11 Oct 2018

Gender equality simplifies recruitment

Getting the right person in the right place is not easy. Successful recruitment can depend on small details like words and images. The half day conference Women with Impact, on October 4th, gave many concrete and valuable ideas on how to find the expertise needed by the company.

Gender equality is not just a matter of justice, it is about recruiting the right competence, as well as growth and development. In the city of Örnsköldsvik, which hosted the event Women with Impact, only 14 percent of the directors in the private sector are women, although women in Sweden generally have a higher education than men.

-For me, gender equality is about efficiency, research simply shows that gender equal companies are more profitable, said Maud Olofsson (C), former Minister of Industry and speaker at the event, to Örnsköldsviks Allehanda. She also emphasizes that there is nothing more important than fathers who support their daughters.

Ulf Ejelöv, Regional Director of Swedbank's Northern Region, expressed himself even clearer in his speech. -If you don’t base your leadership on gender equality, nobody will want to work with you in the future, was his message to the audience.

During a panel discussion, Malin Vedman, Kornboden Rekrytering & Bemanning, Peter Strömberg, Rototilt, Johan Bryngelsson, Sogeti and Mats Nilsson, Holmen Skog discussed how to include the entire population in recruitments without quotas for women. That women already employed at the company thrive was highlighted as a precondition by Strömberg. Those women serve as ambassadors for the company when recruiting. Nilsson points out that it is of utmost importance that the company is clear about why they should work with gender equality and what benefits an equal workplace can give. -Without WHY we will get nowhere with the process of change, he says.

The day ended with laughter when the Gender Photographer Tomas Gunnarsson talked about the importance of pictures in the gender equality work. That belittling and objectifying photos of powerful men, like the ones often seen of powerful women, can bring down so much laughter, really makes you think about how media needs to rethink how they portray women.

 

A link to “Images that change the world” can be found here->

Text: Maria Klintenäs

Tags/ women