President's Message
Woman's Leadership: Embrace Equity
When I became President of this esteemed chamber two years ago, I became the third woman to hold this position. That’s why I find it most fitting that my final LINKAGE message as President of AMCHAM T&T will be on a topic that I am very passionate about—the opportunities to continue advancing gender equality in every aspect of our society.
Embrace Equity
This year the global call-to-action for International Women's Day has asked leaders and everyday citizens to "Embrace Equity" within their respective spheres of influence to help us reach equality quicker.
This is important for many reasons. In the workplace, embracing equity is about developing a culture of fairness. It's one of the reasons why most diversity and inclusion plans fail. When we ignore taking the steps to ensure that all persons, regardless of their ethnic background, country of origin, age, physical ability/disability, gender, or sexual orientation, have a level playing field, we unintentionally create a culture where discrimination is allowed to exist and thrive.
It's no secret that every employee wants to be seen and heard to feel respected and treated fairly. However, when representation doesn't exist at the leadership level or at the decision-making table, many employees expressed feelings of alienation and powerlessness when confronted with challenges. That's why we must provide support and resources based on every individual's needs, so they have equal access to all opportunities.
Embracing equity will send a clear message that says we appreciate the unique differences of our employees and recognise that they experience different barriers to accessing the opportunities that equality provides. We are also letting them know that we are committed to taking steps to eliminate barriers against equity to reach an equal outcome.
So, what else can we do?
We need to look at our recruitment and hiring processes and ask ourselves whether we are hiring people based on their skills or how much they look like us. If the latter is the priority, female candidates seeking employment in traditionally male industries will be sadly overlooked and ignored. But there are solutions that can increase the number of women and other minorities in the workplace. A starting point would be to remove gender-coded language from job descriptions and embrace blind hiring. We should also focus more on a candidate's real skills and experience. Of course, none of this will result in success if we aren't diversifying the hiring team to increase representation and allow for better-informed hiring decisions.
Embracing equity will also require organisations to offer the benefits employees actually want as opposed to what the organisation thinks is best for them. Hybrid work options, parental leave or childcare benefits might be seen as highly favourable for female employees. However, none of this will matter if we don't ensure pay equity as a basic requirement. Therefore, we must overcome the gender pay gap by embracing pay transparency, encouraging negotiation, and conducting regular pay equity audits to identify gender pay discrepancies and improve retention rates among women.
Finally, organisations must commit to upskilling women into leadership roles. Programmes that are centred on learning, mentoring and coaching can create a clear path for entry-level employees to progress into management and leadership roles and provide fair promotion opportunities. There is also the potential to break the glass ceiling when more women have gained access to higher-paying leadership positions, which will undoubtedly positively impact the business and all female employees in the organisation.
Remember, with equity as a target, we are better able to increase innovation, enhance employee engagement and productivity, improve hiring and retention, and create better customer loyalty and brand reputation. So, let's continue to embrace equity as we build a fairer and more equal world for all.
I hope you enjoy the articles in this issue of LINKAGE, which offer insightful advice and perspectives to help you embrace equity in all aspects of our society. As I end my second term, I would like to express my sincere gratitude for allowing me the opportunity to serve you over the past two years and for the work we did together around enhancing business through promoting tech, incentivising trade opportunities, investing in ESG, forging productive collaborations with other local business chambers and of course in strengthening our long-standing relationship with the US Embassy. This journey has been fulfilling and I am most grateful for the support received, the lessons learned, and most importantly, the unique connections forged with our members. I wish you continued success in all I know you will do for your people and our country.