One view on the absence of Caymanians in corporate leadership contends that we decline advancement offers because the work/life balance is skewed…we are labelled as complacent and not willing to put in the long hard hours like our expatriate counterparts to climb the corporate ladder and become successful.
Another view is that while Caymanians are equally capable, the deciding factor (for whatever reason) is the effort each puts forth and the sacrifices each makes toward achieving their goals. So which is it – the leadership culture crated by employers or the actions and decisions made by Caymanians on the road to top management?
While explanations vary concerning the relative scarcity of Caymanians in top management, statistics consistently show a sluggish rate of growth of Caymanians in significant leadership.
In 2005 Caymanians held about 3.2 per cent of the financial and tourism industries leadership positions, up 0.8 per cent from 1995. But at that rate, (about one-quarter percentage point per year) it could take another 187 years for Caymanians to reach parity with expatriates.
And that is only if there are enough of us to do so. Furthermore, with the rumoured rollover exemptions being granted to key employees in some sectors of the economy, that may never happen.
For today’s forward-looking companies, that’s much too slow and for our country’s development and Caymanians, an unacceptable pace. Companies that respect talent should realize they can’t leave Caymanians behind.
One cause for this snail-pace progress could be corporate decision makers who succumb to stereotypes about what Caymanians want and what they can do.
Companies that want to win in the global marketplace and win the talent war should work hard to achieve serious career and succession planning and offer key stretch assignments to high-potential Caymanians.
Interestingly it is only recently, circa 2004, that foreign companies operating locally were required to submit business staffing plans after operating in the country; some for decades. Presumably, succession planning is an integral requirement of these plans.
Companies that resist promoting or recruiting Caymanians into leadership positions will only exacerbate the local/expatriate divide and will find the workplace moving ahead without them.
Caymanians will make extraordinary leaders in the evolving corporate environment because their leadership styles start with their values…our seafaring prowess and notable achievements as accountants, businessmen, captains, engineers, politicians and other leadership positions testify to this fact.
The corporate view that command and control must be exercised by expatriates has outlived its usefulness and is seriously outmoded. Caymanians want to be challenged and to lead in building our industries and shaping our country’s future.
Corporate leadership needs to understand why Caymanians are not filling top positions and must challenge and re-evaluate their mental models and assumptions. There’s a need to create different policies and thereby create opportunities to tap the pool of candidates, develop and retain them.
And our government should insist that this be done as a means of developing Caymanians as part of the overall human capital assets of our country.
Leading-edge companies need to conduct a portfolio analysis of the opportunities offered to expatriates and locals, and ensure that Caymanians get identical training and development to expatriates.
Too often Caymanians are pigeon-holed in HR, technical or administrative jobs and denied opportunities to gain the experience in finance, strategy, management and pragmatic areas that leadership requires.
Stereotypes also create substantial barriers to Caymanians’ advancement. And several false typecasts abound – Caymanians won’t relocate while expatriates will, they are not as effective problem solvers as expatriates, they are too easy going, unaggressive and laid back and so on.
Because of unseen barriers, Caymanians are forced to disprove stereotypes before they can start proving themselves.
One only has to look at the composition of the financial and tourism firms’ upper management for evidence of this. This homogeneity can result in a lack of diversity of skills and perspectives and create blind spots in everything from strategic direction-setting to tactical operating practices and policies.
At the other end of the spectrum is the tendency to establish such rigid position specifications that it eliminates Caymanians and does not take advantage of the individual’s strengths.
Particularly for companies that have had a pool of expatriates in key roles for many years, the inclination it to stick with what has worked and find replicas of the individuals who previously filled such roles. This can be a missed opportunity to reshape the role in response to market or organizational shifts requiring a different set of skills and competencies.
Local corporations might be more competitive if they make it more feasible for Caymanians to attain leadership positions.
Charles O’Reilly, PhD professor of Organizational Behaviour at Stanford University’s Frank E. Buck Graduate School of Business reasons that companies would gain an advantage by fostering a leadership culture that is open to a diverse group rather than only promoting people who are one-dimensional, or those whose only goals in life are to achieve top leadership at the cost of everything else in their lives.
The major challenge is still combating bias, especially subtle bias.
Caymanians are overlooked or denied positions because of assumptions by decision makers about their ability – whether they can or will travel, relocate, put in long hours, or make tough decisions – to do the job.
Actual ability is rarely in question.
We know that Caymanians can do the job!
Recent research has found a strong positive correlation between diversity in leadership and finance performance.
If you are sitting (working) in a room/meeting (business) with people who look, act and sound just alike, then your output will be limited.
Moreover, businesses that include Caymanians and maximize their advancement are advantaged over those that don’t simply because they are dealing with larger, more diverse human resources with greater potential.
Research also shows that companies with diverse leadership have a diverse group that decides who is promoted.
Diversity in leadership is a sign of a long-term and well-thought-out talent management system and a true meritocracy.
When promotions arise, advocates can play a significant role in Caymanians’ rise to the top.
Different than mentors, corporate sponsors endorse a promising Caymanian’s rise to the top
Different than mentors, corporate sponsors endorse a promising Caymanian’s accomplishments and keep upper-level management advised about his/her achievements.
In addition, they act as career guides and sounding boards.
If we are aiming for excellence, inclusion and advancing Caymanians is key to our country’s development. We should not settle for anything less.
G. Swan Frederick
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