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The Compendium of Gender-Related Best Practices - WIL’s initiative towards promoting a better female representation in companies - is a compilation of examples of programmes and initiatives supporting women in leadership. The document, which has been created by a joint effort of WIL Members, has been presented to Commissioner Reding during WIL's 4th Anniversary. WIL committed to continue with the initiative, counting on the members' contribution. If you would like to share a gender-related best practice case, please get in touch!

For the past four years, WIL has been bringing together female business representatives, entrepreneurs, members of the European Parliament, high civil servants and academics with the aim to meet and share ideas that help them broaden their horizons, and at the same time work together towards the advancement of women in leadership throughout the large range of represented sectors.

As we have been building the WIL network, we have been able to gather perspectives and experiences from members coming from companies and organizations of different identities and organizational cultures. Thanks to these exchanges, we are able to come up with new solutions for helping women in their path to leadership.

These past four years have taught us that more needs to be done to nourish the female talent pipeline in the long run. During several of our events on socio-economic topics, the “Women on Boards” discussion came up. Realising that this is only one side of the issue, our goal is to stir discussions on the various means of promoting female leadership. The WIL Compendium of Gender-related Best Practices is meant to inspire and offer companies and organizations acting in Europe several options to attain better gender balance.

WIL’s Women Talent Pool programme, supported by Microsoft, Orange and Qualcomm, is a step we chose to take to support women in mid-level management positions by helping them develop their potential to become the next generation of female leaders. WIL members felt the need to help less senior women in their career paths; by getting involved in the initiative as Role Models, they are going to connect with a pool of Emerging Leaders and share with them their experiences, offer advice and help them get on the right career tracks to fulfill their career aspirations. The idea of the Compendium initiative is to keep adding best case practices and we are hoping that during our next anniversaries, it will become even richer in great examples.

Orange is running a new campaign on parenting responsibilities, promoting paternity leave.

In the context of Orange’s policy of women's access to responsibilities and as part of its action to fight gender stereotypes, the company raises awareness on the subject of the sharing of family responsibilities.

Below you can view Orange dads’ testimonials (with English subtitles) on to their experiences of taking parental leave, which is also available at the company's website (in French).

Enjoy!

Sysdoc, the company of WIL Board member Katherine Corich, has been presented as a best practice for creating a gender-friendly working environment in a book written by Dr Sarah Rutherford: New Book – Women’s Work Men’s Culture - Overcoming Resistance and Changing Organisational Cultures.

Her work has also been profiled in a top newspaper in New-Zealand, one of the five countries where her business is running.

To find out more about Katherine’s business and her novel approach to business transformation, read the article attached.

Held on 24 Nov 2011, the WIL biannual meeting in Berlin turned out to be a successful encounter of active women willing to meet and exchange ideas with other women across Europe around improving the competitiveness of the Single market.

In this pro-European environment, and considering the uncertainty behind the future of the Euro and the EU in general, we have shared with our guests an Appeal for Europe, to reassure our network and the politicians about the need to support the EU.

Encouraged by the positive reaction of event participants, we’re taking a step forward by inviting those of you, who adhere to the European values, to leave a comment.

To leave a signature, please add your name and surname.

"There is no future for the people of Europe other than in Union”.

(Jean Monnet, 'Founding father of the EU')

APPEAL FOR EUROPE

We call upon each and every one of you, not to question or doubt the values and objectives of the European Union (EU) in times of crisis, but rather to express your strong support for the Union – now more than ever. We call upon our political leaders to drive European integration further. At a moment of serious crisis it is not the moment to look backwards. What we need are consequent steps to stabilize the financial markets, reduce government budget deficits and enhance economic growth. There is also a need to review Europe’s governance model. We need to move forward with full power towards shaping a strong and resilient European Union.

As Angela Merkel stated, we need a stronger "political union" in Europe to overcome the crisis; "We must develop the European Union's structure further. That does not mean less Europe, but more". It is by strengthening the unity of Europe, that we can overcome the crisis.

The European Union is much more than just an economic union. Today, “Project Europe” is a powerful societal and political vision which has become a reality for every European citizen, with tangible impact on our everyday life. We need to keep in mind and acknowledge the numerous advantages and great benefits that a united and independent Europe brings to EU citizens, including those in the economic, cultural, political, social, scientific, diplomatic and security areas.

It is thanks to the European Integration, that we have achieved the current level of prosperity and wealth across all EU Member States. Furthermore, we must never forget that it is the first time Europe has enjoyed half a century of peace with the EU acting as a peacemaking and peace retaining force. Therefore, we - the citizens of Europe - need to be proactive now. It is up to everyone of us to enhance dialogue, mutual understanding and trust in order to foster and spread confidence in the process of European Integration.

The signees of this appeal for Europe trust that the current crisis can be solved through further development and a deeper integration of the European Union.

Thank you for the time that you have taken to read our appeal.

Please sign below to show your support for fighting the crisis as a united Europe.

WIL is not a political organization and has no political views to defend.

Have already signed

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Éva Kamarás , Deloitte , Consultant

Marie-Pascale de Wouters d'Oplinter , Conseil de l'UE

Eva Kopel , Council of the European Union , Translator

eddie bonesire , artist

Ambreen Saleem , kamraj enterprises pvt ltd. lahore - pakistan , Company secretary

Sixtine Bouygues , Commission , Acting Director - DG Communication

Pinuccia Contino , European Commission , Head of Unit "Multilingualism and Translation Studies"

Claudine Schmuck , GlobalContact , Director

Margarita Borisova Kaisheva , National Association of Small and Medium Business , Senior Expert

Anca Caruntu , Samman law firm

Sylviane Toporkoff , Items International , Partner

Rita Süssmuth , Deutscher Bundestag , Bundestagspräsidentin a.D.

Elisabeth Kelan , King's College London , Associate Professor/Senior Lecturer

cinzia boschiero , E.C.Partners , Director of Communication

Marie-Therese Huppertz

Bernadette Hendrickx , Sanofi Pasteur , Vice President, Senior Medical and Scientific Advisor to the CEO

isabella lenarduzzi , JUMP , ceo

Deborah Leary , Forensic Pathways Ltd , CEO

Ursula Schleicher , former Vice President of the European Parliament

Daphne Trumpf , United Kingdom Rechtsanwältin , LL.M. Coaching and Public Affairs

Katharina Wolf , Deutscher Juristinnenbund

Martina Schraudner , Technical University Berlin , Professor for Gender and Diversity in Organizations

Karoline Munz , Netzwerk Europäische Bewegung Deutschland , Stellv. Generalsekretärin

Andreea Maria Paul , Personal Advisor to the Romanian prime Minister Emil Boc

Elysse Vincze , WIL , Consultant

Tanja Bohm , Microsoft , Government Affairs Manager

Irina Grouchevaia , To The Children of Tschernobyl Foundation , Founder

Guillaume Klossa , Europanova , President

Brigitte Dumont , France Telecom Orange , Deputy Group HR, Executive Vice-president

Jehanne Savi , France Telecom , Head of IT Delivery for France

Margarete Hofmann , German Women Lawyers Association , VP

Viviane de Beaufort , ESSEC Business School , Professor

Ana Palacio , European Commission , Special advisor of Justice, Fundamental Rights and Citizenship

Brigitte Baumann , Go Beyond Ltd., EBAN , Founder and CEO

Pascale Auger , CapGemini Consulting , Vice President Organisation Competitiveness

Ulrike Guerot , The European Council on Foreign Relations , Head of Berlin Office

Marie Therese Huppertz , Vice President Government Relations, SAP AG

Beatrice Delmas-Linel , de gaulle fleurance & associés , partner

Thaima Samman , Women In Leadership , President of WIL

On 5 July, during our biannual meeting, Professor Viviane de Beaufort looked at EU as a model of multicultural governance, a thought-provoking issue for decision makers, which should be shared with those who couldn’t join.

According to Prof. de Beaufort, the EU can become a model of multicultural governance for other world regions if it is able to find a solution to its internal citizenship crisis, to change its approach to the outside world by playing an arbiter role, and to strengthen its Single Market.

At the internal level, EU needs to solve its European citizenship problem. It is imperative to tell Europe’s citizens about the virtue of EU’s common values and fundamental principles: human dignity, freedom, equality, solidarity and democracy. The European project needs to go under debate: a safer and more competitive Europe, a social Europe, a Europe of public services, a Europe of consumers, a Europe of sustainable development and energy, a Europe of Research, a Europe of Education, a Europe of SME ……In short a Europe that is “moving forward”! If not, the lack of trust so forcefully established by the economic crisis, will feed on a serious internal crisis within Europe paralyzing the Union’s capacity to act, because governments will have to deal with heightened opposition to Europe.

At the external level, Europe needs to exploit its ability to work out compromises to be able to play a role as an arbiter (G8, G20, WTO…). Policies and instruments for national favoritism are no more pertinent at a time when corporate groups are being incited to “globalize” and break away from national ties. The question that globalization asks of Europe is whether it can protect its businesses against unwanted takeovers by outside companies or investments or it can open international public procurements to give European corporate opportunities and impose its rules of “fair trade” … yet give these enough access to maintain and develop domestic and international competitiveness.

To strengthen its external influence, the EU should strengthen its Single Market however. With the new political landscape created by the Lisbon Treaty, is it time for Europe to envisage taking more determined action to change the Single Market’s approach to the outside, toward more regulated openness considering the threats to its competitiveness it faces every day. Measures regarding Control over foreign investment, European golden shares, anti-takeover measures, European merger law as an industrial political tool or Tools of fair trade should be taken into consideration by policy makers.

Prof. de Beaufort concluded that Europe must be its companies’ base camp! There must be clear rules of reciprocity in the game, as any asymmetry could adversely affect the competitiveness of European companies. Systematically applying this principle would make it easier to establish a regulated single market; the principle is already mentioned in several European regulations (e.g. the agreement on government procurement included in the WTO Marrakech Agreement ) but not widely used.

Elena Bonfiglioli stepped up to the role of Senior Director Health, Microsoft EMEA Public Sector. She will be leading Microsoft’s efforts to support and develop the community of Health professionals in the EMEA region; growing the company’s partner strategy, increasing engagement with health providers, professionals, payers, users and partners; engaging with decision makers and showcasing how Microsoft products and solutions can bring real health impact for a better tomorrow to the region.

“I see tremendous potential for innovation, sustained market growth and the opportunity to deliver societal benefits through the application of technology in health and wellbeing. Health combines three of my passions: creativity, business innovation and care. I am honored and thrilled to contribute to this unique venture in my new role across Europe Middle East and Africa.”

Prior to her appointment, Elena was Director of Corporate Citizenship within Microsoft’s Legal & Corporate Affairs and EU Affairs team in Brussels, where she focused on advancing Microsoft’s skills, employability and healthcare initiatives. This included working with academic leaders and stakeholders at the EU and global level to create government and public sector partners. Previously, she has held other roles within Microsoft over the past eight years, within teams such as Corporate Affairs and Social Responsibility, Citizenship and Health. Elena is also the co-Founder of the Women in Leadership Network (WiL)

Female European students expect to earn 21% less than men after their graduation (men expect a graduate starting salary of €40,898). The findings come from a recent report from the Swedish consultancy Universum, ran in top 100 European academic institutions.

Reasons seem to lie in the fact that women and men have different workplace and career aspirations. To be a leader or manager of people (34% of men vs. 22% of women) and a technical or functional expert (22% of men vs. 14% of women) were more important to men, whereas women gave more importance to secure employment (36% of women vs. 26% of men) and to be dedicated to a cause or serve a greater good (32% of women vs. 23% of men).

The prestige of working for a great company is more important for men (31% of men vs. 24% of women), whereas high ethical standards is more important for women (30% of women versus 20% of men).

However, overall, the report shows that Europe’s top students are more attracted by the prestige of a potential employer, rather than by its CSR & ethical standards.

If you choose the new information and communication technology sector (NITC) you definitely opt to involve and commit yourself to the general public and take part in the digital revolution. Whereas just 20 years ago NITCs were only present in the field of research, nowadays they are easily used everyday by everyone.

The main players in this field, whether hardware vendors, software publishers, IT service suppliers or telecom operators, realised at that time that the Internet’s expansion would have an enormous impact. This is obvious today: telecoms and IT are behind huge transformations because they modify both interpersonal and inter­enterprise relationships. Last but not least they create new economic models resulting in profound societal changes. The boom in social networking, the explosion in on-line buying or the development of teleworking can only confirm this. Over and above these challenges, integrating a major international group is the promise of a diversified career path and even the possibility of mobility within France or abroad for those who wish.

Now, IT is practically an integral part of the service offered to the final customer and not just a support for business processes. Consequently, within the strategy of an integrated service operator implemented by France Telecom-Orange since 2005, networks and IT play a central role. IT within the Group represents more than 14,000 internal employees out of a total headcount of 181,000 worldwide. For France this represents investments of about 200 million Euros per year just for software development. IT is indeed a determining factor in the launching of new offers and in the automation of customer processes from order capture to service assurance. In particular, the call centre staff in the customer relationship is the focal point of IT for France in 2010, with the goal for IT people of substantially improving quality of service and user satisfaction. What is therefore particularly agreeable about working in IT is the cross disciplinary aspect. The richness and diversity of those involved is really pleasant, even if negotiations are sometimes tough between “marketing”, “the field” and “delivery”. In some countries, due to the historical position of the operator, there are in addition highly impacting regulatory requirements. Moreover, contributing directly to the company’s success is a source of great satisfaction.

According to Gartner consultancy, IT costs worldwide should increase by more than 5% this year. In fact, "a strong offer in terms of equipment in the first quarter of 2010 together with an upturn in the world economy would suggest an increase in IT demand for 2010", explained Richard Gordon, vice-president of research at Gartner, in a press release in April 2010. Similarly, worldwide demand for software should grow by 5.1% to 232 billion dollars and that for IT services by 5.7% to 821 billion dollars. Logically, for France Telecom-Orange, recruitment forecasts for IT functions in France will amount to approximately 570 in 2010, 370 of which only concern the development part. In particular, we are looking for:

fluent French speakers, either recently graduated after 5 years’ higher education or experienced applicants with a high-level of expertise

all kinds of technical profiles: from developers to architects or operational profiles, in all fields from portals or customer relationship management to order fulfilment or supervision and service assurance or even billing

people to work in all areas of France: Arcueil (94), Paris (5th district), Guyancourt (78), Toulouse, Bordeaux, Lyon, Lille, Marseille, Montpellier, Lannion, Grenoble and Orléans

According to a study carried out in 2008 by McKinsey & Company, certain leadership behaviour more frequently observed among women strengthens company efficiency. The gender mix is therefore not just a question of ethics but also a performance factor. Many top managers in major companies are even considering positive discrimination within the framework of their human resources policy. In parallel, in a few European countries, there is a real reflection at state level concerning quota laws, which is encouraging. For external recruitment, the France Telecom-Orange IT Division has fixed the goal of a 30% rate of feminisation.

The place of women is gaining ground in France Telecom – Orange, including for key positions in top management. The IT Division in particular, despite its image as a technical entity, counts 31% of women on average, and the Group as a whole 37%. This is undoubtedly not a bad score, because the shortage of women in this domain is also a determining factor. It is regrettable that few young women (less than 20%), in spite of their excellent academic results, do not pursue a technical career or do not even opt for this sector, mainly due either to a lack of self-confidence or to a lack of information concerning job opportunities. Sometimes, thanks to their family background, it is simple to choose a technical career. Nevertheless, neither masculine competition, nor that which exists in any other form in the company, should be feared. On the contrary, they drive you to develop your adaptability, your capacity to be tactical and your faculty for communication, all of which are key factors for professional success.

As far as finding a balance between professional and private life is concerned, this is primarily a question of self-discipline, in a nutshell your capacity to be organised, to say no and to delegate. It is something that has to be learnt and which is admittedly not always very easy at the start of a career. Obviously the France Telecom - Orange context is favourable since the company is extremely well-disposed to this equilibrium, but society in general is also moving more or less in the right direction on the topic. It is no longer an exclusively feminine issue; fathers are also demanding to remain close to their children. Even an essentially masculine working environment can therefore induce the promotion of this kind of policy.

To conclude, an essential piece of advice to young women is above all to be pragmatic. There is a total mismatch between supply and demand in this sector, so the first thing to do is to have a look at how the labour market is evolving. As far as possible you then have to try and match your own skills and centres of interest with market needs. In the field of IT and telecoms, job opportunities are plentiful at the moment and will continue to be so in the next few years.

So don’t hesitate to consult the job offers section on www.orange.com to apply on line. And of course widely invite your friends and acquaintances to do so!

Jehanne Savi's Testimony

“I chose to follow academic training with a view to a career in research: first of all I went to “l’Ecole Normale Supérieure”, a top-tier higher education establishment, and obtained a PhD in theoretical physics. I was undoubtedly influenced by my family background in which there are many scientists. I then trained as a telecoms engineer, as I realised that I wanted to work in the field of industry and service.

I am currently the director of what is called “IT delivery for France”, a term which is impossible to translate into French. It consists in delivering complex IT projects for business in France, with dozens of systems to be enhanced. I lead a team of 165 people. Most of my time is spent in decision-making, seldom alone and most often with my peers. Prior to this, for any project, it is absolutely essential to really get to know the topic with my colleagues and coordinate with the main stakeholders. Another important part of decision-making concerns team management. Finally, from the strategic point of view, guidelines and priorities have to be defined for my entity or more widely for the IT Division, concerning for example the delivery model or recruitment policy. All these decisions are fundamental and as such require arbitration after weighing up different parameters; the latter are not only technical but also relate to marketing and financial aspects and of course human resources. This implies building up a consensus of opinion following rigorous risk assessment. “

A public consultation on improving corporate governance in Europe, until now usually based on self-regulation, was launched at the beginning of April by the EU Commission, backing up the adoption of the Single Market Act. Three issues are weighed up in the Green Paper coming along with the consultation: restructuring the boards of directors, enhancing shareholders’ involvement on corporate governance issues and long term performance, and monitoring and enforcing the current national codes of corporate governance.

Looking at boards’ structures, the Green Paper recommends diversity, and in particular gender diversity, to be considered as a selection criteria for the new members. It also solicits opinions on whether payment policies at top levels should be made public or not. Changing the high risk taking culture in many companies, and not just financial institutions, by asking the executive management to assume a clear position and disseminate it internally and externally, is also put under debate.

A second set of questions looks at solutions to counter shareholders’ apathy, which is proven by the current average holding period of shares of only eight months. Responsibility relies on investors, but also on intermediary agencies that may need to show more transparency and cooperate more with the other shareholders of the investee company. The Paper pushes forward the idea of creating an EU mechanism to help companies identify their shareholders easier, in light of facilitating dialogue and long term decision making. Minority shareholders protection, as well as employee share ownership, should also be given thought as a way to build a market culture of measured risk taking.

The last chapter focuses on ways to improve monitoring and enforcement of existing national corporate governance codes, due to the fact that the “comply or explain” approach does not enhance the quality of information provided by companies. More, few Member States have public or specialized authorities check the completeness of information provided.

The consultation is open until 22nd July 2011. A feedback statement summarizing the results of the consultation will be released in autumn. On this basis a decision will be made whether legislative proposals are necessary. They will, however, be tabled only after conducting a thorough impact assessment.

WIL and AmCham France will advance their women in leadership agenda in a series of common actions. In this respect, the two entities will run the AmCham Women Leaders Program, under the guidance of Thaima Samman, WIL President and Partner Cabinet Piton Samman, and Nathalie Wright, member of the COMEX and Public Sector Lead for Microsoft France.

WIL members based in France interested in joining the taskforce can send us an email for more information regarding registrations!

The mission of the taskforce will be to provide a platform for high-ranked women within the AmCham member organizations to strengthen their access to a business network, to exchange ideas and respective best practices from their companies and to engage public authorities on a discussion for policy solutions.

The taskforce is open to all senior women and men from AmCham member organizations, notwithstanding their function. Although diversity will be, per say, a transversal theme for the network, the activities will go beyond the gender-equality issue, as the task-force seeks to support women in leadership in all sort of operational positions.