Study on non-legislative initiatives for companies to promote gender ...

Gender equality initiatives 79
In Denmark, Germany and Slovenia there are several prizes awarding enterprises
which have made outstanding efforts to increase the number of women in management
positions.
In Slovenia, there is a prize called “Managerkam prijazno podjetje” (women
managers friendly company) which is part of a larger programme of activities carried
out by the Managers’ Association of Slovenia. As a part of this association, the Section
of Women Managers is conducting the competition for this prize. The main objective of
the initiative is to highlight the importance and role of women leaders and managers,
both in the company and in society in general.
Each year, the Section of Women Managers sends out a call for applications in the MQ
Magazine, the Managers’ Association e-news, and on the Women Managers Section
website. Managers’ Association members who potentially meet the selection criteria are
directly asked to participate. A candidate for the award may be any company in the
group of medium or large enterprises that is doing business in the Republic of Slovenia.
Exceptionally, the award may also be given to professional, scientific, educational, or
similar institutions that are, through their achievements, contributing to the promotion of
women in management positions.
A candidate company must meet the following conditions: It has to employ females for
more than one third of its managerial and leadership positions (General Director,
Management Board, Executive Director), it must have at least 50 employees, it has to
show a trend of growth over the previous three years and it has to demonstrate
successful business results according to indicators used in their financial statements.
The candidate companies must fill in an extensive questionnaire that consists of both
quantitative and qualitative elements of business assessment. The quantitative data in
particular include operating financial results for three years. Qualitative data are based
mainly on the description of the career development of three to five females in
managerial and leadership positions in the company. These individuals need to
respond to the questionnaire by themselves, describing the development of their
professional careers in the respective company. The qualitative part of the questionnaire
is set in a manner that identifies potential problem areas of gender inequality (e.g.
wage gap). The company has to describe how it creates conditions for optimum
development of female managers’ careers.
Some companies participate year after year and express a high degree of persistence
in their efforts to achieve the award. However, competition is rigorous. Once a company
receives a prize, it cannot apply again. The evaluation commission consists of six
members. For the assessment process, they receive comparative analyses of the
nominations. It is important to stress that the evaluation process is secret; only the
commission receives the information, and it is not known which companies are
candidates for recognition. The Governing Board of The Section of Women Managers
then decides on prize recipients based on the commission opinion. The prize is
awarded at the spring meeting of the Managers' Association to draw attention to those
companies who recognise the important role that women managers play. In addition to
the award, which is given to the company’s general managing director, each individual
female candidate (three to five candidates from the winning company) receives her own
miniature prize.
Norway has a prize called “Landbrukssamvirkets likestillingspris” (gender equality prize
of the Federation of Norwegian Agricultural Co-operatives) which has the objective to
award companies which have good results in gender equality, especially regarding the