Organisations with the most impactful and innovative approaches to creating equality for women at work have been announced. Women still experience huge inequality in the labour market and these awards recognise large employers from the private and public sectors that have put gender issues firmly on their business agendas. The awards are presented by Opportunity Now, the workplace gender campaign within Business in the Community. The awards mark the start of the campaign’s 20th anniversary year. Listed below are the awards and winners:
Advancing Women in the Workplace Award
This award recognises work that has aided the recruitment, retention and development of women in the workplace. It was given to Barclays for its Women’s Initiatives Networks which has over 3,000 members in the UK.
Agile Organisation Award
This award recognises an employer who has demonstrated an agile or flexible approach to job design and its work environment. It was awarded to PepsiCo for the work it has done to promote and embed a culture of flexibility.
Champion Award
This award for a senior level individual who has made a significant contribution to advancing, promoting and embedding a diversity culture within the workplace goes to Allison Sofekun, Director of Corporate Services at Genesis Housing Association for the work she has done to increase the number of women at senior management levels within the organisation. John Donovan, Vice President, Cisco Worldwide Inside Sales was highly commended for his commitment to creating diverse workplaces.
Directing Diverse Talent Award in association with the CIPD
This award was given to Caroline Stroud, Employment Partner and Global HR Partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer for the work she has done to address the barriers to progression for under-represented groups.
Global Award
This award is for a gender initiative which extends across at least three countries. It was given to American Express for the work it has done to become a gender intelligent workplace.
Inclusive Culture Award
This award recognises work which is creating equality at an organisational or cultural level. It was given to Cisco for the work it has done to engage the majority within the organisation to be inclusive.
Santander Award: Inspiring the Workforce of the Future
This award is for an organisation that has helped young women to broaden their career aspirations. It was given to BAE Systems for the work it has done to encourage young people to consider a career in engineering.
Female FTSE 100 Award
This award was given to the FTSE 100 organisation with the most women on its board overall. The award was given to Burberry which has a board that is 37.5% female.*
FTSE Executive Women Award
This award was given to the FTSE 100 organisation with the most women on its executive committee. It was jointly awarded to Burberry and Pearson the only two organisations in the FTSE 100 that have more than one woman in an executive board role.*
More than 500 business and public sector leaders gathered at The Brewery in the City of London for the awards ceremony which is generously sponsored by Santander.
Alison Platt, CMG, Divisional Managing Director, Europe and North America for Bupa, and Chair of Opportunity Now says:
“I believe the business imperative of equality and diversity has never been stronger nor the need greater. For the last two decades Opportunity Now has been at the forefront of positioning equality as something which delivers organisational success – this is not a women’s issue it is a crucial business issue. It is about ensuring that all employees are engaged, productive and motivated. It is vital to our success as a country, economy and society that all available talent is leveraged and utilised. I am very clear that this should be seen as a strategic priority that delivers competitive advantage.”
Christine Hodgson, the Executive Chairman of Capgemini and the keynote speaker at the awards presentation says:
“There is no doubt that gender issues now have more prominence on the board agenda of enlightened organisations and that the benefit of more women on those boards is well articulated. I look forward to the day when it won’t be an issue but until we have the right blend of perspectives in the boardroom then initiatives such as the Opportunity Now awards which shine a light on best practice are invaluable.”
Karen M. Fortunato Company Secretary and Head of Corporate Services & HR, at Santander UK plc.says:
“In a difficult and ever changing world, it makes business sense to encourage and provide for a diverse workforce, where all employees can contribute to the organisation’s success. Encouraging gender diversity, not only helps to attract and retain talent, but adds richness to organisational thinking, creativity and innovation. The Opportunity Now Award Winners are great ambassadors for diversity in the workplace and it’s encouraging to see such strong examples of good practice.”
*The FTSE awards follow on from the publication of The Female FTSE Report 2010 published by the International Centre for Women Leaders, Cranfield School of Management.