Diversity in the workplace will strengthen a company and enable more strategic out-of-the-box decision-making.

This was one of the messages that had emerged from a panel discussion at a True North – Dimension Data women’s forum, held in Bryanston, last week.

Embracing all-round diversity, including a mixed complement of race, gender, age, qualifications and experience – in general, people “who think differently to you” – was a business essential and competitive advantage, JSE CEO Nicky Newton-King said.

Different-minded people examined difficult problems from various perspectives, she pointed out.

“We should be leaning into this,” she suggested, noting that it was possible to transform an organisation and that the JSE was a good example of change.

Currently, of the JSE’s 500 employees, at an average age of 37, 60% were women and 50% were black. Of the 11 executives on the board, eight were women.

Diversity was a key strength for a company, and having three or more women on the board would result in better, more efficient decision-making.

However, while some gains have been made since the promulgation of the amended Bill of Rights, which recognised women as equal citizens, organisational employee complements remained skewed to males.

There was a critical need to attract and grow the presence of women within companies.

With South Africa’s history and continued embrace of racial diversity, the nation was uniquely positioned for this, Newton-King noted.

Further, while much was done to enable black economic-empowerment, not much was done to stimulate gender diversity.

Gordon Institute of Business Science adjunct facility member Maxine Jaffit said the next five years would see one-billion female graduates worldwide enter the corporate world.

“The culture of the organisation will determine whether she thrives or disappears,” she noted, pointing to compassion, collaboration and integrity as three major elements a corporate culture needed to embrace to stimulate their development.