Preparing Women for Boards
Women in South Africa have made reasonable progress in the workplace since our first democratic elections. Our government’s commitment to gender equality has placed us at the forefront of advancing women in the workplace.
Since 2004 the percentage of South African companies not having any females on its boards decreased from 60% to 21.5%. The number of women serving on boards during this same period increased from 7.1% to 16.4%. However, this trend is slow and women remain significantly under-represented in top positions. Currently there are only 15 women CEO’s on JSE listed companies and only 20 women chairpersons.
In view of the fact that the African Union declared the decade 2010-2020 the African women’s decade, many challenges to gender equality and women’s empowerment remain.
Empowering women in business is a major step towards building a strong, economically viable country. Women at board level can and do play a vital role in making South African business globally competitive. Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, states that it is vital to bring more women into the workplace: “It is more important now than ever before for countries and companies to pay heed to one of the fundamental cornerstones of economic growth available to them – the skills and talent of their human resource pool. Women not only make up one half of this potential talent base, they also contribute to bringing in some different perspectives that are so important in a complex, interdependent and fast-moving world.”.
It is within this context that WIF will be introducing its programme “Women on Boards” aimed to provide women executives with the necessary knowledge and tools for serving effectively as Directors on Boards. It will also serve as a resource for corporate South Africa to recruit competent women to directorship positions.
Target:
Women executives who have served in management positions.
Objectives:
This two – day programme is aimed to provide women wishing to serve on boards with an understanding of
• The role women can and should play in corporate South Africa.
• The challenges women executives face to break through the glass ceiling.
• The fundamentals of corporate governance .
• The Board’s complex role.
• The Role of a Director on the Board.
Facilitator:
Niamaat Gamildien is the CEO and founder of Quintessential Consulting Group, an organisation focusing on organisational and leadership development.
She is known as an expert in the field of Employment Equity Transformation, having guided and assisted many blue-chip companies with their transformation strategies.
Prior to pursuing her own business, she was appointed to the position of CEO to lead and transform one of the country’s largest NGO’s. She served on various boards, chaired several local and international conferences and lectured at Masters level. She has more than 20 years senior management experience.
Her contribution towards the transformation of society is exemplary. She worked for, and with various human rights organizations, lobbying and advocating for the protection of the most vulnerable in society, with special emphasis on women, children, refugees and returned exiles.
Niamaat's array of skills and experience include business management, project management, leadership development and diversity management.
She is an active member of Women in Finance, the Business Women’s Association of South Africa, and 85 Broads – an international network of women entrepreneurs and leaders.
She holds an MBA Degree, an Honours Degree in Social Work and a B.Tech Degree in Business Administration.
Cost:
R1 590.00 per person per day for members, R2 400.00 for non-members.
Venue :
DST Global Solutions South Africa
DST House
12 Sherborne Road
Parktown
Date & Time:
30th & 31st May 2011
08h30-17h00
Course Outline :
PREPARING WOMEN FOR BOARDS
Day One
1 Introduction and Background to Corporate Governance
2 Characteristics of Good Corporate Governance
3 Codes of Good Practice
4 Context of Corporate Governance in SA Companies
5 What is a company
6 Board and Directors
7 Purpose of the Board of Directors
8 Tasks of the Board
9 The Board's complex Role
Day Two
10 Role of Directors
11 Women on Boards
12 Challenges faced by women on Boards
13 Selection and Induction of Board Members
14 Monitoring and Evaluation of Board and Director Effectiveness
15 Risk Management
16 Integrated Sustainable reporting
17 Transparency and Disclosure
colleen@womeninfinance.co.za by 15th May 2011; only 20 seats available.
