Both companies with their teams and women themselves can participate. The program is suitable for fulfilling ESG goals
Business & Professional Women CR (BPWCR) is proud to announce that on October 11, it will officially launch the 7th year of the Empowering Women Mentoring program, which brings a unique opportunity for companies and individual participants to support female leadership, develop women’s career opportunities while meeting key ESG ‘S’ targets. 60 women and 10 companies have the chance to use it this year. Applications are now open and places are filling up fast.
Empowering Women Mentoring (EWM) has become an indispensable platform for talented aspiring female managers to advance their careers. The program is unique in its approach, the basis of which is the speed mentoring method – a dynamic, effective and interactive way to transfer experience and knowledge between mentors and mentees, in sharing experiences between participants and in networking.
What is speed mentoring and why is it a key element of our program?
Speed mentoring, as developed in 2010 by the president of the organization, is a unique method of education that combines speed, intensity and focus on the specific needs of the mentee . “Unlike traditional mentoring, where the relationship between mentor and mentee is long-term and broader in scope, speed mentoring offers intensive and narrowly focused sessions where mentees receive valuable advice and feedback from multiple mentors in a short period of time while benefiting from the sharing of views and the experiences of other participants. This format allows women to gain different perspectives and to apply acquired knowledge more quickly in practice,” says Lenka Šťastná , president of BPWCR and author of the speed mentoring method.
Thanks to this approach, the participants not only develop on a professional level, but also build an important network of contacts, which is crucial for their career growth. Companies that join the program have the opportunity to provide their employees with access to this unique form of education, which can significantly contribute to their professional development and overall satisfaction.
Why should companies get involved?
By engaging in EWM programs, companies can significantly strengthen their ESG strategy . Nowadays, it is increasingly important to demonstrate a commitment to sustainable and ethical business, not only from the point of view of environmental protection, but also the promotion of equal opportunities, talent development and increasing the proportion of women in top management . According to a McKinsey study, there are currently only 4% of women in the position of CEO and 11% of top management in Czech companies . A number of large employers aim to increase the representation of women in management to at least 30% by 2030.
This program offers companies the opportunity to actively contribute to the fulfillment of these sustainable social responsibility goals. Supporting female leadership is both a matter of equal conditions and a competitive advantage – studies show that companies with diversified leadership achieve better financial results and have higher innovation potential . Companies with more than 30% women in management are likely to increase their profitability by up to 26% . Building employee loyalty through an employment policy set in this way reduces fluctuations, and thus recruitment costs, and increases the company’s attractiveness on the labor market .
How to get involved?
Registration for companies and individual participants is currently underway. Companies can nominate their employees to the program or join as partners and support the entire project. Participants will gain access to a series of mentoring sessions covering important development topics and networking to help them develop their skills and increase their visibility in the industry.
Feedback from previous years
The participants of the previous six years of the EWM program appreciated not only the opportunity to receive valuable advice from experienced professionals, but also the atmosphere of mutual support and inspiration, which motivated them to further professional growth. “Speed mentoring helped me quickly identify areas where I can grow professionally and gave me concrete advice on how to do that,” said one of the participants from last year.
EWM supports individual women, but at the same time creates a wider impact on the entire society and organizations that choose to participate in the program. At BPWCR, we believe that an investment in the development of women’s potential is an investment in the future, and we look forward to the involvement of new companies and women in the seventh year of this exceptionally rated program – the satisfaction rate of participants with the program reaches 99% and 63% confirms increased self-confidence and courage to change .
For more information and to sign up, visit bpwcr.cz/empoweringwomen7 .
Contact for interested parties:
Helena Dreiseitlová, EWM project coordinator, helena.dreiseitlova@bpwcr.cz
Which companies have joined the EWM program so far?
Allianz, ABinBev, Danone, Essox, GasNet, HOPI, IBM, Kone, Lego, Mars, Mondelez, Nova, Philip Morris, Raiffeisenbank, CEZ Group, UNIQA