Dr Saeeda Jaffar, Alvarez and Marsal

DR SAEEDA JAFFAR

Managing Director, Head of Middle East

Alvarez and Marsal

What aspects of Alvarez & Marsal (A&M) gender empowerment programmes are you most proud of and why?

At A&M, we believe in delivering value and creating impact. We know that diverse teams are critical to achieving this – we get to better, more holistic solutions if the teams are diverse. Therefore, gender empowerment is not only core to results, it is also part of our core values. Every day we strive to do more to ensure that we continue to push gender empowerment one step further. We have several programmes across the firm aimed at recruiting, developing, and training women.

What does women’s empowerment mean to you?

I believe women's empowerment means that women have a right to make a choice. Whether she chooses to stay at home and raise a family, or she chooses to go out and have a high-power career, or she decides to go back and forth depending on different points in her life. Women have the right to choose the future they want and should be respected for their decisions.

How would you say tackling women’s empowerment changes from region to region? How is it the same?

I believe that the issue goes beyond women's empowerment; it is about diversity and inclusion. We are all working towards the same goal which is to provide qualified and talented people as many opportunities as possible so we can collectively move forward. A few things vary from region to region – our starting points and our paths in terms of our next steps and priorities vary across the world.

At the end, however, we are all headed towards the same destination, which is to provide talented people with the right opportunities to deliver the greatest value to tackle the most challenging and pressing issues we face globally.

Enjoy the journey. It is not just about the destination.

Do you believe that profitability and environmental sustainability can coexist?

Profitability and sustainability are not mutually exclusive. There is plenty of research available that proves that happy employees and happy customers tend to be more engaged, and it eventually leads to profitability as they will be loyal to the organisation, spend more, and raise brand awareness by word of mouth. There might be some situations where short-term or opportunity-specific gains might be foregone, but in the long term, it can be a financially-winning approach.

What advice would you give to women who are seeking out leadership roles?

My advice to women seeking leadership roles is to work hard and make sure that while you are good at your job, you also work on building visibility and a platform for yourself. It is important that we become our own ambassadors. We need to proactively shape our roles and create our own journey. But most importantly, enjoy the journey. It is not just about the destination.

A growing number of governments, organisations, and businesses across the world want to advance women in the workplace, but not always know how. What would you advise them?

Firstly, there needs to be a clarity in vision. Be clear about what your goals are and what you want to achieve. There is no one solution that fits all, therefore, from an integrational perspective, once you decipher your end goal, there needs to be a concise plan on how to achieve it which can be challenging. This is a broad societal change, and it should be treated as such.

Secondly, there is a need for commitment. Senior officials at organisations, governments and businesses need to demonstrate a clear commitment through their actions.

Lastly, identify brand ambassadors within your organisation and recognise and celebrate these champions. It is important to put these brand ambassadors forward, highlight their achievements, and voice their stories. Organisations need to show a clear commitment to women empowerment and diversity, and encourage an open and thoughtful dialogue that leads to change.