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Zenith Bank Nigeria Plc is one of Nigeria’s largest bank by asset base and profitability. With a total asset base of about N4.3 trillion and net assets of about N620 billion, it currently ranks has one of the most important Financial Institutions in the country.
However, there is something about the bank and women that needs to improve sooner rather than later.
Zenith Bank currently has a total staff strength of about 6, 275 across its various location in Nigeria and around the world. Out of this amount, it has a total of 3,284 as men and another 2,991 as women. This brings the bank’s Men to Women ratio at about 58% to 48% one of the best in the financial sector.
Zenith Bank also has a total of 22 women as top Management Staff (AGM & GM) representing a healthy 31% of the distribution. This compares well with the likes of 32% and much better than UBA at 23%.
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Unfortunately, this impressive distributions appears to be more dominant in the middle to lower strata of the bank as things are not so good as you move to the very top of the ladder.
Zenith falls short is at the executive management and board strata. Zenith Bank has just one female as director (executive and non-executive) compare to GTB’s 4 (2 each for executive and non-executive). Zenith Bank has a total of 10 board members compared to GTB’s 14. UBA has a total of 16 board members with 12 male and 4 female.
Certainly, this does not bode well for the bank and requires urgent attention.
I am finding it difficult to see the correlation between the number of representation of a particular gender to the performance of the company. The question begs….”How does it not bode well for them”? As it affected their profitability or have there been reported cases of clear gender discrimination? If not this article is baseless and irrelevant.
The need to promote gender equality in some of our largest and most notable businesses cannot be over emphasized. Having a fair representation of women in the board of directors of an organization the size of Zenith Bank send a strong message to the corporate world that women are indeed capable of being in charge of some of the most operationally complex businesses in Nigeria. Having women at the very top executive position in Nigerian banks is also a policy action of the World Bank.
I totally understand the need for equal opportunity and the need to create an environment where women can feel they can reach great heights and achieve what they want to achieve. But using quotas and statistics to judge a complex issue, is just oversimplifying it. This is dangerous, because setting criteria and statistical benchmarks for compliance with certain agendas will only push organizations to inorganically comply and we as economically sound people know what happens to any form of inorganic growth right.
Why don’t these international organizations implore others to embrace practices that make it easier for women to combine career with their own personal lives, knowing that the structure of our society supports male dominance in certain workplaces like banks. This social structure cannot be reversed by some international pronouncements and even when you promote these women, you now put them in a place where they have to trade off with certain things, that for some actually give them happiness. Meanwhile for a man, success in career is a huge source of happiness and self esteem booster.
If equal opportunity is embraced, promotion and evaluation is objective and programs are created to support women (such as providing creches near workplace, flexi-hours, infrastructure to allow women work from home, more hours for pregnant and nursing mothers), women will naturally rise within the workplace and reach these heights. Women are already surpassing men in academic achievements, because there are lesser institutional or hindrances to excellence in most educational centres, than we see in life after school.
I think this post appears offensive with a really ‘sensational’ headline. I first thought it was about Zenith using women to market clients in an undesirable manner but thankfully it had nothing to do with that. Whilst I believe that over time more women will get representations at top positions, I do not support the idea of ‘forced’ gender balance as some countries have done as that could make organisations sacrifice merit on the altar of gender balance. What is more important is that merit is upheld and people are not cheated because of their gender so that when women are due for promotion to certain levels of management, the promotion is not withheld or frustrated. Everyone should be given a level playing field to rise in their chosen career irrespective of gender and Nigeria or indeed Zenith bank is not the only one lagging behind on this issue. My post on statistics of Board composition of some Nigerian companies https://tennygee.wordpress.com/2016/04/16/a-zoom-in-on-board-composition-of-nse-30/
reveals that Zenith is not the only one with few women at the top. I believe this will naturally improve with time.