Mobilising female talent and potential
WOMEN empowerment is a necessity in the workplace and beyond but without real, systemic change in organisations, empowerment will not be accomplished.
The days of confining the focus on women empowerment to Women’s Month and making bold statements that later amount to little or no results are no longer valid or impactful.
At ViacomCBS, gender diversity is at the heart of our organisation. It is the pulse in every boardroom, every production, every conversation and every project.
We need to shift the conversation about empowerment, stop talking and establish more systemic change to support the movement. The theme for this International Women’s Day is “Choose to Challenge,” a call out to women across the world and allies to bring to light instances of inequality.
As a global company with audiences in nearly every part of the world, we will continue to use our platforms to challenge, educate and inform.
As a leader raised by a tenacious and strong grandmother, it’s not hard for me to see why women bring value, greater profits and enhanced problem-solving to any space they occupy. To this day, the teachings and wisdom of my grandmother have stayed with me and constantly inspire greater collaboration across all genders.
Gender diversity among leaders has long been proven to have concrete business benefits. However, some companies are still not prioritising developing and retaining great women leaders. Why is that?
To me, women empowerment should go beyond a talk shop. We need to showcase real change. We need to ask ourselves, where are the women in leadership teams, in our boardrooms, our war rooms, our creative teams? We need to stop to ask, “who should be included in the room?”
ViacomCBS prides itself on exemplifying diverse thinking and ensuring that no voice is under-represented.
We do this with the understanding that innovation is birthed when there is a plurality of voices in any decision-making space. It is this thinking that fuels us to always strive to have gender equity and balanced representation. I am reminded of some of the female talent that has been nurtured and mentored to the top of the ranks by ViacomCBS Africa.
Nomzamo Mbatha is one of the three finalists of the 2012 MTV Base VJ Search. This young creative and philanthropist is one of our greatest African talents currently thriving in Hollywood and shattering ceilings. Similarly, Pearl Thusi exemplifies what it means to be a South African star.
They have taken the African story to international shores, giving young girls like my teenage daughter, someone to aspire to.
Thusi is the show runner of BET Africa’s Behind the Story and started out at ViacomCBS as an on-air presenter, then evolved to associate producer as part of our incubation programme. She now drives the narrative of her show, while producing and pulling together an exceptional series that resonates with her target audience.
BET Africa continues to drive black excellence and culture that celebrates powerful women who are forging a path of their own, as portrayed in the recent hit reality series on the channel that featured Boity Thulo in Own Your Throne, Khanyi Mbau’s Mbau Reloaded and the upcoming Her Majesty: Busiswa set to air this month.
It is through systemic change and mobilising women empowerment in the DNA of our organisations that we will begin to see true change.