Don’t Limit Business
Growth by Focusing on only Half of the World
Small business ownership and growth are complicated
undertakings and require entrepreneurs to be skilled and nimble jugglers that
can simultaneously manage every facet of their companies’ activities. It stands
to reason that an astute business owner, in order to be successful, should
assemble the most comprehensive, skilled team of managers and employees
possible not only to the job well but also to disseminate positive brand and civic
awareness. This group should include both skilled men and women dispersed
horizontally and vertically throughout the company.
Hiring and promoting women is not only good for large and
small businesses but also for the planet. Women have skills and likes that men
don’t share. While this is not necessarily bad, being aware of this is a
win-win-win.
This process offers your business comprehensive benefits
that will illuminate its presence and successes locally and globally. Such a
business plan supports UN Sustainable
Development Goal #5 – Achieve Gender Equality and Empower All Women and
Girls. Consequently, by hiring and promoting women, your small business
declares itself to be sustainable and you should invest time and money in
pursuing this endeavor. By educating and empowering girls – or at least helping
to do that – will help sustainable development down the road and across
calendars.
HIRE WOMEN; EDUCATE
GIRLS
The case for companies to act this way is compelling. Hiring
women, empowering then, and declaring your business to be sustainable
contribute to your growth, drive your business and add to your bottom line. The
undisputable truth is that consumers favor a sustainable company.
Sustainability, you may know, involves 17 goals. In this article I’ll focus on
#5.
According to a post about women and climate change by Leah
Rodriguez on the Global Citizen website (www.globalcitizen.org),
“Evidence shows investing in girls and women is a promising climate solution.
Women can use strong ties to their communities to advocate and gain
trust for renewable energy technologies, for example. And experts say
educating girls, empowering women in leadership, and involving women in
agricultural decisions are also hopeful routes, but they are often overlooked.”
Women in the board room exude talents that fulfill the
company’s business plan. Venture capital firm First Round Capital evaluated
more than 300 companies and 600 founders and found that their higher performing
investments tend to have at least one female founder, and companies with a
female founder performed 63% better than those with all-male founding teams.
Why does the presence of women in a company contribute to
its success? One reason cites a textbook example of the differences between the
sexes: Men see business barriers as obstacles, while women often see them as
opportunities. Women act on the basis of opportunities. Their unique strengths include
blending purpose and profit to the betterment of all and they are creating
competitive advantage by incorporating cause marketing – a sustainable issue.
By linking their brand and marketing to a cause, women can boost customer
awareness, drive sales, polish their reputation, give back to the community,
and lower marketing costs, all at the same time. Deliverables sought by all
business owners.
Successful women are more likely than successful men to own
a business so they can pursue a personal passion and to make a positive impact
on the world – like fostering the 17 SDGs, according to 2013 U.S. Trust
Insights on Wealth and Worth. Seventy percent of the women and only 62% of the
men are committed to increasing the level of their sustainable activities,
according to Cox Conserves, a national sustainability program run by Cox
Communications and Media.
There is a lot more persuasive evidence that demonstrates
that gender equity is not just politically correct window-dressing, but good
business. But there are pitfalls. Companies are trying to increase the number
of women in executive positions, yet many are struggling to do so because they’ve
failed to adapt workplace conditions to ensure that qualified women do not drop
off the corporate ladder, surveys have shown.
Rodriguez pointed this out by saying that women are often
excluded from major government and decision making, but when they are empowered
to participate, they bring more empathy and inclusiveness to the table. Equal
leadership representation benefits both men and women.
WOMEN EXECUTIVES MAKE
DIFFERENCE
She wrote that research shows that companies with more women
executives on their boards are more likely to reduce carbon emissions, improve
energy efficiency, and invest in renewable energy. According to one study by
researchers at the University of Oregon and University of California at Davis,
countries with higher female parliamentary representation are more likely to
ratify international environmental treaties. And when women have secure rights
and access to land, they use their resources sustainably.
Rodriguez also pointed out that for the sake of SDG #5 it’s
not enough to hire women. Governments, industry groups and companies should
focus on girls’ education. I thought, OK, but that’s an issue for a less-developed
country. But not really. Here, in the United States, we have many so-called
inner city schools that lack resources to adequately educate and train youth – including
girls – to be worthwhile members of society, to contribute to their jobs and
communities, to earn a decent living for themselves and their families. Perhaps
even to uncover solutions to today’s problems.
“Investing in girls’ education could be a potentially
powerful solution to some of the adaptation strategies and mitigation
strategies that many climate actors are really invested in,” Christina Kwuak,
global economy and development fellow at the Brookings Institution's Center for
Universal Education, told Global Citizen.
Sadly people who are involved in climate policymaking are
not broadly thinking about education because they’re overlooking girls’
education. Investing in girls’ education can ensure the next generation has the
STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and
ecologically-oriented skills necessary to transition to a green economy,
Kwuak explained.
For example, many climate efforts are focused on women who
are in agricultural sectors, but Kwuak warns against only considering
women, not girls. She elaborated saying that considering women means limiting
solutions to the later years of their lives, as opposed to ensuring that they have
the skills and energy to hit the ground running earlier.
The organization Mothers Out Front aims to unite mothers,
grandmothers, and other caregivers to use their expertise to support the
climate movement. Kim Sudderth, senior organizer at Mothers Out Front’s
Virginia chapter, works to encourage women who are not used to being in
leadership roles to step up for their communities.
“Typically women and mothers are more in tune with what’s
happening with our children in particular and our family as a whole,” Sudderth
was quoted as saying. “Having us left out of the conversation, you lose that
important perspective that should be involved in helping to shape decisions.”
“For decision-makers, folks who are in elected positions,
what they can do is make a special effort to prepare women and people of color
to be ready to serve on those boards and commissions to be part of the process,” she
added.
Business and industry must contribute to this effort and don’t
belittle such maternal-based organizations. Consider the prevalence and
accomplishments of organizations that begin with “Mothers Against…”
Indeed, opening your company door to women employees and
helping girls’ education may be as simple as decided to do so. However, share
your views with your company. You, the business owner, may have a progressive
disposition about diversity, inclusion, equal rights for women and gender
equality, but your managers and staff may not. To nip possible disruptive
dissension in the bud, owners must begin by openly addressing this issue with
all of the senior and subordinate employees, explaining why you’re launching
this program and what will be the benefits – not threats – for the company and
all of the employees.
BUSINESS & GOVERNMENT
REPRESENTATION
Since you support SDG #5, your task is to ensure that women
fully participate and are equally represented in all levels of business as well
as national leadership and decision-making in economic, political and social
aspects of life. A major reason why women are still lagging behind socially and
economically is because they lack political, economic, social and civil support
for their plans and goals. Largely due to educational qualification barriers,
women representative positions are either given to under-qualified women or
even men who have little or no knowledge of what exactly the challenges faced
by women are. Consequently, businesses support for girls’ education is equally
valuable.
You’ve also committed to formulate and execute social
reforms to grant women equal ability to access economic resources, financial
services, and ownership and control of properties such as lands and homes, in
accordance with respective national laws. Work with municipal governments and
school boards to ensure that girls have equal access to education. Your
community, marketplace and business and soon afterward the globe will benefit.
None of this means that you have to turn your company upside
down. It means that you run your business in a locally and globally responsible,
inclusive manner with genuinely equal opportunities for every employee.
And you will reap the benefits. As I have written before,
businesses that participate in the Sustainable Development Goals stand to
experience an unbelievable windfall. The SDGs hold great possibilities and have
the potential to unleash innovation, economic growth and development at an
unprecedented scale. Studies show it could be worth at least $12 trillion a
year in market opportunities and generate up to 380 million new jobs by 2030. In
today’s marketplace, the affluent demographic cohort known as Millennials is
drawn to this type of business and puts its money where its beliefs are.
Scroll through my blog to read about more ways to boost your
outreach.
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website:
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