Today is International Women’s Day and the theme this year is Women in Leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”. Kochie’s Business Builders asked some of the nation’s leading entrepreneurs, small business owners and leaders to share their thoughts on the theme.While the consequences of the pandemic were heart-breaking for women, one thing that the pandemic afforded us was the chance to have a more flexible way of working. Employers need to capitalise on the opportunity that remote work offers women, and find a way to make true flexible work available for all employees even when COVID-19 is behind us, to encourage women to pursue their careers.

Kris Grant, CEO, ASPL Group

True flexible work means a working environment where staff are encouraged to get the work done at the times that suit them best, and not ‘flexible work’ where the expectation is that staff are chained to their home office desks from nine to five. It also means educating the workforce on unconscious bias towards women in the workplace, as they continue to carry the majority of responsibilities of their households, caring for their children and keeping on top of housework, while also committing to their careers. It’s about calling out poor behaviours and valuing the contributions that diversity brings to every organisation.

International Women’s Day is an opportunity to reflect on what you can do individually, and as part of your workplace at any level, to help with the attitudinal change required to help us reach gender equality sooner rather than later.