The promotion of women in action
It may be a well-known fact, but the figures are still striking: although women make up nearly half of all salaried employees in Switzerland, the percentage drops steadily the further up the hierarchy you go. And the air is thinnest right at the top: according to a recent survey, only one in five members of a management board is female.
In the construction industry, the percentage of women in jobs has traditionally been even lower than the national average, and Implenia is no exception. Women make up 12.3% of the total Group-wide workforce at Switzerland’s leading construction services provider. Implenia believes that this is too low and is actively committed to attracting more female staff at all levels. Over the past few years, the company has been campaigning for greater wage equality in particular and is making good progress compared to the rest of the country.
If the construction industry is to become a more attractive option for women, however, they will need better prospects for career progression as well as fairer pay. This is why Implenia has signed up to the “Advance” programme. Advance is a networking and continuing professional development organisation for women that runs skill building workshops, mentoring schemes and networking events.
In November 2018, the company held a fact-finding event where interested female employees could find out about the opportunities offered by the programme. Ines Pöschel, a member of Implenia’s Board of Directors, opened the event at company headquarters with some anecdotes from her personal experience. Advance’s Alkistis Petropaki then explained her organisation’s mission. Finally, over 85% of those taking part voted in favour of Implenia joining the programme, as numerous other high-profile Swiss companies have done.
In early 2019, Implenia invited the interested ladies to attend Advance workshops and events for the first time and will also be keeping them updated on upcoming events in the future. “We feel strongly that this marks a small yet important step in inspiring even more women to choose Implenia and motivating them to take on managerial roles,” said Thomas Foery, former Head of HR Group.
