CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON FEMALES’
5.5 RECOMMENDATIONS
This section outlines the recommendations in accordance with the results of this study with regard to females’ perception of the glass ceiling in the South African business environment.
Table 5-1 provides a summary of the main recommendations per factor, followed by a detailed description in Sections 5.5.1 to 5.5.4.
Table 5-1: Summary of the recommendations per factor to shatter the glass ceiling
Construct Factor Recommendation
Denial Opportunities for promotion
and growth • Improve organisation’s policies to encourage and promote female education.
• Establish better norms at school level to encourage education of females.
• Provide feedback and guidelines after
unsuccessful promotion or applications process.
Inequalities for promotion
and growth • Adherence and compliance with international and national policies.
• Blind screening of applicants for promotion or positions.
Resignation Obstacles that dilute
promotion options • Improve qualifications through bursaries in specific fields of promotion in the business.
Internal reactions that impact
management actions • Internal rewards for females who improve their qualification.
• Adherence to government plans of equality by adapting policies.
• Zero-tolerance policies of harassment and discrimination.
Work-life balance of females • Training programmes to improve inequality.
Table 5-1: Summary of the recommendations per factor to shatter the glass ceiling (continued …)
Construct Factor Recommendation
Resilience Organisational support
towards career growth • Adapt internal policies to provide support for female career growth.
• Mentoring of lower-level females.
Effect of external support on
females success • Provide incentives to encourage females’ loyalty to business.
• Bonus, salary and leave incentive structure according to longer service record.
Results of management
practices by females • Internal support through policies that minimise barriers.
• Updated work profiles and promotion options.
Contribution of nurturing
skills on success • Internal support through policies that promote female management.
Acceptance Motivation towards work-life
balance • Internal policies to support career growth.
Motivation towards career
growth • Incentives to attain childcare services provided by the business.
• Flexitime working hours applicable to all employees.
From the summary provided in Table 5-1, the following recommendations are made, which businesses can implement towards management of denial, resignation, resilience and acceptance to shatter the glass ceiling.
5.5.1 Recommendations regarding denial to shatter the glass ceiling
It is evident from the literature and other studies that societal views are the origin of gender inequality (Amaechi, 2018:152). Likewise, also confirmed from the results of this study regarding marital status, it revealed a ‘freer’ thinking and view by the females who were in domestic partnerships; the results found them displaying less denial, more resilience, and more acceptance towards career growth. It is therefore not the conclusion that ‘marriage’ is the problem, but rather the views imposed through society on marital status. While these views are imposed and expressed within the marital relationship, it is evident that those females would experience the glass ceiling in the business environment with a negative attitude rather than as an opportunity for growth. Studies found that diversity in the business environment expands the demographic,
and provides a variation of ideas and opinions that represent the business (Arfken et al., 2004:184; Itty et al., 2019:15).
This study discovered that females in higher management levels and/or with higher qualifications displayed less denial about their opportunities and inequalities to grow their careers (Figure 4-8), which can therefore be concluded that the business environment should focus on improving females’ qualifications in an attempt to shatter the glass ceiling. It is a valuable assumption that the glass ceiling should be addressed earlier in a female’s process towards career advancement and should be dealt with in society as a whole to demolish the demeaning views imposed on female skills and questioning their contribution to society. The recommendation would be to start at school level to establish better education and equipping of children to identify and value the differences between males and females. Businesses can implement and improve their policies to adapt and adhere to international and national policies that strive to improve views on the glass ceiling.
This confirms the aim of countless organisational programmes and efforts to eradicate gender inequality by amending policies and education to stimulate better beliefs and growth opportunities for females (García-Holgado et al., 2020:1824-1825; UN Women, 2020:2; OECD, 2020:11; World Economic Forum, 2020:8; Department of Women, 2015; BWASA, 2017).
Another approach to eliminate the denial of the glass ceiling within the business environment is to apply blind screening when promotions or new appointments are reviewed. This allows the reviewer to review applicants solely on their skills and experience; the applicant’s name, gender or race is not considered during the review process. This may instil confidence in females that they are reviewed based on their credentials. Aiding this process would be thorough feedback after evaluations to give guidance for future applications if females were not successful.
5.5.2 Recommendations regarding resignation to shatter the glass ceiling
Studies have found that females value higher qualifications and recognise its worth to gain promotion in the business environment (Chisholm-Burns et al., 2017:313). As also confirmed with the results of this study, females in the South African business environment with higher qualifications experience lower denial and resignation of the glass ceiling, but also more acceptance towards work-life balance. This study found that females in higher employment levels and/or with higher qualifications cope better with their responsibilities to have a work-life balance and the factors that influence their career (Figure 4-8). Therefore, businesses should invest towards female education and reward them accordingly for pursuing and attaining higher qualifications in an attempt to shatter the glass ceiling by minimising their resignation.
This can be done by offering bursaries to females to further their academic qualifications; it can be specific bursaries in an identified area or field of interest that the business has identified as important or that would ensure a promotion. The BWASA offers training to facilitate gender transformation and growth, which is a useful tool that can be used (BWASA, 2017), also in conjunction with the government’s attempts to improve females’ equality through the Department of Women, businesses should incorporate these policy views into their own corporate policies to eliminate the glass ceiling factors (Department of Women, 2015). Females who are better qualified will likely adopt more positive views towards promotion and pursue it. The business environment will benefit by improving its standards as females expand their knowledge, and the business output is improved due to females’ positive motivation towards achieving success in their career.
Another way to increase loyalty within females towards a business is to have a zero-tolerance policy towards harassment or discrimination within the working environment, which will be achieved by amending internal policies that strictly adhere to the laws of the country. This zero- tolerance view would increase females’ trust in the business and will lead to improvement of their productivity. Studies have found that if females do feel valued, looked after and supported by their employer, it will reduce their pressures and stress that will affect business growth and allow longer leadership terms (Glass & Cook, 2015:11; Esser et al., 2018:138). Females face barriers that put them in a disadvantage to reach their potential, but equality in the business will eliminate the barriers and enable growth for females and the business (Chisholm-Burns et al., 2017:312).
5.5.3 Recommendations regarding resilience to shatter the glass ceiling
This study found that the longer females’ employment term was at their current employment, the less they experienced denial and the more resilient they were towards the glass ceiling. Results of this study indicate that females who were more resilient were found within the higher management levels and/or with higher qualifications (Figure 4-8), indicating that, as females climb the corporate ladder, they are less inclined to be deterred (resilient) by the glass ceiling.
The business environment should explore to motivate females’ loyalty to their business in order to serve them longer. Longer continuous service will benefit the business as females’ attained knowledge and skills stay within that business. There should be incentives for females to entice longer service, such as bonuses after extended periods of time (for example, increments of 10 years) and/or company benefits, such as salary adjustments and/or leave benefits to rewards long service records. These incentives could motivate females to increase their qualifications in order to ensure loyalty and longer service with a business.
Therefore, internal policies should also be revised to ensure better support towards female career growth by limiting barriers so that females feel loyal and want to stay longer within a business.
Businesses should determine within their own context what aspects make females feel more valued, looked after and supported by their employer, in order to develop strategies and internal policies to ensure that these aspects are practically addressed within the organisation. If businesses are successful in this, it would ultimately lead to increased loyalty of their female employees, resulting in longer service.
Another recommendation is using mentorship within the business where top management mentors lower-level females, giving females exposure to what positions entail and helping them adjust their career expectation accordingly. This offers even females at top management an opportunity to ‘groom’ other females on how to increase their resilience to shatter the glass ceiling.
This exchange of knowledge empowers females by increasing their confidence and, likewise, the mentors also have an opportunity to be in touch with lower-level employees, which provides them with insight into what areas there are for internal improvement of the business culture and where improvements are needed internally. This gives the business an advantage on the higher and lower-level positions, which leads to an increase in productivity.
The business environment should also update their work or job profiles to ensure that it is gender equal. The job specifications and promotion possibilities should be available and understood by all employees, so that it is attainable.
5.5.4 Recommendations regarding acceptance to shatter the glass ceiling
Previous studies found that the CPS factors should be used to improve females’ perception towards career advancement by promoting the positive attitudes (denial and resilience) and maintaining the negative attitudes (resignation and acceptance) through training (Smith et al., 2012:77; Balasubramanian & Lathabhavan, 2017:1132). Likewise, the results of this study confirm that these views should be addressed within the business to control these attitudes towards the glass ceiling, by addressing their corporate culture and conduct so that it promotes gender equality.
Results of this study conclude that females in domestic partnerships and/or who are higher qualified, have a better acceptance of the glass ceiling and therefore are easier motivated to achieve career growth and accept work-life balance (Figure 4-8). However, businesses should take special care to minimise barriers that can affect females’ motivation, which can again be through training and qualification incentives internally through amended policies. This should be
in accordance with government’s efforts of the NDP (National Development Plan), which aims to improve female employment and empowerment (Benjamin, 2017:2), and the business environment should adapt their policies to address equality so that the glass ceiling can be broken down through females’ positive views.
Additional childcare services can also be an incentive to offer females at their place of employment within certain employment or management levels. If the industry allows it, onsite day- care centres can be implemented that even include after-school supervision for bigger children.
Employers could offer or include safe transport services for children to and from school to the onsite centre. This will eliminate family concerns of females as well as ‘misused time’ that they could be deposited back into the business and also increase productivity.
Another recommendation is the implementation of flexitime for all employees with regard to working hours. If it is applicable to all employees, then no one is excluded, which also leads to inclusivity and increases morale for females who do not have children; they can also work towards their career goals even though they do not face the work-life balance as mothers do.