The audit, tax and advisory industry has transformed significantly over the years and gradually the skills pool in this industry has become more diverse. Despite developing the same skills and receiving the same qualifications as their male counterparts, there is still a trend among female professionals to fill traditionally female-orientated roles in commerce. This is one of the reasons traditionally male-dominated industries are slow to transform at a leadership level.
Michelle Olckers, the co-chief executive of Mazars in South Africa, said it was vital for an industry such as auditing to include a much larger female component in its leadership structures.
“To its credit, the audit industry has made good strides recently in increasing the number of female leaders on their executives in the sector, with Mazars being one of the leaders in this area.”
The latest numbers from the South African Institute of Chartered Accountants show that about 40% of the currently active CAs are female. However, we don’t see those numbers coming through at the top levels of audit firms.
“Women add a huge amount of value to leadership, and we are increasingly viewed as critical to driving the future success of the industry. We need to start looking at the reasons why there is so little flow-through of female leaders and put more plans in place to address that,” Olckers said.
Development and support
Speaking from her own experience even with corporate clients, she said while many companies are putting initiatives in place to increase the number of women who make it to top positions, many of the most promising candidates are still being overlooked.
“I believe that more focus should be put on developing and then supporting women in leadership roles in South Africa. These appointments often just exist to satisfy external perception and board composition requirements. As a result, not enough time is spent on developing the best candidates for these roles, and companies often only include the minimum number of women in their leadership structures to fill a quota.”
Not only does this lead to promising candidates being overlooked, but it also limits the useful contribution that women can indeed make in leadership roles.
“If you fundamentally shift the focus to growing and supporting skilled female leaders within these organisations and showing women that it isn’t necessary to take a back seat or choose between a family and a successful career, for instance, I believe that there will be a much more natural flow-through of strong female leaders who can do more than just fill a mandated spot on the board.”
Olckers said the highly regulated, strongly process-driven profession needs the unique skills that women have to offer to be successful.
Mentorship and networking
Mentorship programmes are one of the most important tools to help companies build a leadership structure with a bigger female component.
“Looking at my own background, taking on leadership roles and eventually rising to the co-CEO level has been a journey that included many obstacles and sometimes pushed me far out of my comfort zone, in an effort to be understood for my different perspective and style.
“I was fortunate to work with men who believed in my abilities, were prepared to accept these differences as an advantage and who were willing to mentor me. We only truly grow further by learning from the experiences of those who came before us.”
She said the ability to network is also a critical skill required to be noticed and to make one’s mark in a male dominated profession, taking into consideration that women tend to network differently from men.
“With this in mind, I would say that leaders should make it a priority to identify and mentor strong candidates. At the same time, I would encourage young women in this industry to develop their networking skills, find strong mentors on their career path, and define their own purpose and uniqueness. As more women become leaders in this industry, I think it will also become easier for young women to find and connect with females in senior positions who understand them and with whom they can relate.”
Olckers said she was encouraged that the list of female leaders in business was growing across the board.
“Research shows that around 39% of senior management positions in Africa are now being filled by women. It is up to the audit industry to not only keep pace with these numbers but to lead the way, as we want to continue to service and advise companies from a diversified vantage point that fits the leadership of the future,” she said.
