According to Sandi Richardson, CPO at RCS, days such as International Women’s Day offer a moment to look beyond celebration and consider the ripple effects of opportunity, and how investment in women can shape outcomes far beyond the workplace.
Sandi believes that when women are given access to fair pay, education and leadership pathways, the impact rarely ends with the individual, but moves through families, communities and local economies, multiplying in ways that few other investments can match.
For her, that idea sits at the heart of this year’s International Women’s Day Give to Gain theme, as she shares how empowering women in the workplace does more than advance careers.
Q: The idea that women reinvest up to 90 percent of their income into their households is powerful. How should HR leaders think about the economic ripple effect of empowering women in the workplace?
That statistic humbles me every time I say it out loud – 90 percent. Think about what that means in practice. When a woman earns more, her children are nourished, educated and healthier. Her community becomes more stable. Local businesses benefit. It is not a single transaction. It is a chain reaction – when empowerment is shared, it is multiplied!
For HR leaders, the shift in thinking needs to be this: empowering women is not a nice-to-have people initiative. It is an economic strategy with a multiplier effect that extends well beyond the walls of any single organisation. When we invest in a woman’s career progression, her salary growth, her financial literacy and her access to leadership, we are not just developing one employee. We are building resilience in an entire ecosystem.
At RCS, we serve a mass middle income market where women are often the primary financial decision-makers in their households. This same demographic is found in our employee base – where we are 76 percent female. We see first-hand that when women are financially empowered at work, that confidence travels home with them. It changes how they manage their finances, how they plan for their children’s futures and how they show up in their communities. HR leaders who understand this don’t question whether gender equity programmes are worth the investment. They know that the real question is what are we leaving on the table by not prioritising them?
Q: In your experience, what are the most overlooked ways organisations can unlock the economic potential of women employees?
The big-ticket items get a lot of airtime. Equal pay audits, parental leave policies, female leadership pipelines. All important. But what often gets missed are the quieter things, the things that erode potential before they even become visible.
The first is financial wellness. Women in our market are often carrying significant financial stress at home. That stress does not stay at the door when they come to work. Offering proper financial education and support, not just a pamphlet about retirement savings, but genuine tools to help women understand credit, budgeting and wealth building, makes a meaningful difference.
The second is education. In our South African context, many women are not afforded an opportunity to study beyond high school due to socio-economic challenges. At RCS we prioritise the further education of our team members who show potential because we know it will assist them in their progression.
The third is sponsorship versus mentorship. Women tend to be over-mentored and under-sponsored. Mentorship gives advice. Sponsorship opens doors. HR leaders need to be the corporate conscience to ensure there are senior people actively advocating for women in rooms where those women are not present.
Q: What data or outcomes have you seen that prove gender equity is a business growth strategy?
The data globally is compelling and consistent. McKinsey has shown for many years running that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are significantly more likely to outperform financially. The IMF has made the case that closing gender pay gaps in labour markets could boost GDP meaningfully across most economies.
But I find real-world proof points more powerful than aggregate statistics. RCS supports the Small Enterprise Foundation (SEF), which has disbursed nearly six million loans to women running small businesses. These are not abstract numbers. These are rural women who built micro-enterprises, created jobs and reinvested income into schools, healthcare and food security in their communities. The economic return on that investment is extraordinary.
Q: Many organisations talk about inclusion, but fewer connect it to economic value. How can companies measure the financial impact of women’s advancement?
At RCS, over 60 percent of our executive team comprises women. We know we can’t stop with only tracking and measuring these metrics.
The more meaningful measurements connect to business performance. Look at revenue per head in teams with greater gender balance at leadership level. Track innovation output, the number of new products, processes or ideas generated. Look at customer satisfaction scores in customer-facing roles where women are well represented. Look at staff retention rates and what that saves in recruitment and training costs.
Financial wellness programmes for women employees can also be measured. Track productivity, absenteeism and engagement before and after. When financial stress decreases, performance tends to increase. That link is more direct than most organisations acknowledge.
For RCS specifically, our customers are predominantly women. Understanding what it means to truly serve a woman’s financial needs requires having women’s voices shaping strategy at every level. When we get that right, it shows up in customer loyalty and product relevance. That is measurable. You can point to it in a commercial review and say, this is what inclusion delivers.
Q: Looking ahead, what should meaningful progress in women’s financial empowerment in the workplace look like over the next decade?
As I reflect on my own progress, I know that I am the product of those who came before me and paved the way. At this point of my career, I find myself in deep thought about what I want for future generations.
I think that there are practical ways we can advance women’s financial empowerment at work:
- First, wellness in all its forms (physical, emotional, financial, etc) should become a standard employee benefit, not a nice extra, so we are able to tailor the employer experience to their unique needs when it is needed most. We know that women still tend to be the primary home carer while juggling work. This can lead to burnout risk and even a slower career progression.
- Secondly, women in our market, particularly in South Africa where the intersections of race, gender and economic access are complex, should have genuine pathways into high-growth areas like technology, investment and entrepreneurship.
Q: What advice would you give CHROs looking to embed women’s empowerment into the DNA of their organisational culture?
Start with a strong partnership with your CEO and board. Women’s empowerment cannot live only in the HR function or in a diversity report that the executive team reads once a year. It needs to be a genuine objective at the most senior level of the organisation. That is when it gets real traction.
Build broad and comprehensive wellness into your employee value proposition. For many women, financial stress is a daily reality. Giving women tools, knowledge and access to resources that improve their financial decision-making is one of the most tangible ways an employer can demonstrate genuine care.
And finally, be patient with the process but impatient with the pace. Cultural change takes time. But that cannot become an excuse for a slow walk. Set targets and try initiatives that best serve the women in your business by taking their feedback into account. Report progress and hold leaders accountable. The organisations that are genuinely changing are the ones where this work has a sponsor at the top who is willing to be uncomfortable in service of something important.
