Equilibrium
“Gender equality in the labor force could boost the gross domestic product by as much as 13% in the Eurozone. Given the right business and governmental policies would help closing the gap between male and female labor participation and would help to address the urgent problem of pension sustainability”. (Goldman Sachs)
The purpose of the Equilibrium mentoring program is to help to increase the number of women in board and top management roles by providing tailored individual mentoring to a group of those women likely to fill these positions in the next few years. In recent years, the British Chamber of Commerce has developed a strong profile in gender diversity – presenting conferences and workshops. This programme is a further step.
We strongly believe that it is important that senior management and board positions must be filled by the best people, who need support and development to make best use of their expertise and knowledge. From an individual’s perspective, “each of us has the ability to move beyond the certain circumstances that we were born into” (Michelle Obama). The most effective boards are those that have a wide range of skills, experience and outlook so that the decision making process is more robust. This programme will assist in this by widening the pool of potential executives and board members.
In Europe, women make up 51% of the population, 59% of university graduates and are the driving force behind more than 70% of household purchases and 83% of all direct consumer spending, yet only 11% are represented on boards of the largest publicly quoted companies in the EU 27. This is no trivial matter for studies show that companies with the highest representation of women in their top management teams experienced better financial performance, higher customer satisfaction, employee motivation and improved brand image than those with the lowest female representation.
There are 16 women mentors in the Equilibrium program, e.g. Alexis George, CEO of ING CZ and SR and a board member of the BCCCR, Eva Williams , Corporate and Legal Affairs Director, TESCO ČR a SR, Olga Girstlova ,1999 Monaco World Entrepreneur and Jana Ryslinková, CEO, US Business School, Prague.
The programme started with a press conference on 24th February in the Czech Parliament at Snemovni 4 under the auspices of Anna Putnova MP. The Program continues with a series of specially designed workshops for mentors and the mentored women.
“We expect that mentors and the mentored will spend around 2 hours together each month for the whole of 2011,” said Petra Janickova, the executive director of BCC. The progress of the mentoring relationship will be reviewed in August 2011. The whole Program will finish with a press conference and workshop in the Parliament at the end of 2011.
Česká Spořitelna has agreed to be the general partner of the project and MF DNES the media partner.
Mentors and the mentees were chosen according to the following criteria:
o Minimum of 3 years experience in a board or executive position (for mentors) or in a senior position (for the mentored)
o Not in competition with each other
o Fluent in English
o Enthusiastic about the programme
o Happy to share knowledge and skills
o Prepared to commit the time to all aspects of the programme
o Committed to one week’s work shadowing
o Content to participate in programme publicity (1 article and photo)
Would you like to nominate yourself, your colleague or share your ideas about the programme? Please send an email to petrajanickova@britcham.cz
