Leaders for Equality: Leaders seize opportunities
Achieving gender equality is an organisational development process. And gender equality needs men - more precisely: male leaders. We research how male leaders are involved in gender equality issues and how they can actively shape gender equality. We support companies and administrations in getting managers excited about gender equality. Leaders seize opportunities - with our toolbox and through our advisory services. Tap the potential of male managers for your gender equality work and thus increase the proportion of women in management positions! For more information, please visit our project website www.leaders4equality.ch.
News
Here you will find event announcements, new blog posts, current topics and news from our project.
We are Leader for Equality
The following companies and organizations are already actively working with us to promote gender equality by involving male managers.
Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS)
The Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) comprises the Defence Group and the six federal offices: the General Secretariat, the Federal Intelligence Service, Armaments (armasuisse), National Topography (swisstopo), Civil Protection and Sport. The head of the DDPS is Federal Councillor Martin Pfister. The DDPS employs around 12,500 staff.
The DDPS is strongly committed to diversity. The current focus is on gender equality and increasing the proportion of women. It also promotes multilingualism, the integration of people with disabilities into the workplace, a healthy work-life balance, and intergenerational cooperation. The aim is clear: to create a culture of mutual respect and inclusion for everyone.
“Equality is also a matter of culture and values. Managers play a key role in fostering a culture characterised by respect, openness and trust, and in creating an environment in which everyone, regardless of their personality, way of thinking or lifestyle, feels welcome.”
Sabine Lehner, Diversity Management Officer DDPS (2022)
Feller by Schneider Electric
Feller AG is Switzerland’s leading technology partner for the electrical installation sector. Anyone living in Switzerland is familiar with our switches and sockets. With their timeless design and outstanding quality, they accompany people throughout their lives. We have been developing and manufacturing top-quality products in Horgen for over 100 years and are a renowned employer in the Lake Zurich region. Our core business is complemented by innovative electronic products and system solutions in building automation, as well as home networks and power distribution. Around 420 employees work hard every day to achieve this.
Feller is part of Schneider Electric, one of the world’s leading specialists in digital transformation within the fields of energy management and automation. Schneider Electric offers smart solutions for the residential, building services, data centre sectors, as well as for infrastructure providers and industry. With over 140,000 employees and branches in more than 100 countries, Schneider Electric is one of the global market leaders in energy management, medium and low voltage, secure power supply and automation technology. We offer integrated efficiency solutions that seamlessly combine energy, automation and software.
In Switzerland, the Schneider Electric Group comprises Schneider Electric (Switzerland) AG and Feller AG, as well as the technology brands APC and Gutor Electronic, and employs more than 1,000 staff.
“One of our values at Schneider Electric is ‘Embrace different – diversity is what defines us’. We are 100 per cent committed to inclusion. Discrimination is not tolerated here. We believe in equal opportunities for everyone, everywhere. We see teams with a mix of genders and ages as a key factor in our company’s success. That is why we actively promote the advancement of women and, through our global Flex@Work Policy, offer excellent conditions for balancing work and private life. We are taking part in the study because, as a technology company, increasing the proportion of women in our workforce is an ongoing challenge for us, and we wish to explore every viable option in this regard. Through the study – and by involving our senior management – we expect to identify new approaches and ideas on how we can make progress together in this area.”
Dr. Rasmus Oertel, HR Director, Schneider Electric Switzerland (2019)
Helvetia Insurance
Helvetia Insurance, headquartered in St. Gallen, has grown over the past 160 years into a successful, internationally active insurance group. Today, Helvetia is Switzerland’s leading multi-line insurer. Over 6,500 employees provide services to more than 5 million customers every day.
“Helvetia respects and promotes the diversity and uniqueness of its employees. Different perspectives lead to constructive debate and innovative ideas. We are convinced that, with a gender-balanced leadership team, we can strengthen Helvetia as an agile, customer-focused and innovative company and thereby achieve our set objectives. That is why we want to increase the number of women in leadership positions. We hope the study will provide concrete starting points on how we can mobilise our leaders and thus drive the issue of diversity forward together.”
Hans-Caspar Schegg, Head HR Business Partner International &
Manuela Bärtsch Forster, Diversity Officer (2019)
IDEAS
IDEAS is the association of equality officers from the ten Swiss universities and the two federal institutes of technology. IDEAS is committed to promoting genuine gender equality and to implementing equal opportunities, inclusion and diversity at all levels within higher education institutions.
Our motivation: Why does the ‘leaky pipeline’ still exist at our universities, and why is the proportion of women at professorial level rising only very slowly? As recruitment processes at universities play a key role, IDEAS, in collaboration with Leaders for Equality, set out to investigate the extent to which the predominantly male professors at these institutions are committed to gender equality.
“I very much welcome the fact that this crucial issue has been examined as part of a national survey of all universities and the ETH. The analysis confirms the need to encourage more men to get involved in promoting equality through concrete actions.”
Prof. Yves Flückiger, Principal of the University of Geneva (2023)
“Supporting early-career female researchers in particular is a key task for universities. We therefore attach great importance at the University of Bern to providing thorough support for research projects, as well as to what is known as ‘protected research time’ – that is, dedicated time for research that early-career researchers can claim. But it is also important to support women later on in their careers. As Rector, it is my responsibility to continually approach women for leadership roles and to motivate them. I am delighted that there are now two women on the University Executive Board, and that my successor will be a woman.”
Prof. Christian Leumann, Principal of the University of Bern (2022)
“It is evident that there are still significant reservations when it comes to putting this into practice. In order to implement a genuine equality policy, it is essential that professors, too, take concrete action – for example, by citing more female colleagues or refusing to take part in all-male panels. It is also important to encourage women at the same hierarchical level to apply for leadership positions, whilst at the same time dispelling the prejudice that equality and merit do not go hand in hand.”
Prof. Liliane Michalik, Vice Principal for Equality, Diversity and Careers at the University of Lausanne (2022)
Migros East Switzerland cooperative
The Migros East Switzerland cooperative is one of the largest of the Migros Group’s ten regional cooperatives. It has its headquarters in Gossau, St. Gallen. Its operational area covers the cantons of St. Gallen, Appenzell Innerrhoden, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Thurgau, Graubünden, Schaffhausen and Zurich, as well as the Principality of Liechtenstein. The company operates very successfully in the supermarket, specialist retail and catering sectors, as well as in the education and leisure sectors, and employs around 10,000 staff representing over 90 nationalities.
«Mit einem Frauenanteil von rund 63% am Gesamtpersonalbestand ist die Migros „weiblich“. Gleichzeitig liegt der Anteil an Frauen in Führungspositionen deutlich tiefer und nimmt mit steigender Hierarchiestufe gar noch ab. Und dies trotz im Landesgesamtarbeitsvertrag der Migros-Gruppe festgeschriebener Chancengleichheit und trotz Massnahmen zur besseren Vereinbarkeit von Beruf und Familie.
Die Migros Ostschweiz zielt darauf ab, den Anteil an Frauen in Führungspositionen auf allen Führungsebenen deutlich anheben zu können. Deshalb kommt uns das Projekt „Leaders for Equality“ der Universität St.Gallen sehr gelegen. Wir erhoffen uns konkrete Massnahmen zur Erreichung dieser Zielsetzung. Der dem Projekt zugrunde liegende Ansatz, männliche Führungskräfte bewusst und gezielt als Unterstützer zu nutzen, wirkt dabei vielversprechend.»
René Frei, Leiter Direktion Personelles
Fabienne Wullschleger, Leiterin Betriebliches Gesundheitsmanagement / Mitarbeitendenberatung (2019)
Post Finance
PostFinance is one of Switzerland’s leading financial institutions and is a trusted partner for over 3 million people – both private and business customers – who wish to manage their finances independently. Find out here what strategy and objectives PostFinance pursues, how the company is managed, and what matters to PostFinance in terms of sustainability.
“Gender equality is a key priority for PostFinance within the framework of corporate responsibility and is strategically embedded. We are already well positioned on the Board of Directors and in senior management; at lower and middle management levels, our aim is to increase the proportion of women. Managers are the architects of equal opportunities within the company and play a key role in achieving this goal. Our collaboration with the University of St Gallen (HSG) as part of the ‘Leaders for Equality’ programme provides us with important insights into the perceptions, opinions and motivations of our male, female and diverse managers regarding gender equality. The findings help us to develop measures for greater equality within the company that go beyond simply promoting women and involve male managers – a group that has largely been overlooked to date – as a central and active group of stakeholders.”
Miriam Wälti, Co-Lead Corporate Responsibility/Sustainability at PostFinance (2021)
Schweizerische Bundesbahn SBB
SBB is the backbone of Switzerland’s public transport system; day-to-day rail operations form the foundation of our business. SBB has been transporting people and goods for over 100 years. In doing so, we make a significant contribution to Switzerland’s quality of life and competitiveness. We intend to continue this success story even in times when the entire economy, society and the transport sector are undergoing profound change. In this way, we will continue to fulfil our responsibility towards public transport and Switzerland in the future. Every day, we take over 1.25 million passengers and 205,000 tonnes of freight to their destinations. But we are more than just the railway: 32,300 passionate employees make us the backbone of public transport and work with us towards our vision for the mobility of the future. Welcome to SBB.
“Genuine and effective equality of opportunity requires the inclusion of all genders. In the collective discourse, all genders are called upon to seek solutions. At SBB, too, the focus in recent years has been on promoting women in order to increase the consistently low proportion of women. The change has been modest. For us, the project will be successful if it can demonstrate what the levers, chances and opportunities might be that enable equality of opportunity for all genders to contribute to the company’s success.”
Judith Renevey, Diversity & Inclusion officer (2020)
Schindler Aufzüge AG
Founded in Switzerland in 1874, the Schindler Group is a leading global provider of lifts, escalators and related services. Schindler’s mobility solutions transport more than 2 billion people worldwide every day. The company’s success is underpinned by more than 70,000 employees in over 100 countries.
Inclusion and Diversity
Schindler recognises that an inclusive and diverse workforce is a strength. This contributes to an innovative and engaging working environment, which opens up opportunities for Schindler to serve its customers better and gain a competitive edge. Being inclusive and diverse helps us to attract and retain staff, which underpins our future success.
As a signatory to the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs), Schindler is committed to promoting gender equality. Schindler’s target is to have women fill at least 30 per cent of leadership positions by 2030. To achieve this goal, Schindler has launched a ‘Gender Inclusion Boost’ plan, which includes a global mentoring initiative in which over 60 senior managers support a network of female talent and work to combat potential bias in recruitment and promotion. In 2023, 18 per cent of leadership positions were held by women.
Fachstelle Gleichstellung der Stadt Zürich
The City of Zurich’s Office for Gender Equality is the centre of expertise and the point of contact for the legal and practical equality of women and men, and of lesbian, gay, bisexual, intersex and transgender people, in all areas of life. The Office for Gender Equality works to combat direct and indirect discrimination and to promote and achieve legal and de facto equality. It carries out its specific cross-cutting tasks and provides its services not only to city staff, the city administration and other public bodies, but also to the city’s population, as well as to institutions, organisations and companies operating in the City of Zurich. At a broader level, the work of the Office for Equality is guided by the Federal Constitution (Art. 8(3) FC) and the Federal Act on Gender Equality (Gender Equality Act, GlG).
"The under-representation of women in male-dominated professions is also a reality within the City of Zurich’s administration. In addition to the measures already taken in the area of recruitment, corporate and organisational culture also plays an important role. How can female staff, as the under-represented gender, be retained within an organisational unit (this applies, incidentally, in the opposite scenario as well)? How can an environment be created in which all staff feel equally at ease and also have equal opportunities to develop and progress in their careers? This is where ‘Leaders for Equality’ comes in, providing training to organisational units on leadership that promotes equal opportunities. A key building block for achieving genuine equality.”
Simon Dinkel, Project Manager at the City of Zurich’s Office for Gender Equality (2023)
Stadtwerke München
With 10,000 employees, Stadtwerke München is one of the region’s largest employers. For many decades, we have been a reliable and environmentally responsible partner for the people of Munich when it comes to essential public services and infrastructure in the fields of energy, water, transport and telecommunications. As a company owned by all the people of Munich, SWM is committed to sustainability. Climate and environmental protection are central components of SWM’s corporate policy.
Über unseren Versorgungsauftrag hinaus engagieren wir uns für eine zukunftsfähige Stadtgesellschaft. Als großer Auftraggeber stärken wir die regionale Wirtschaft und sichern Arbeitsplätze. Zahlreichen jungen Menschen bieten wir eine qualifizierte Ausbildung.
„Die SWM wollen bis 2025 min. 25 % ihrer Führungspositionen mit Frauen besetzen und min. 25 % Frauenanteil an der Gesamt-Belegschaft erreichen. (Gender-)Diversität sorgt dafür, dass bei der Diskussion von Problemstellungen und bei der Lösungsfindung mehr Blickwinkel einfließen; damit sorgt Diversität auch dafür, dass die SWM kreativer, innovativer und kundenorientierter werden und mit Veränderungsprozessen besser umgehen. Ganz abgesehen davon, dass wir – gerade in Zeiten des Fachkräftemangels – andernfalls das Potential vieler bestens qualifizierter Frauen nicht nutzen würden. Wir können nachhaltige Diversität und echte Gleichberechtigung nur erreichen, wenn wir nicht einzelne Personen (egal welches Geschlechts) fördern, sondern das System insgesamt anpassen. Das heißt, an manchen Stellen die Möglichkeiten dafür schaffen, dass das unterrepräsentierte Geschlecht (und das sind bei den Stadtwerken München in aller Regel Frauen) Karrierechancen überhaupt erst ergreifen können; männliche Führungskräfte sind hierfür zentrale Akteure und können Beförderer von Gleichstellung sein.“
Georgina Layritz, Diversity Managerin (2023)
TX Group
Als eines der grössten Schweizer Medien- und Technologieunternehmen erreicht die TX Group täglich fast 80 Prozent der Schweizer Bevölkerung und beschäftigt über 3 000 Mitarbeitende. Die TX Group bildet ein Netzwerk von Plattformen und Beteiligungen, das den Nutzerinnen und Nutzern täglich Informationen, Orientierung, Unterhaltung sowie Hilfestellungen für den Alltag bietet. Die Wurzeln liegen in der Publizistik mit den vielfältigen Zeitungen von Tamedia sowie den Gratismedien von 20 Minuten. Ergänzt wird das Portfolio durch die Werbevermarkterin Goldbach. Die TX Group ist Ankeraktionärin der SMG Swiss Marketplace Group und von JobCloud, hält Mehrheitsbeteiligungen an Doodle und Zattoo und ist durch TX Ventures als Investorin im Bereich Fintech engagiert.
«Bei TX Group finden unterschiedlichste Persönlichkeiten und Talente mit ihren individuellen Fähigkeiten und Interessen zusammen. Die Vielfalt macht uns stark. Wir bieten Raum für Austausch und neue Ideen.Seit einiger Zeit wird ein Fokuspunkt auf Diversität, Inklusion und Chancengleichheit gelegt und unter anderem eine konsequente Analyse der Gender-Ausgewogenheit in der Belegschaft und auch in der Berichterstattung der Medien durchgeführt. Die Vielfalt unserer Mitarbeitenden sehen wir als Chance und als Erfolgsfaktor. Unterschiedliche Perspektiven stärken die Innovationskraft, fördern die Wettbewerbsfähigkeit und helfen, Kundenbedürfnisse besser zu verstehen.»
Ursula Nötzli, Chief Communications & Sustainabilty Officer (2022)
Unic AG
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Wir setzen Zeichen mit unseren Projekten: Wir haben fünf Mal den Master of Swiss Web gewonnen, führen die Best-of-Swiss-Web-Kategorie Usability an und werden seit 2012 jährlich für eines unserer Projekte mit dem Sitecore Experience Award ausgezeichnet. www.unic.com
«Vielfalt macht uns stark. Je bunter die Kultur, je diverser die Menschen, desto grösser der Erfolg.“ – so halten wir es nicht nur mit unserer Unic-Kultur, auch im Unic-Alltag handeln wir nach diesem Prinzip. Wir sind davon überzeugt, dass Diversität eine Selbstverständlichkeit sein muss. Auch für uns als holokratisches Unternehmen (wir arbeiten selbstorganisiert ohne klassische Personenhierarchie) ist es wichtig, Diversität und Gleichstellung in allen Bereichen zu fördern. Denn Leadership entsteht nicht aus Titeln, sondern aus einer positiven, bewussten Grundeinstellung und einem offenen Mindset. »
Annika Koller, Diversity & Inclusion Advocate (2021)
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Kontakt «Leaders for Equality»
+41 71 224 26 38
leaders4equality@unisg.ch
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