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United Kingdom
Today marks International Women’s Day (IWD). According to the International Women’s Day website, it is “a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women”. The website also added that the day “marks a call to action for accelerating women’s equality”.
Inequalities at work
Data has pointed towards some of the inequalities that remain in the workplace. For example, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data found that, among all employees, the gender pay gap increased to 15.4% (from 14.9%) in 2020, but is still down from 17.4% in 2019. While this progress is promising, it is clear that more work needs to be done to close this gap.
A report from the Hampton-Alexander Review – a Government initiative to increase the representation of females in senior leadership roles – revealed that women hold a third of Board positions in the UK’s 350 largest companies. Although this marks a 50% surge in a five-year period, it is clear that more female staff are needed at Board-level.
Additionally, Salt’s Women in the Workplace Global Report 2020 revealed that 42% of women didn’t feel that advancement processes gave them the correct support to progress in their careers, while just 29% of females in Britain said they felt they could have kids without it impacting their career. As such, it is clear that having policies and initiatives in place that actively support women is key.
How employers are supporting women
In line with International Women’s Day, HR Grapevine spoke to three different employers below to find out how they are supporting their female colleagues.
Zurich
Steve Collinson, Head of HR at Zurich, told HR Grapevine: “Women account for around 42% of our workforce and we have ambitious goals to drive progress on gender equality. We have made good progress on tackling our gender pay gap, and are working towards a goal of 40% females in our senior management team by 2023.”
At the insurance group, it appears that there are many initiatives in place to help support female colleagues including the ‘FlexWork programme’ which is available to staff from day one of employment and enables them to work in a way that aligns with their lifestyle.
Striving to support staff to reach their full potential, and removing barriers for those that need flexibility, Collinson talked about a previous initiative that they rolled out as part of their recruitment strategy. He explained: “Two years ago, recognising a lack of females applying for senior roles, we launched a first-of-a-kind initiative to advertise all jobs as full-time, part-time and job-share, alongside flexible working. Since then part-time hires have doubled and demand from women for part-time roles has soared by 83% compared to pre-pandemic levels.”
Additionally, Zurich’s HR lead said that they offer employee support via its Women’s Innovation Network (WIN) “which focuses on the three ‘c’s of counselling, taking control of your career and instilling confidence”. He continued: “As part of this, we run monthly sessions with internal and external speakers providing access to role models in our business as well as career coaching.
“WIN have also been instrumental in launching our MatchUP mentoring programme, which matches mentees to mentors from across the whole of the UK. Alongside this, we run an executive sponsorship programme, that offers mentoring to talented individuals from senior leaders."
Kingsley Napley
Vicki Tavener, Head of HR at law firm Kingsley Napley, told HR Grapevine: “Kingsley Napley has long been considered a female-friendly employer in the legal sector and, compared to some firms, has a high constituency of women in its workforce (over 50% of partners and over 70% of fee earners are women).”
Looking towards some of the initiatives it has in place to support women in the workplace, Tavener pointed towards the roll out of a Pregnancy Loss Policy. According to the firm’s website, colleagues will be able to take ten days’ paid leave if either they or a partner experience miscarriage or abortion, or stillbirth or neonatal loss.
Additionally, she said that it has supported the Menopause Pledge. In signing the pledge, the employer has committed to recognising that menopause is a workplace issue and that women need support; talking openly and respectfully about menopause, and supporting staff and partners affected by the menopause.
She said that the firm also has a variety of committees running that are supporting and celebrating diversity, those that are working parents, and charitable causes to name but a few.
Tavener added: “Kingsley Napley has a female Managing Partner who believes a supported and happy workforce is a productive one and she very much sets the tone for ensuring the firm supports its people regardless of gender and in recognising women often bear the brunt of family or caring responsibilities or health issues which may require special support.”
Samsung
Tamas Csejtei, People Team Director for the UK, Ireland & Europe Office at Samsung Electronics, told HR Grapevine: “At Samsung UK, we believe in championing diversity to create a workplace where people can bring their true selves to work.
“To achieve this, we now have three Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) created to build an inclusive, supportive and engaged community including Black Professionals at Samsung; True Ability, an ERG for colleagues with visible and invisible disabilities and Women@Samsung.”
This, according to Csejtei, was the first ERG launched and aims to attract, retain and develop female colleagues at Samsung UK, the Europe Office and Ireland. He continued: “Having grown to over 150 members, we’re proud of the continued impact this ERG has in raising an internal voice for women at Samsung – be it through hosting monthly events, fundraising, networking, or informal mentoring programmes.”
Developing and mentoring female colleagues appears to be another aspect of life at Samsung. Csejtei said that in February this year, they launched their formal mentoring programme – the initial pilot of which is sought to create a pipeline of female Samsung leaders.
Elsewhere, the people lead said that they also offer colleagues access to the everywoman network which is a platform that is said to advocate economic equality for women. He added: “It’s open to all employees and provides support and guidance to women in business through multiple channels including videos, podcasts, articles and workbooks. We partner with everywoman to create bespoke webinars for our colleagues which generate vital conversations around key topics such as returning to work after parental leave and imposter syndrome.”
