Valli Arunachalam: Diverse corporate leadership is key to post-pandemic survival of all humanity

Jacinda Ardern, just before being sworn in as prime minister of New Zealand in October 2017. She once said: 'I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong.' (Image via Wikimedia Commons CC 4.0)

The second, more virulent COVID-19 wave is raging through India. It has brought immense suffering to people everywhere. However, its impact is not shared equally. Numerous studies show that women are being disproportionately affected by the pandemic.

The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy data shows a persistent decline in the employment rate for urban women, from 7.5% pre-pandemic to 5% in April 2021. Ironically, the warriors “manning” the front lines of the COVID-19 battle are disproportionately women health care workers. According to a World Health Organization (WHO) report titled “Delivered by Women, Led by Men”, women constitute 70% of the global health workforce, but hold only 25% of senior roles.

Women leaders are scarce in the rest of the corporate world, too. The COVID-19 crisis has fundamentally changed the way we live, learn, work and commute. Women in the workforce, who were already struggling to balance their careers and household responsibilities, are now further challenged.

They are making significant personal sacrifices to swiftly tackle the challenges brought on by the pandemic such as working from home, managing full-time childcare with remote education, additional eldercare and housework, and increased domestic violence. Likewise, corporate boards must swiftly adapt and diversify by including more women directors to better connect with working women, to understand and to address their issues. The question is not whether corporate boards can diversify, but whether corporate boards can afford not to diversify for their post pandemic survival?

The findings of a 2020 Deloitte Study of 400 working women across nine countries, including India, is sobering. Nearly 82% of women surveyed said their lives have been negatively disrupted by the pandemic, and 70% of them believe their career progression will slow down. The number of women who say they are responsible for 75% or more of caregiving responsibilities has nearly tripled during the pandemic.

The advent of the more virulent second wave, and the possibility of a third wave will likely further accelerate this trend. The UN Secretary-General’s 2020 policy brief underscores the regressive impact of COVID-19 on gender equality. While women make up only 39% of global employment, they account for 54% of overall job losses. Women’s jobs are almost twice as vulnerable as men’s.

While crises, such as pandemics, exacerbate inequalities and expose vulnerabilities, they also accelerate solutions. However, no pandemic has so brutally impacted both the economic and social landscape as COVID-19. Any robust recovery plan must therefore cover both economic and social aspects.

Economic recovery plans include acceleration and investments in technologies such as digital, artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, blockchain and cloud. According to a new McKinsey global survey of executives, such plans have already been accelerated by 3-7 years. However, in order for them to be sustainable they must be augmented by accelerated programs to improve the wellbeing of employees and their families, particularly those who have been hardest hit, women. According to Melinda Gates, “This is how we can emerge from the pandemic in all of its dimensions: by recognizing that women are not just victims of a broken world; they can be architects of a better one.”

An injection of transformational and compassionate corporate leadership is vital for surviving the pandemic and for building a stronger and more resilient economy and society. In the words of Jacinda Ardern, the Prime Minister of New Zealand, who epitomizes this leadership style, “One of the criticisms I have faced over the years is that I am not aggressive enough or assertive enough, or maybe somehow, because I am empathetic, I am weak. I totally rebel against that. I refuse to believe that you cannot be both compassionate and strong”.

According to a research study reported in the December 2020 Harvard Business Review, women were rated significantly better leaders than men by those who worked with them. The gap widened in the pandemic, possibly indicating that women tend to perform better in a crisis. Women outscored men in 13 of the 19 competencies that comprised overall leadership effectiveness. Additionally, the study revealed what employees value and need from leaders during the crisis.

They want leaders who are able to pivot and learn new skills; who emphasize employee development even when times are tough; who display honesty and integrity; and who are sensitive and understanding of the stress, anxiety, and frustration that people are feeling. These traits are hallmarks of the great transformational leaders of our time, from Mahatma Gandhi to the five women leaders (Angela Merkel, Jacinda Ardern, Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Sanna Marin and Tsai Ing-wen) who have adeptly steered their countries through the COVID crisis.

To address the economic and social vulnerabilities that the pandemic has exposed, the corporate world needs to work in taskforce mode to restructure and diversify its command central - its boardrooms. The research and data unequivocally indicate that women leaders have the right mix of skills and behavioural traits to address today’s challenges. Corporations must heed the data if they are serious about building forward stronger/better.

Teresa White, President of AFLAC USA, and their Field General for Coronavirus, talked about how a corporation can lead through these tough times - “Make sure that you are treating your employees right. Make sure that you take care of the employees and they will take care of the business. Otherwise, when the crisis happens, you have no one to help you." Having more women in decision-making roles will ensure that the one-size-fits-all approach is replaced by customized approaches.

Longstanding and neglected issues, especially those impacting women, will be brought to the forefront and addressed. Consequently, women’s career advancement prospects will improve. The collective intelligence and capabilities of all employees will be harnessed effectively to build healthier, more sustainable and profitable corporations.

Clearly, while businesses have much to gain from including women’s voices, they have much to lose from not including them. The question is, will corporate leadership step up to the challenge and accelerate diversification for the post pandemic survival of all humanity?