More women landing top jobs in the workplace

Sheldon Williams, Gleaner Writer

The visibility of women in decision-making roles in corporate entities is becoming more apparent. Four female professionals from three of Jamaica's top companies have suggested that the appointment of women to leadership posts is now comparative to their male counterparts.

Makeba Bennett-Easy, vice-president of organisational development at Columbus Communications Jamaica Limited, operators of the Flow and Columbus Business Solutions brands, said the status quo began to change years ago, and the positive changes continue for women in a male-dominated culture.

"A lot has changed over the last couple of years - I would say, in the last five years. I am seeing a lot more females being put in senior management roles and decision-making roles."

Cheryl Hylton, head of information technology at Digicel Jamaica, agreed that more women, including herself, are being promoted to top-tier roles based on merit. She argued that companies are more focused on selecting the best candidate for a post to stimulate competitiveness, rather than seeing gender as a determining factor.

"I believe that in Jamaica, we are moving away from that kind of subjugation. Perhaps this is my private fairy tale. However, I think that as organisations strive to remain competitive, our collective emphasis has moved, or is moving, towards production and service. We are becoming more aware of persons as individual contributors rather than focusing on whether they are male or female," she remarked.

EMPHASIS ON PERSPECTIVES

But Sheree Martin, senior vice-president of customer and corporate services at the Jamaica Public Service Company, said emphasis should be placed on gender balance, as men and women may have different perspectives of leadership.

"I believe women and men come from two different places when decision-making is considered. The combined perspective of males and females does bring more balance for better decision-making. But it takes an enlightened top leader - whoever is ultimately accountable, whether chairman, CEO, president, etc., - to appreciate that and to understand that this approach can work to his/her benefit in the long run."