Echelon - February 2018

Overlooked values

Respect for women is ingrained into the Sri Lankan psyche, right?

How, if that’s the case, can the high incidence of sexual harassment girls undergo in public transport be explained? And why do women who anonymously respond to surveys say that family pressure keeps them from getting a job? Perhaps we aren’t the benign tribe we imagine ourselves to be…

Sri Lankan women’s participation in the labour market is abysmally poor. The gap between men’s and women’s participation is the 14th widest in the world. This has implications for businesses, people, and most critically for the individual women who go without the economic and social empowerment that work brings.

It’s also in the interest of businesses that women are empowered. Sure, they will be customers with new economic power. But, it’s not for a frivols gain. Women are just as capable as are men when it comes to leadership, intelligence and drive.; and they will beat men on qualities critical and anemic in modern business like empathy, honesty, fairness and compassion.

Business leadership teams sometimes lack these qualities and values, causing them to lose touch with consumers, shareholders and other stakeholders. Often, it takes a crisis to realise the folly. Maybe businesses need more women on their teams, and Sri Lankan ones perhaps need women even more.