On the development of women in our company
«Altep-Center» – is a unique enterprise in Chernihiv region not only because it was created from scratch, relies on innovations and produces solid fuel equipment. Its peculiarity also lies in the fact that the principles of gender equality and equal opportunities are being implemented here. In particular, the Lilea women's development project has been operating for two years now, covering various areas: development of women as professionals and leaders, personalities, and creation of decent working conditions.
– The principle of gender equality is not spelled out in the statutory documents of our company, but we pay great attention to this area, – says Alina Kundenko, Deputy Director of Altep Center (also the wife of the director and co-founder), PhD in Economics, until recently a lecturer at Chernihiv Technological University.
– Tell us in more detail how it all started?
– About a year and a half ago, our company was offered to take part in a large-scale event - a business spartakiad. In total, 4 enterprises, more than 100 people joined, competitions were held in 6 sports, and all this lasted for six months. Of course, we started forming teams and training. And if we don't take football into account, women could easily compete in other sports (like dragon boat racing, for example).
But this did not happen, men were more active. I started to think about the situation. Probably, it is really harder for women to find time for training, because they are usually the ones who cook dinner at home, teach their children homework, and have some household chores. At our company, everyone is equal, and that's great, but in everyday life, we cannot say that we are in the same conditions as men. I thought about what our women need and came to the conclusion that we need a women's development project.
We held an internal competition to come up with a name, conducted a survey to find out what our women need. And that's how this name came about - «Lilya», which symbolizes femininity, tenderness, purity and beauty. We also decided on the main directions and objectives of the project.
– Share your experience, please! I think it can be useful for managers of other companies.
– The goal of the project was formulated as follows: the development of women as professionals, leaders, personalities who have clear goals, hobbies and are focused on self-development to increase self-esteem, internal motivation, satisfaction from their activities and creative self-realization. In fact, we hold different events every month. We invited a makeup artist, a psychologist, an astrologer-numerologist (the girls wanted a natal chart drawn up for them), a face-building master (fitness for facial muscles), and a nutritionist.
The company covered the costs, because I feel that the employees are not yet ready to pay for it themselves. We held the last meeting of our women's club on New Year's Eve in the format of a "hat party", invited Valentina Svystun, a craftswoman who makes hats, she told some interesting facts about hats, famous women, brought some products, and a professional photographer took pictures of our women. It was worth seeing how our employees' eyes shone! So I think this tradition should be continued. The effect of the party was even greater than I expected. I could see how focused these women were on their work, how a bit stiff they were at the beginning, but then they were smiling, there was ease of communication, and it seemed that they were interested. It was unique!
– One of the objectives of the Lileia project is to develop women as professionals. How exactly does this happen?
– Whatever one may say, our women work in production, that is, they are also carriers of certain professions and competencies, so we definitely conduct internal training and are involved in external training. Internal training includes various seminars and workshops. We are currently holding a series of strategic sessions to raise awareness of strategic management and develop a strategy. We practice cross-training to improve communication between employees of different departments (this is when one of the departments can provide training for employees of another department), and this practice has proven itself well.
In addition, we send people to courses, and we pay a lot of attention to occupational health and safety. My husband and I were trained at the school of business owners and at the school of top managers (the latter was based on the system of growing sales within the framework of an international project).
– I want to clarify whether vocational training applies to both men and women, that is, they have equal opportunities?
– Yes, of course. For us, professionally, it does not matter whether it is a man or a woman, it is a specialist. There is a position, there are certain functions. The main thing is that a person should work conscientiously.
We also implement individual employee development programs and focus on training future managers. We have an internal welding academy because we need highly qualified specialists to produce solid fuel equipment. By the way, a welder is a traditionally male profession. And I am not sure that women should compete with men in this regard. But otherwise, there should be equal opportunities. Currently, we have about 180 men and women working at the company, about 20% of them are women.
To help our women develop as leaders, we involve them in useful activities, most often in charity. We mainly help children's institutions in Chernihiv. Usually these are events dedicated to Children's Day, St. Nicholas Day, the beginning of the school year, etc. We encourage our employees to involve their own children, so that they can see this example. Speaking of our women's hobbies, we support sports, some of our employees play volleyball, and some attend oriental dance classes.
When I interviewed our employees, I realized that their world is very limited by family responsibilities. Nowadays, a woman has to be a caring mother, a loving wife, and a housewife at the same time. But each of us also wants to feel unique and special, just like in movies or on the pages of fashion magazines. That's why we often organize photo shoots for our women. However, mostly younger employees respond. When we hold internal lectures and trainings, our women are 100% involved, but when we do something out of the ordinary, it's mostly girls who respond. I feel that we need to work on getting everyone to open up.
When we did the final survey at the end of the year, we asked women whether they liked the project, what they got from our events, and whether they would implement something. About 80 percent said yes, it is important to us, it affects our attitude to life, we liked the trainers, we liked the events. But when asked if you attend something like this yourself, almost 100% said they do not.
– You know, it's actually very strange for me to hear this! After all, Chernihiv hosts a lot of different meetings, trainings, lectures, and workshops!
If people have not had such an experience, have not lived such a life, have not paid attention to development, then they need to be guided and brought to it very gently so that they understand that it suits them, that it is not extreme, does not break their usual framework, does not go against their family or personal life.
– Yes, this is a very good point! I see in your office a wall calendar for 2020, where female models pose against the background of equipment produced by Altep Center. Is this also a photo shoot within the framework of the Lilea project?
– This is our next initiative, and two of our employees - an accountant and a designer - are really acting as models. There is a designer in Chernihiv, Olena Khrustytska, who creates exquisite outfits for business women. We once talked to her about how we usually associate fashion with the catwalk and some special events in life. There is an opinion that such outfits are not very suitable for ordinary women. That's why we decided to show that a woman in any field can realize herself as a professional and still be a woman, wearing fashionable stylish outfits. Olena prepared these dresses, and our employees played the role of photo models. It was a surprise for them. The photo shoot was held in the shop, and we used the photos for the calendar.
We wanted to show that femininity can be revealed anywhere, even at a company that produces solid fuel equipment. And we want to prove this, first of all, to women themselves. This project is called You Are a Woman. We want to bring it to the city level, to involve other enterprises, so that our women realize that they can safely combine a successful career and family, unleashing their potential.
– You have a development project for women, but gender equality is not only about equal opportunities for women, it is also about men's rights. Have you ever had cases in your company, for example, when it was a man who went on maternity leave?
– To be honest, I don't remember such cases. I may be mistaken.
Gender policy at the enterprise is also about protection against sexual harassment, harassment, which can affect both women and men. Which person in your company can be contacted to complain or ask for help?
The structure of our company is of a process-functional type, and one of the departments has functions that are somewhat broader than those of a regular HR department. This is the building department, which is responsible for recruiting, searching, training, as well as reporting and ethics. All employees are aware of this, and if you have any questions of this nature, you should go there! But as far as I know, we have not had any such complaints or appeals.
– According to statistics, at some enterprises, women still receive 25-30% less than men in similar positions. How can you comment on this?
– I can only say about the Altep Center. Our staffing is the same for everyone. The special approach to women is only to create the right conditions for them to open up and realize themselves. A woman has equal rights with a man, as declared by the law, but in life it happens differently. That's why we want to help them realize these rights.
Author Victoria Sidorova
Source: Chas Chernihivskyi