“A recent survey by the consulting firm Ricol, Lasteyrie & Associés of the 300 biggest market-capitalized companies in America, Asia and Europe has shown that fewer than 10% of top managers are women”.
“No Belgian female director has made it to the hit list of the business magazine Fortune, which each year conducts a survey of the most powerful businesswomen”. |
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| Women account for only 24% of middle management in the Flemish Public Administration. Top management is even more of a man’s world, with only 16% of positions at this level being held by women. |
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| Considerable efforts therefore still need to be made for a policy on equal opportunity and diversity. |
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Leuven, October 12, 2006 – Janssen Pharmaceutica, Fortis, IBM, Catholic University, Leuven and the Flemish Public Administration held a workshop in Leuven on gender diversity with the support of the European Social Fund. The event brought together more than 200 line managers and diversity officers from the five organizations for an exchange of ideas on how best to achieve a balanced proportion between the number of men and women at all levels of the organization. Kathleen Van Brempt, Flemish Minister of Mobility, Social Economy and Equal Opportunity, concluded the meeting.
What is striking here is that the above-mentioned companies and organizations are active in highly diverse sectors yet are faced with the same problems. The participating partners found that there is a strong commitment to gender diversity in the top management echelons and among female employees, but that such commitment is still lacking at the middle management level, which provides the key figures in the implementation of a diversity policy.
The purpose of the workshop was to inspire middle management and diversity officers and to introduce them to the best practices of other organizations. Topics such as networking, mentoring, attracting top female talent, leadership skills, gender mainstreaming and telework were discussed in the various interactive workshops.
A number of very sound conclusions emerged at the end of the day: |
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Given the importance of ethical principles, economic arguments and employer attractiveness, gender diversity plays a role that should not be underestimated. However, it is a topic that still finds too little support in companies. |
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Gender diversity should be the concern not only of HR managers; it should be foremost in the mind of every person in the company. |
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If top management puts all its weight behind gender diversity and allocates the resources necessary to promote it, the rest of the management will follow. |
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Diversity enriches the culture and quality of the leadership. |
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Gender diversity pays for itself quickly thanks to an improved organization. |
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Gender diversity should be stimulated by changing all sorts of small details of which there is little awareness (image, stereotypes, meeting times, culture, etc). |
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| Each partner had a particular take: |
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For Janssen Pharmaceutica, at which the principle of diversity has already been upheld for many years in appraisals, staff recruitment and the language of advertisements, gender diversity is a strategic priority. Mieke Smet of Janssen Pharmaceutica explained that a carefully thought-out policy on equal opportunity is one of the main competitive advantages. In order to attract the best people, we need to have an open corporate culture that responds to the expectations of employees and offers equal opportunities. |
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Monica Roeling, Diversity Officer at Fortis: “Every organization has an interest in resolutely seeking a balanced workforce in terms of age, gender, cultural background and competence. Anyone who fails to see or acknowledge that does a great disservice to himself and her stakeholders on all fronts. That is why it is a good thing for companies in all sectors to share their experiences and best practices with each other. In that way, diversity can be achieved more quickly.” |
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IBM: "IBM has a long history when it comes to diversity. We believe that diversity is about inclusion and respecting the differences between people and it are those differences that we see as an enrichment for our company and our clients." |
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Professor Sabine Van Huffel of Catholic University, Leuven: “Recognizing diversity as an added value and a dominant principle in the mission and rationale of the master plan of Catholic University, Leuven, ‘Equal Opportunity and Diversity’, goes further than the mere presence of persons with a disability, the other gender, skin color, background or orientation. It fosters an active participation of ‘the other person’ in his or her quality of ‘being different’. Such participation calls for the commitment of the entire university community at all levels.” |
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Ingrid Pelssers of the Flemish Public Administration: “I don’t believe there is any more or less commitment as such among middle management; it’s just that often they don’t know what they can actually do. In that sense, I believe that this workshop can facilitate a solution.” |
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Kathleen Van Brempt, Flemish Minister of Mobility, Social Economy and Equal Opportunity, emphasized in her speech that a woman-friendly corporate culture is an absolute necessity, but also that the gender issue extends beyond simply giving greater attention to women. It also happens that men are discriminated against in the workplace. In her policy, Mrs Van Brempt goes a lot further. She wants to see a shift from gender to diversity. Focus on diversity, the minister explained, is a shared responsibility. The government’s task is to make possible that diversity, whereas it is the task of the business community to make use of those opportunities. According to Mrs Van Brempt, this is not only an economic necessity, because otherwise the labor market will dry up; diversity in the workplace also leads to higher productivity and a positive climate. |
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| For more information, contact: |
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Janssen Pharmaceutica: Mieke Smet, Director, Organization and People Development
- tel 014-60 5316 |
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Fortis: Hilde Junius - tel 02-565 4737 |
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IBM: Carine Goris, Communications, IBM Belgium - tel +32 2 4165156 |
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Catholic University, Leuven: |
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For the Gender Mix event: Professor Veerle Draulans, tel. 016-32 3161,
e-mail: veerle.draulans@soc.kuleuven.be |
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For questions about the equal opportunity and diversity policy of Catholic University, Leuven: Professor Sabine Van Huffel, Rectorial Adviser on Equal Opportunity and Diversity, Center for Equal Opportunity, Catholic University, Leuven, Dekenstraat 2, 3000 Leuven, tel. 016-32 5614, fax. 016-32 5702, e-mail: sabine.vanhuffel@gkg.kuleuven.be. |
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Flemish Public Administration: Ingrid Pelssers, Emancipation Affairs Officer -
tel 0478-22 87 35 |
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