Normalising equality for women in the workplace

Normalising equality for women in the workplace – a perspective

Gender inequality is an age-old occurrence too many women worldwide have come to know. While businesses have prioritised gender equality in virtual and on-site workplaces, the underlining of the issue is a stark reminder of the realities women continue to face at work.

AMcKinsey & Company paper highlights that

39% of the world’s workforce is women. More than 50% of global job losses are linked to women. In crises, women are 1.8 times more at risk of losing their jobs.

Turning the marginalisation of female employees on its head is Shelley du Plessis, co-founder and CEO of the digital trading subsidiary platform, Veracity Markets. She

also co-owns LMP-F, a supercar showroom concept in Sandton, Johannesburg. Du Plessis is the first African woman to co-found an online trading site (Veracity Markets). Today, she is at the helm of this successful business tending to a client base of more than 200 000.

Having started the business with her Cape Town partner at the height of the worldwide lockdown in April 2020, Du Plessis was nervous about entering an industry notorious for its misperceptions due to a lack of education about trading.

“I left a full-time position to take on a new venture for which prospects were unknown at the time,” she admits. “On top of this, I was moving into a sector that has been male dominated for years. Finance can also sometimes be a hostile and competitive environment.”

As with many new business owners, it wasn’t a smooth start for Du Plessis, who was trying to balance her professional and family life.

“My mental wellness took a knock in our first year as I tried to perfect the art of being busy,” she says. “I also had to accept responsibility for the livelihoods of those we employed, ensuring they are happy in their workplace and sufficiently cared for. As I was trying to settle in a new leadership position, I worried whether we were doing enough to empower our employees. The pressure to perform as well as my male peers, if not better, also lulled at the back of my mind.”

“After our first year at Veracity Markets, it was clear there was nothing more to prove than what the results of our success showed. I started to prioritise my health and time management, becoming more confident that women have so much potential to flourish in finance. The playing field for women to top the ladder of success in such industries is expanding by the day. In my experience, I find that women can show their vulnerability and remain authentic in how they connect with people. When it comes to trading decisions, I feel controlling our emotions, and remaining aware of them, is a priceless skill.”

“Notions of gender inequality in our daily lives are becoming more subtle. Considering gender-specific celebrations such as Women’s Day, I can only hope we can reach a point when we don’t have to highlight women’s achievement beyond what we perceive is the standard. Commemorating benchmarks set by women should be noted at the same level as the achievements registered by anyone else,” Du Plessis comments.

“I look forward to when special allowances for women are no longer the norm. We are as capable as anyone else on this earth.” ■

Top advice to rid the workplace of inequality

Are you a business owner or entrepreneur wanting to instil a gender-biased free zone wherever you and your co-workers or employees are? Here are Du Plessis’ tips for getting rid of inequality in your workplace: • Apply gender-neutral language in documents, contracts and emails. • Make the above relevant to all employees by incorporating gender-neutral language training done by your HR. • Make the gender pay gap taboo. Compensate people according to their experience and performance without their gender benchmarking the financial opportunities you afford your employees. • Set goals and KPIs (key performance indicators) for individual workers and give them credit accordingly. Encourage progress with equal opportunities. • Create a supportive ecosystem for men and women and consider actual circumstances of life, such as maternity and paternity leave, flexible working hours for anyone but more so for parents who need to tend to their children over school days and, especially, holidays. • If you want to take it to the next level, advocate gender equality for other businesses to adopt a workplace mindset that promotes wellness and favours the individuality of their employees. Arrange networking events, conferences, and online calls that underline equality as the main talking point. • Ensure your recruitment process is inclusive of all genders. It accounts for the job descriptions, the interviewees considered and to diversify those involved on the interview panel.