Jakarta, August 15th, 2021. Director & Chief Strategic Transformation and Information Officer of PT XL Axiata Tbk (XL Axiata), Yessie D. Yosetya, reminded the importance of the existence of a "female talent pipeline" to ensure that women have equal opportunities to reach senior management positions in all industrial sectors. According to him, in the last few decades, although gender equality and women's participation in advancing the economy have continued to increase, the talent path for them is considered to be narrowing.
“In fact, according to the Global Gender Gap Report (GGGR) 2021 data, only 27% of leadership roles in managerial positions are women. In terms of gender equality, this figure shows some progress compared to one year ago, but still remains significantly under-represented. At the global level, there are only three female leaders of color who are registered as CEOs in Fortune 500 companies," said Yessie in her capacity as Chair of the Empower Indonesia G20 Forum.
According to Yessie, this condition looks even worse with the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. Citing data from the International Labor Organization (ILO), the reduction in jobs in 2020 was higher for women than for men. Therefore, the pandemic also raises new obstacles to the efforts to improve gender equality around the world, including on the talent pool for women.
After investing in female employees when they enter junior positions, employers often seem to lose their presence because they fail to retain talent at higher levels. This is in line with the concern that had been raised at the 2020 World Economic Forum, that "there are obstacles in the process of women retention in talent channel and in their promotion to leadership roles" which have the potential to affect efforts to increase gender equality in the private sector.
ILO data also states that in 2019, the participation rate of women in the workforce was 27% below that of men. Globally, based on the calculation of the population average, nearly 80% of men aged 15-64 year old are in the workforce versus only 52.6% of women in the same age group. This is part of the explanation as to why the gender gap in labor participation remains above 35%, based on the 2021 GGGR data.
Therefore, Yessie calls for the private and public sectors to focus on protecting the female talent path from various obstacles that will come in the future as an effort to fight for gender equality. According to her, at the second plenary session of the G20 Empower Forum which took place on May 4, 2021, several steps were successfully formulated that were considered effective and needed to be implemented immediately.
First, changing the culture and thinking about the role of women in the life of society and business. Gender stereotypes and bias or opposition to gender equality is one of the biggest constraining factors that hinder women's talent pathways in many sectors. Therefore, concrete steps are needed that can show increased gender sensitivity, including providing access to teleworking in a flexible workplace, providing retention, and training. In addition, there are opportunities for succession, promotion, and transparency on equal pay.
“Research has shown repeatedly that the more a company has female managers and values gender equality, the more profitable it is. Quotas or targets in the business world can ensure that the access of eligible women in the management position is no longer denied due to their gender,” said Yessie.
Second, fixing the system damage. Although today's business leaders have inherited a corporate and industry culture where women participate at the junior, middle, and senior levels, they are still lacking at the senior management leadership level. They are less effective in promoting gender equality, including not maximally assisting women in continuing their professional path.
Yessie invites leaders from the private sector in Indonesia to work together to overcome the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and at the same time strengthen gender equality to the leadership level. The concrete things that can be implemented are very clear as mentioned above. In addition, now women have the opportunity to show leadership skills, as well as participate more in handling the impact of the pandemic. In the G20 Empower Indonesia alliance, apart from Yessie as Chair, there is also Rinawati Prihatiningsih from the Indonesian Women Entrepreneurs Association (IWAPI) as Co-Chair. Meanwhile, representatives from the government were represented by Eko Novi as Assistant Deputy for the Increase of Participation of Professional Institutions and the Business World at the Ministry of Women's Empowerment and Child Protection.
In an effort to promote gender equality, in addition to collaborating with the Ministry of PPPA through the Sisternet program, XL Axiata also provides employee capacity building programs, such as the Axiata Champion and Xseed Program, where selected employees get career assistance opportunities. By having 240 employees at the leadership level, 29.6% of whom are women, XL Axiata has almost closed the gap according to the national norm of 30%. In addition, two of the six directors are women, namely the President Director & CEO of XL Axiata, Dian Siswarini, and the Director & Chief Strategic Transformation and Information Officer of XL Axiata, Yessie D. Yosetya. Yessie was also officially appointed as chair of the G20 Empower representing Indonesia.