By José Ángel de la Paz
The changes required in organizational structures to support equal opportunities between men and women, and to maintain a work-life balance were discussed at the Work-Life Balance Forum 2019.
In the second edition of the forum, organized by EGADE Business School and the Mexican Institute of Finance Executives (IMEF), diverse industry leaders addressed the challenges of professional development, in which women come up against more obstacles than men.
In her conference “Women of steel: a key factor for your career”, Silvia Pieretti, Global Director of Talent Management at Ternium, asserted that the participation of women executives in companies is even lower in Latin America.
For example, she mentioned that at Ternium only 3% of executive positions are held by women, while women represent only 10% of managers and 15% of middle management.
“In October 2018, the company launched its diversity and inclusion policy and, today, our efforts have gone from strength to strength in this area. My message is that women have to be persistent and work to construct in some way our development, to be where we want to be in the organization,” she said.
To grow within the company, Pieretti commented, women might find the following four basic rules helpful:
- Occupy the space with prominence. Don’t underestimate your capacity.
- Maintain a holistic approach and vision at the same time.
- Be open and agile to learn with a new mindset.
- Wait for the right moment (Kairos) to make important decisions.
HOW TO CHART A SUCCESSFUL CAREER
The forum included the panel “How to chart a successful career”, moderated by Inés Sáenz, Dean of the School of Humanities and Education at Tecnológico de Monterrey.
Panelists addressed the challenge of increasing the balance of women’s presence in management positions and on company boards, together with opportunities to access these levels.
María Concepción del Alto, Director of the Master in Finance at EGADE Business School in Monterrey, highlighted the commitment that devolves on organizations to foster an equitable life-work balance, so that a successful woman with a promising career is not forced to resign when the conditions for continuing to work cannot be found, for example, being a mother.
“These policies should emerge at the top of the organization, in a strong, categorical, decisive way to change this organizational culture and support men and women equally; it’s a change that is happening, if slowly, but fortunately we can now see it,” she said.
Jessica Roldán, Economic Analysis Director at Casa de Bolsa Finamex, agreed about the need to change the organizational culture so that recognition is based on results and efficiencies, rather than in-person time spent at work.
Sanjuana Herrera, Managing Director at Banregio, believes that drive and determination in decision making are the best tools for women to reach a leadership position.
Moreover, Claudia Fresnillo, Human Resources Director at Caterpillar, underscored the importance of women, not just men, participating in networking outside the company.
“Women aren’t very good at networking, perhaps because of our desire to go home, while, in contrast, it comes naturally to men; we have to try harder, because, in this environment, business is discussed and decisions are made,” she claimed.
ORGANIZATIONAL COMMITMENT AND PERSONAL PURPOSE
In his conference “Organizational commitment to the wellbeing of their human capital”, Rogelio Segovia, Vice-President of Human Resources for Latin America at CHRISTUS Health, addressed the responsibility of companies.
"Collaborators, be they men or women, fathers or mothers, cannot achieve wellbeing as individuals without the organization’s commitment to offering flexible hours or remote work," he explained.
In addition, Leopoldo Cedillo, CEO of Metalsa, offered the conference “The Answer is Within”, in which he urged attendees to identify their personal stakeholders.
“Work is just one of your stakeholders, but not the main one. Make your purpose clear to transcend and be happy," he said.