UAE’s leading magazines Aquarius spoke to HR experts, including PeopleFirst HR Consultancy Managing Director, Asma Bajawa about the top three things that affect the lives as career women – motivation, work/life balance and gender equality – this is what Asma had to say.

We recently came across a tongue-in-cheek article by The Cooper Report called ‘Non-threatening Leadership Strategies For Women’. Its ‘advice’ included putting smiley faces in emails to try come across as more friendly, and not being too direct when setting a deadline so as not to come across as too bossy. Although it was satire, it made us realise how many of these things we do daily at work, and yes, it probably is to make people like us more. We asked MD of People First whether women tend to shy away from assertiveness at work in a way that men don’t, and what this means…
The gender divide at work

“There’s no denying that the gender equality movement across the GCC still has a long way to go. So the issue isn’t whether women shy away from assertiveness or not, the issue is not having a balanced scale of equality. When men and women both have an equal chance to contribute to the economy, workplace, community and home, they are enhancing an entire society and country. Thankfully, the work culture and professional values in the UAE are changing rapidly; not only are we seeing more women in the workplace, we are seeing more women in senior management roles and as business entrepreneurs. At the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange, women constitute 43 per cent of its investors, while the city’s businesswomen’s association boasts 14,000 members. In the past 10 years we have seen women taking on government positions with Shaikha Lubna Bint Khalid Bin Sultan Al Qasimi, appointed as Minister for Economy and Planning in November 2004 and subsequently promoted to her current post as Minister of Foreign Trade. Shaikha Lubna holds the distinction of being the first woman to hold a ministerial post in the country and her efforts have led her to be rated within the Forbes magazine’s 100 Most Powerful Women.

“This is all great progress. Research shows that companies with gender equality perform better and this is the key to achieving sustained economic growth.

“Gender equality and gender inclusiveness should be encouraged across the UAE if organisations want to be progressive, fair and benefit from gender diversity. This will take time and requires patience. Changing mindsets which have been shaped and influenced by decades of tradition will take years to change, however development in recent years are showing promising trends in the right direction.

“In my opinion, today’s challenging business environment demands both men and women to perform at their best. Men and women must be able to engage with others in a collaborative manner so that they can work together and focus on what the individual brings rather than what gender he or she is.”