Business workshop builds support for OECD Gender Initiative
Paris, 2 February 2012 – Women are a critical resource in facing the challenges of
our global economy, both as an emerging market and as a significant
pool of human talent. As government policymakers seek new means to
energise growth and job creation, BIAC, AmCham France and the OECD joined together to
welcome approximately 100 experts, from business, government and
international organisations, to a workshop on "The Business Case for
Women’s Economic Empowerment" at the OECD Conference Centre.
Chaired by BIAC Chairman Charles Heeter, the workshop provided
business perspectives and best practices to the OECD Gender
Initiative, a multi-disciplinary program to update indicators,
analyse policy experiences and recommend good practices to achieve
more gender equality in education, employment and entrepreneurship.
“We are fortunate to live at a time when technology, the internet
and mobility enable information sharing, communications and resource
allocation that can help advance gender equality,” Mr. Heeter said.
“Nevertheless, despite this positive environment and past efforts
over decades to advance economic empowerment of women, progress has
been slow. Today’s workshop was an important opportunity for
business to contribute to OECD efforts to accelerate change on this
issue.”
U.S. Ambassador to the OECD Karen Kornbluh and OECD Deputy
Secretary-General Yves Leterme thanked BIAC and AmCham for the
initiative of organising the workshop, highlighting the importance
of business perspective in effective policy development.
“By focusing on ‘the how, not the why’ for creating economic
opportunity for women, BIAC’s business workshop has greatly assisted
the United States and other OECD member countries in our efforts to
show that countries can increase equity and growth by harnessing
women’s talents, innovation, and leadership,” Ambassador Kornbluh
stated.
“New workplace and management solutions are needed that involve
more women in senior management and boardrooms and make better use
of the great potential of women in business,” said Mr. Leterme.
“This meeting provided us with an opportunity to learn more about
[private sector] views on what policy can and should do to promote
gender equality, and will feed into the OECD Gender Initiative and
discussion among Ministers at the Ministerial Council Meeting in May
this year.”
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Business representatives from various countries and sectors
highlighted the business case for women’s economic empowerment
through presentations and discussion of company case studies, talent
management best practices, and measures of success. Speakers also
discussed persisting challenges, company measures to advance
retention and advancement of female talent, as well as company
initiatives that expand women’s enterprise and entrepreneurship.
Ms. Marina Niforos, Managing Director of AmCham France, and a
session moderator concluded that “Company experiences show that CEO
engagement matters, but it is not enough. Top leadership matters but
it is also not enough. Targeted programmes to promote women
internally are important but, alone, are not enough. One success
factor address alone is not effective to advance women’s economic
empowerment. What is needed is more diversity of tools that act on
several levels and greater flexibility to use them in order to have
a change in mind-set.”
The workshop also addressed the issue of women on boards.
Industry experts shared business views on the benefits of women on
boards and on regulatory versus voluntary approaches to addressing
bottlenecks.
“There is a clear business case for board diversity from both a performance and governance perspective,”
summarised Mr. John Jarrett, Principal and Founder of Jarrett & Associates, and a session moderator. “Women on Boards
add value by bringing different skills and experiences, and also serve as positive role models.”
In addressing the low
levels of women on boards, markets and government need to take account of local cultural and business practices, but
change should be pursued to strengthen diversity and governance. Multiple tools can be brought to bear to achieve
diversity on boards. “This does not just mean using quotas or targets or “comply or explain” reporting,” explained
Mr. Jarrett. “There is support from business and investors to build the pool of diverse talent through increasing
access to networks, seeking out candidates from non-traditional sources, developing more board-preparedness programs
and ensuring board recruitment includes diversity, amongst others.”
Ms. Ronnie Goldberg, United States Council for International
Business (USCIB) Executive Vice President, and BIAC ELSA Committee
Chair, moderated a final session focused on public policy
initiatives needed to advance women’s economic empowerment and
enable employer best practices.
“The original motive of the workshop was to help the OECD by
bringing real life practical experience to its policy work, so to
better understand what works and what doesn’t, as well as to
identify data gaps and policy options,” said Ms. Goldberg. “The
outcomes of today’s workshop and our ongoing engagement with
companies and business organisations will inform BIAC’s contribution
to the OECD Ministerial in May. We also believe that this work is
valuable to our member companies, as they learn from each other and
exchange best practices. ”
“The question about whether there is a business case [for women
economic empowerment] has been answered; we now need to move to the
‘how’,” added Ms. Niforos. “The business case is about talent and
economic objectives – future innovation and competiveness is linked
to a ‘balanced and representative talent pipeline’. Companies today
are aware that the issue of promoting female talent is tantamount to
economic survival.”
As background, BIAC Chairman Charles Heeter addressed gender diversity in the workplace in an article published in the 2012 OECD Yearbook,
entitled "Gender Dividend: An urgent economic imperative" (available online
here, see page 26).
In addition, Mr. Heeter has published an editorial on a Deloitte
Perspectives blog, available online
here.
Click here
for the Workshop Agenda and Presentations.
For further information on BIAC’s work on woman’s economic empowerment, please contact Nicole Primmer at the BIAC Secretariat.
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