Business Action for Gender Inclusion advocacy initiative is about changing the narrative from   gender  ‘problem’ to  ‘solution’ frame with fresh thinking through  the  ‘Gender Life Stage Opportunity Matrix’ innovation.

Over the years, many strong arguments have been advanced for concrete gender inclusion in private sector.

These range from considerable improvements in bottomline, productivity, innovation, attrition reduction, better decisions, diverse markets to customer satisfaction through research studies undertaken by the likes of Catalyst and McKinsey & Co.

Yet,if gender reporting indicators and disclosures are anything to go by, private sector continues to grapple with wide pay-gaps, under representation on the Boards, leaky talent pipelines,unequal access to opportunities, stratified markets not to mention a host of cascading challenges in skewed work-life balance,shattered communities and stunted human development and ultimately gender narrative falling ‘in the problem’ frame.

The reason, we believe, this continues to happen is because the ‘problem’ to the ‘solution’ frame narrative has not changed and gender ‘full potential’ is not reached through various ‘life age and stage’ transitions and consequently world’s other half woefully ‘is left behind’.

Through this initiative, we provide a ‘Gender Life Stage Opportunity Matrix’ concept to help businesses visualize a range of opportunities they can create for their significant workforce, make them vigorous partners and solutioneers in progress in order that their potential is fully realized and the world made a better place to live in.

The Gender Life Stage Opportunity Matrix’s innovation lays in integrating the gender life stage transitions with economic, social and ecological dimensions of the sustainability continuum on the one hand and progressively increasing the spheres of action from personal to communities to societal on the other. Coupled with this is the third dimension of playing multiple roles in participation-contribution-driving-influencing continuum to help achieve positive and permanent development outcomes as corporate intrapreneurs, social entrepreneurs,inclusive business partners, community and skill champions, partnership-collaboration drivers and public policy influencers. The benefits of which,over a period of time, are bound to reflect in various global indices that cover competitiveness, social progress and sustainable development.

Through this subtle yet powerful frame and narrative change focus in this initiative, we sincerely hope, a fresh and even stronger business case for gender inclusion is established and private sector would in all earnestness embrace it and begin to reap rich rewards through its diligent application in their strategic, geographic and operational contexts.

And this is can be possible through a potential two stepped approach 1)Perform gender inclusion readiness baseline assessment using a standard such as EDGE and 2) Tap the enabling networks expertise to map and take action on the context specific opportunities.