gender, this includes Chinese business women themselves. If embraced, these two lessons could have a profound and positive impact on the banking sector in South Africa." Dunn acknowledged that the programme could not have been a success without the commitment and hard work on the part of all the women on the programme, including the cohorts, and strong support from the sector. "I am pleased to report that our next talented group of women is waiting in the wings. All nominations have been received and the assessment process to determine the next 15 women for the 2008 leadership programme begins the week of November 19. Based on the success of this year's programme, we look forward to another very successful programme in 2008."

Particularly gratifying for the Bankseta was the fact that the women on the programme do not see the programme as "a once off". "It has become clear that these women want to continue contributing to the programme long after they complete their year long programme in March 2008. This ongoing engagement is something we truly welcome," said Dunn. So confident is Dunn of the calibre of women on the programme that she believes that one day very soon, the CEO of one of the leading banks would emerge from the ranks of candidates on the Bankseta's Women's Development Programme.