5th Jump Forum Identifies Cultural Change Essential for Women’s Empowerment

“A new culture of identity for men and women is possible.” This was the central message of this year’s Jump Forum in Brussels on the 5th and 6th of March, in which 500 participants and 30 international speakers took part. The goal of the forum was to raise awareness for the various aspects of gender diversity and foster the consciousness of participants for the various tools and approaches they can benefit from in a business environment that promotes equality. In line with recent discussions on gender balance, the Forum placed great emphasis on the necessity of a top-down role-modelling implementation of gender diversity, starting with a better representation of women on executive and supervisory boards. As Marc Luyckx Ghisi, researcher of global cultural transformation, put it “it is women, who will be able to offer and generate a change in firms’ business agendas in order to make them more responsible and sustainable”. Hence, the event made a strong point about societal and corporate cultural change being required for more female involvement and empowerment.

Many agree that such thorough change has to start from the top. Ghisi pointed out that involving more women at the highest levels will bring immense value to companies through more diversified approaches. Russ Hagey, the worldwide Chief Talent Officer at Bain & Company added that diversity in leadership and within the company is also useful when dealing with the requests of clients, or when accessing diverse markets and talent pools. Hagey added that in order to understand different clients around the world or within a country, any company has to be representative of that community or it might easily find itself missing out on opportunities. Consequently, Ghisi calls diversity not simply a “good idea” but essential for a company’s survival. Peninah Thomson, who has published three books on women in boardrooms and leadership positions, pointed to cultural change as the most difficult, but also most important task for a company, so that they not only include women in management but also leverage their particular perspectives and appreciate their different leadership styles. Thomson said that male dominance is so ingrained in the culture of most companies that they are only beginning to realise that the current system has been produced by men and that it may not be the only nor the most effective way to conduct business.

Participants were offered a number of workshops that helped them develop networks, deal with workplace challenges, situational awareness, or get image consultancy. There were also various discussions on female leadership and flexible work models. Speakers were invited mainly from Belgian companies but there was room for guest speakers from various European countries and the US. The international nature reinforced another message of the Forum: support and transnational cooperation between women so as to promote change within companies and in societies beyond national borders.