In August 2022, Statistics SA confirmed that 47% of South African women are economically inactive, which means that almost half of South African women are unemployed, and only 53% are permanently employed. This is in contrast with 64% of South African males who are permanently employed.
Although South Africa has made significant progress in appointing women to permanent positions, it is clear from these statistics that males still take precedence in the workplace. For example, 66% of management positions are filled by males, versus only 33.1% of females in management positions. According to Statistics South Africa, more girls pass Grade 12 annually than boys, but despite females generally having higher qualifications than males, they still earn less, irrespective of the sector in which they are appointed.
At the turn of the 21st century, women were seldom considered for cellar assistant positions, but this is no longer the case. Over the past two decades, women have increasingly been employed in the cellar environment and it is not strange at all to find cellar teams with several female team members.
Twenty years ago, female cellar assistants had to face and overcome multiple challenges in the workplace, some of which were attributed to the conservatism that prevailed at the time. Male cellar assistants believed that women did not belong in the cellars, because at the time they believed it was a "man’s job". This view can be attributed to the fact that men were convinced that women were incapable of performing the demanding work required in the cellars.
There are still challenges that women must deal with, which often require great determination and perseverance. This means that women must have inner strength and be able to establish firm boundaries.
These boundaries do not only refer to personal space, but healthy professional boundaries also include much more. Personal boundaries determine how relationships are established with colleagues and to what extent women commit to their careers. Healthy boundaries mean the difference between professional fulfilment or burnout. Women with firmly established boundaries can refuse unreasonable requests and do not allow fellow colleagues’ emotions to negatively affect them. It is also important that healthy boundaries are flexible so that each person can take responsibility for what is acceptable. Healthy boundaries can benefit everyone, but good communication is certainly essential.
Several women in the wine industry confirmed that they need to be mentally exceptionally strong, but women are often unaware of their own mental power. Melinda Gates once made this profound statement: "A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman, but the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult."
It is also true that the way in which individuals solve problems and challenges is determined by personal views and values. Female views differ from male views and the difference in gender approaches to solving challenges creates opportunities for successful solutions. Therefore, women bring different skills and perspectives to the workplace. The female 'sixth sense' is often underestimated and a source of jokes, but women are far more likely to correctly interpret visual as well as non-verbal signs. This means that females often do better than their male colleagues with problem-solving. Nancy Rathburn, an American psychotherapist once said: "A strong woman understands that gifts such as logic, decisiveness, and strength are just as feminine as intuition and emotional connection. She values and uses all her gifts."
Winemakers report that there are numerous benefits to including women in a cellar team, particularly for their skills and the positive contributions they bring to the cellar environment. It has been found that females increase productivity in the cellar, mainly because they approach problems and challenges from a different perspective than their male colleagues. Thus, the combined approach of males and females leads to greater, improved productivity in finding solutions to problems. When a large percentage of females are permanently employed by a company, greater job satisfaction is often present among the employees.
Women have a more flexible approach to efficiently completing assignments and tasks. It is also claimed that when more females are present in meetings it leads to improved and better collaboration and sometimes quicker decision-making. Therefore, it should be accepted that the different views and skills of both males and females offer positive outcomes to challenges.
Employers are becoming increasingly aware that women generally maintain better interpersonal relationships and communicate more effectively than their male colleagues. Women are also better equipped to act as mentors and more likely to share their knowledge and expertise, which leads to successful knowledge transfer in the cellar.
Communication is the foundation of sound relationships in the cellar. Women are more likely to support colleagues and to support someone during a crisis or "om die pad met iemand te stap". According to a female colleague in the wine industry: "The people who accompany us on our journey are far more important to us than the goals and the destination of our journey."
Sources:
Msimang, Z., Employing more women and paying them equitably will build better businesses and a more just society - The Mail & Guardian, 29 Augustus 2022
Statistics South Africa, South African labour market is more favourable to men than women