A Good Reason to be Cheerful: Opportunity Now Awards 2009
by Jane Carruthers (London)
After all the recent economic doom and gloom, a rare glow of positive light shone over a gathering of some 500 business and public sector leaders in the City of London on 29th April 2009: The Opportunity Now Awards, sponsored by Santander, celebrated those UK employers addressing inequality as a business imperative, creating workplace best practice so that women can succeed.”
The Glass Hammer sponsors PricewaterhouseCoopers and Goldman Sachs were among a line-up of winning firms, which also included Citi and FTSE 100 firms Pearson and Alliance Trust.
PricewaterhouseCoopers won both the Advancing Women in Business and Global Awards. Moira Elms, Global Partner for People, Knowledge, Brand and Communications and chair of the Gender Advisory Council at PricewaterhouseCoopers, said: “We are extremely proud of this distinction. At PwC, we are committed to ensuring women have the opportunity to build a rewarding career and move into leadership positions. Since its foundation in 2006, the Gender Advisory Council has made a real impact. Every year, we see an increase in the number of female partners around the world. And we now have two talented women on the global leadership team.”
Cleo Thompson, Gender Advisory Council Programme Manager, who, with Moira Elms, accepted the award on behalf of PricewaterhouseCoopers, added: “I am delighted we have won this award, particularly since Opportunity Now is such a respected and prestigious organisation and one of the few bodies to recognise achievement in global diversity.” Goldman Sachs won the Santander Award: Equality of Opportunity through Education and Learning, for its 10,000 Women Program.
Keynote speaker of the evening, Cilla Snowball CBE, Chairman and Chief Executive of the Abbott Mead Vickers Group, declared, “The Opportunity Now Awards provide powerful evidence of the business case for diversity. The Awards highlight the achievements of those who have made a real difference within their organisations, providing inspirational case studies and role models.”
Sarah Williams-Gardener, Director of Opportunity Now, agreed: “It has never been more important to prioritise your people and ensure everyone is engaged, productive and motivated. In fact, the recession allows us the opportunity to put our current workplace practices under the microscope and challenge the status quo.”
Winners of the awards are as follows:
Advancing Women in Business Award
This award was given to PricewaterhouseCoopers for its diversity strategy and work on increasing women partners. The firm now has more than 100 women partners.
Innovation Award
This award was given to Citi for its maternity transitions program providing support and guidance to individual women and line managers. The company also runs workshops for expectant dads. Citi now has a maternity return rate of 97%.
Global Award
This award was given to PricewaterhouseCoopers for its global Gender Advisory Council. This is a group of 14 senior male and female leaders who work to actively improve the representation of women within the firm, led by the global CEO. In 2008 29% of the firm’s new partners were women.
Santander Award: Equality of Opportunity through Education and Learning
This award was given to Goldman Sachs for its program providing 10,000 women globally, (predominantly in developing and emerging markets), with a business and management education.
Female FTSE 100 Award
This award was given to the FTSE100 organisation with the most women on its board overall. This was Alliance Trust who has a board that is 43% female. (Women currently make up only 11.7% of FTSE 100 boards.)
FTSE Executive Women Award
This award was given to the FTSE100 organisation with the most women on its executive committee – Pearson. Women make up 23% of the Pearson board and it is the only FTSE100 company to have two women executive directors. (Women currently hold only 4.8% of executive directorships in the FTSE.)
Premier Employer Award
This award was given to BT for its exceptional commitment to diversity evident in its commitment, business processes and impact.
Advancing Women in Public Service Award
This award was given to the London Fire Brigade for its Graduate Entry Scheme. The scheme is the first of its kind in the fire service and works to increase the number of talented women in leadership positions. 42% of its graduate entrants are women.
Champion Award
This award was given to Chief Superintendent Phil Kay of West Midlands Police for his work in eradicating a monoculture within his department and ensuring that diversity is celebrated and valued. Women now hold 33% of senior management positions within his team.
Directing Diverse Talent Award in association with CIPD (Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development)
This award was given to Margaret Gildea OBE for her commitment to inclusive talent management.
