09 Oct 2008
TALKING TACTICS AT BRUSSELS BOOK LAUNCH
We received clear support from the European Commission about the need for change when we launched our book in Brussels on February 5. Nikolaus van der Pas, Director-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities, said the EU might have to legislate if employers did not take measures to ensure that men shared child-care leave and responsibilities with their partners.There was a lively discussion at the launch, which was attended by more than 80 Brussels-based opinion-formers and generously hosted by The Centre, a “think-do tank”, policy forum and consultancy, which specialises in innovative ideas. The Centre’s Simon Wilson moderated the debate, and Bob Ulrich, Vice-President at Cisco Systems, joined van der Pas on the panel to respond to our presentation of the book. As in London, our panel was chosen deliberately to involve influential men in redressing gender imbalance in corporate leadership.
Van der Pas said the Commission had launched a consultation with the social partners – employers and employee representatives – looking at ways to ensure that men as well as women took parental leave.
This was in the context that women are driving economic growth in the EU, as we underline in the book. Women have filled three-quarters of the 8m jobs created since 2000 - and working women represent a solution to the challenges of an ageing workforce and falling fertility. But they still face substantial barriers to fulfilling their potential in the workplace.
“Men, even if they have leave, are less inclined to take it,” said van der Pas. Employers were hesitant about leading change. “If the social partners don’t negotiate something that will become law, then the EU should do that…Perhaps we should have legislation that obliges men to take parental leave, losing rights and money if [they] don’t take it.” He pointed out that 33% of women work part time versus 8% of men.
Van der Pas said our book presented extremely good reasons to change old-fashioned attitudes and this was what he applauded most. “It is a complete waste of talent and potential not to give women the possibility to be present at all levels.”
Ulrich liked our positioning of the gender issue alongside technology and climate change as the key challenges (and opportunities) of the 21st century. Avivah had set out the “Three Ws” – Weather, Women and Web – and explained that we must not underestimate the significance of any one of these huge and irreversible developments.
The audience learned from Ulrich that Malta is one of the few countries with a large pool of women engineers – and Cisco is targeting them in order to gain competitive advantage in the war for talent. He said part of the business case for having more women at all levels was that “customers expect us to act, look and think like them.”
Exactly so, and we go further: companies need to understand the rich multiplicity of roles held by women consumers today – and move beyond the one-dimensional images we still see in a lot of advertising of woman as either flawless beauty, “mum-at home” or “scary power-suit”. This will have an added benefit: companies that meet women’s expectations will find they exceed the expectations of men.
We followed up the Brussels launch with a Paris book launch and signing on 19 February at WH Smith on the rue de Rivoli. One of the shop’s two windows facing the Eiffel Tower was devoted to the book, along with quotes from the extensive media coverage we have received (see photo below). Again, the book – and the excerpts we read out – generated lots of discussion and questions from the audience.
We are now hearing of interest in the book from around the world – Canada, the US, Australia and South Africa, as well as many parts of Europe. Next stop: Toronto and New York in April. Meanwhile, we are receiving opportunities to spread the book’s messages through speaking invitations across Europe.
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