Inspiring Change With the Women’s Directorship Programme

• Autores: Amy Lau, Nick Marsh
• Localización: Global Education Magazine, ISSN-e 2255-033X, Nº. 7, 2014
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Women’s progression in the workplace is stalling. There are multiple barriers to be faced in increasing female participation in the workforce and ensuring they have equal opportunities to fulfil their potential. Executive search and leadership consulting firm Harvey Nash and The University of Hong Kong created a joint-venture in 2013, to launch a certificated, cross-industry, internationally focused board preparedness programme for women. The aims of the programme are to increase the pool of board-ready female talent, ready to take on the challenges of the boardroom and raise the importance of equal opportunities in the workplace, enabling women to reach their full potential. The programme aims to take tangible action to tackle the current global boardroom gender imbalance through an academically-led series of lectures and workshops, on subjects such as the role of board members, compliance, regulation and ethical decision making. The programme also consists of a series of personal talks from global business leaders in person. By engaging the business community – enabling business leaders to share their knowledge and experience as part of the programme – the Women’s Directorship Programme is front and centre of driving change, enhancing the visibility of this issue, and in turn highlighting the women themselves. Our methods for achieving our objectives involved creating a programme for an elite group of women and providing on-going support through the alumni network. The Women’s Directorship Programme alumni are an active group of international female leaders representing the cross-sector global business community. Results to date include: The involvement of the business community (including over 20 business leaders as guest speakers) and their commitment to change; 30 percent of the women from the inaugural Women’s Directorship Programme have now gone on to sit on boards. 30 percent achieved a promotion within six months of starting the programme; all participants claim it has served to raise their visibility within the business community and they now benefit from the Women’s Directorship Programme’s network; thirty women executives have now been on the programme and are part of the alumni; the programme has been cited as best practice by the business leaders involved and has received coverage from The FT, International New York Times and Bloomberg; it is recognized by the 30% Club London and Hong Kong as a transformative initiative. The Women’s Directorship Programme is a long-term approach to manage the pipeline of female talent and promote equal opportunities for women.