Engaging men to champion women
According to the EU statistics, only 36% of managers in Belgium are women. The situation is even grimmer when we look at board members (32%) and senior executives (14%). Both men and women are part of the problem and to solve it, both must be part of the solution. At PWI Brussels, we strive to engage both men and women in our efforts to advance women leaders and optimize their contribution within and beyond their organization.
It’s an undeniable fact that men have a huge impact on how the future leadership is being shaped. Without their enhanced commitment and contribution, shining the light on outstanding professional women is an impossible challenge. Mostly men continue to have the final decisions making in most of the companies, they decide on the final promotions and the future of the company. Building partnership with men as allies for the women empowerment, is a great way to achieve the progress.
Of course, not every male manager will happily become a women’s champion immediately, but there are many informed male executives out there who understand the importance and benefits of gender-balanced leadership. Some of them would love to help their female colleagues grow and succeed as they would help their female family members being wife, daughters or sister. However, often they need the tools and the broader understanding on how best to approach the problem and achieve the desired progress. This is where PWI Brussels decided to focus more efforts and start building partnerships with engaged men to enhance their commitment to gender balance and their ability to fulfill this goal. Creating a space for men to learn and discover new ways of supporting professional women was the first step in this journey.
To some extent, PWI Brussels has been already engaging men as allies in championing professional women and supporting their growth. We have frequently invited male guest speakers, involved them as mentors andmentees in our mentoring program and welcomed them during our annual gala event or other social and cultural event. Now, PWI Brussels is aiming to build a stronger bond with our corporate men allies.
In September, PWI Brussels organized its first-ever alliance workshop, sponsored by BNY Mellon and in partnership with Cargill. During the event, thirteen male executives from the following organizations: UCB, Cargill, BNY Mellon, the Fry Group, Mattel, Sibelco and Technopolis participated and discussed the challenges they encounter in supporting the female talent. Together, we identified the current dissatisfaction points, the vision of the gender-balanced world and the first steps to take in that direction. One of the next meeting is planned in June 2021 with a view to launch a fully-fledged Men Allies Program as part of PWI Brussels.
Engaging men in the gender-balanced leadership brings also certain opportunities that we should be openly speaking about. One of them is the balance between bringing men onboard, while keeping the sacred sisterhood space untouched. In other words, we absolutely want to safeguard the safe space which PWI Brussels has offered to its members in the last 30 years, while creating a space for our men allies to contribute in the cause. Helping professional women in our community grow and succeed remains our vision.
