More Women in Leadership Positions Declaration by Austrian Industrial Enterprises in Favour of Women in Leadership Positions Compared with men, women are underrepresented not only at the top management level, but in decisionmaking positions in general. For reasons of fairness and, above all, out of economic considerations, targeted efforts should be made to enable a larger number of qualified women to reach executive positions. The shortage of skilled labour is a fact of economic life. With so many women having obtained a high level of qualifications, a great potential remains unused. From the viewpoint of industrial enterprises, increasing the percentage of women in leadership positions is not something that can be decreed by the government, but must reflect the pursuit of a future-oriented process in society. In this process, it will be essential to pay as much attention to the great diversity of modern lifestyles as to current and future economic challenges. Industrial enterprises, especially in technology and engineering sectors, generally have a low percentage of women among their workforce and face a particular challenge when it comes to attracting women to leadership positions. Therefore, any effort aimed at increasing the number of women in executive positions should be geared to the conditions of the sectors concerned and the percentages of women working in these sectors. On the one hand, the percentage of women in key technology disciplines is to be increased in general, while, on the other hand, conditions need to be created that allow women to reconcile work and family life more easily. Austrian industrial enterprises are fully aware of their responsibility in this respect. Determined to make our contribution, we advocate the further development of modern corporate cultures and equal opportunities for men and women on their career paths. We call upon all stakeholders policy-makers, entrepreneurs, men and women in employment to join forces in order to facilitate the reconciliation of family and working life and to achieve true equality of men and women in the world of work. This will require a process of rethinking based on a forward-looking approach in our society. Role models that have become obsolete need to be changed quickly and on a sustainable basis.
THE ANALYSIS Factors accounting for the low share of women in leadership positions A child s socialisation and the influence of educational institutions are essential factors in overcoming clichés at an early age, since role models are shaped in childhood. It is a well-known fact that almost half of all girls going into apprenticeship opt for one out of three occupations: retail sales assistant, office clerk or hairdresser. Moreover, the percentage of women choosing a course of study in the natural sciences or technology is very low in Austria, regardless of the fact that more women than men graduate from institutions of higher learning. The choice of a particular course of education influences a person s future income perspectives and career opportunities. In key disciplines of industrial research, the number of female applicants is lowest in those areas that offer the best employment prospects and, thus, the greatest opportunities for women. Another persistent problem relates to the issue of reconciling family life and work. Conditions remain unfavourable, as the availability of high-quality child care is still inadequate. Austria needs new child care models that allow parents to go out and work without feeling guilty and, at the same time, support the children s development process in the best possible way. The Barcelona target, i.e. to provide child care for 33% of all children under three years of age, has not yet been reached in Austria. Almost one third of all kindergarten facilities close before 2:00 p.m., while less than one third remain open until at least 5:00 p.m. And yet we know that providing child care is one of the promising approaches in any move towards bringing a higher number of women into leadership positions. Following long-established patterns, far more women than men reduce their working hours in order to work part-time when they start a family. We therefore have to build a new awareness of the need for fair sharing of child-care duties that will permit both partners to hold jobs according to their qualifications. Single parents without a family network find themselves in a particularly difficult situation. At the same time, we need a process that will lead to greater acceptance in society for women and men who decide to have children AND pursue a career.
Current activities and motivations in industry We are convinced that having more women in executive positions contributes towards sustainable success in business. Diversity in leadership has a positive influence on corporate culture and enhances a company s creativity. The added social skills in mixed teams constitute an economic advantage. Identifying, developing and utilising the potential of women is in the economic interest of any company and an essential element of any sustainable human resources policy. Many companies have long recognised the great potential of qualified women and are already contributing to the advancement of women through innovative measures. Internal programmes, such as mentoring projects and gender mainstreaming at the executive level, have become wide-spread among industrial enterprises in Austria. Flexible working time regimes have been introduced in a variety of forms, enabling employees to reconcile family duties and job obligations and, thus, enjoy a higher quality of life through an appropriate work-life balance. In their efforts to develop and implement new working time models and initiate change processes, company executives are being supported above all by their HR departments. The growing number of women at all management levels provides the basis for a stronger representation of women on managing boards and supervisory boards. To achieve this goal, our recruitment policy will be focused, even more than before, on increasing the percentage of women. In particular, we hope to attract more women to jobs in technological professions, which helps to enlarge the potential supply of skilled labour and the pool of young talents for executive positions. This offers not only the advantage of a wider choice of qualified labour for the enterprise, but also better job opportunities for people with qualifications in science and technology.
OUR PLANS Declaration in favour of more job and career opportunities for women We are convinced that expressing a clear commitment to equal opportunities for women and men is more effective than introducing a mandatory quota rule. In our opinion, adopting company-specific, flexible targets and measures is the best way to increase the number of women in leadership positions, and we are fully committed to equal opportunities for women and men in our enterprises. To this end, we will step up our efforts to attract women to executive positions, thus making better use of their potential. Through our signatures, we therefore declare our intention to commit ourselves clearly to the equal treatment of women and men. In the coming years, we will devote special attention to equal opportunities and an appropriate work-life balance and encourage our business partners as well as other companies to support the achievement of this goal; to draw up a development plan for our companies with specific and differentiated targets and interim targets as well as a time schedule for increasing the number of women in the workforce and in executive positions and to ensure that this development plan is reflected in our corporate principles, and that our HR managers are involved in its implementation; to design our recruitment and personnel development policies in such a way as to promote equal opportunities in our companies and offer women the same career development opportunities as men. Women who have been successful as experts and in executive positions in a company are also to be given a chance in top management appointments; to pursue the continuous further development of flexible working-time regimes with a special focus on work-life balance also in management positions and to offer solutions that facilitate and/or accelerate re-entry into the world of work after a period of leave; to create prerequisites that facilitate solutions to the child-care issue; here expect the federal government as well as the provincial authorities to create more favourable conditions, e.g. by investing more in benefits in kind rather than in transfer payments; to actively encourage both women and men to consider the entire range of available occupations by intensifying our efforts to interest young people in science and technology. By setting company-specific and measurable targets for increasing the percentage of women in the workforce and in management positions, we are expressing our determination not be satisfied with mere symbols. We are making a significant contribution towards the advancement of diversity and equal opportunities.
Georg Kapsch Kapsch AG Dr. Monika Kircher Infineon Technologies Austria AG Doris Bock Managing Director Neudoerfler Office Systems GmbH Evelin Mayr, MBA, MAS, MSc Director Human Resources HP Österreich Roula Millauer Chemson Polymer-Additive AG Michael Merzbach Head of Central Function Human Resources RHI Dr. Therese Niss, MBA Managing Director High Tech Coatings GmbH Gertrude Schatzdorfer Managing Partner Schatzdorfer Gerätebau GmbH&Co. KG Veit Schmid-Schmidsfelden Managing Director Rupert Fertinger GmbH Ursula Simacek SIMACEK Facility Management Group GmbH Dr. Herta Stockbauer Member of the Management Board BKS Bank AG Daniela Winnicki Head of Group CSR & Corporate Media TELEKOM AUSTRIA GROUP
Peter J. Oswald CEO Europe & International Mondi Dr. Peter Pichler Berndorf Aktiengesellschaft Helga Posch-Lindpaintner HR Manager Shell Austria/ Switzerland Philipp Huber Director Human Resources T-Systems Austria GesmbH Rainer Schmidtmayer Member of the Management Board Treibacher Industrie AG Klaus Pöttinger Pöttinger G.m.b.H. Dr. Karin Exner-Wöhrer Vorstandsmitglied Salzburger Aluminium Group Dr. Werner Frantsits Vorstandsvorsitzender und Vorstand für Finanzen SANOCHEMIA Pharmazeutika AG Mag. Evelyn Schödl VP & General Manager GlaxoSmithKline Pharma GmbH