LONDEN– (BUSINESS WIRE) – Vierentwintig vrouwelijke leidinggevenden van toonaangevende EMEA-bedrijven hebben de leiderschap karakteristieken voor C-suite-posities op het hoogste niveau. De WeQual Awards (www.wequal.com/awards) identificeren reeds succesvolle oudere vrouwen die een niveau lager zijn dan C-suite, en zijn gericht op het aanpakken van de langzame vooruitgang bij het benoemen van vrouwen in leidinggevende functies.

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Een kwart van de winnaars van eerdere Britse en Amerikaanse WeQual Awards is sindsdien gepromoveerd tot de directiecomités van FTSE- en Fortune 500-bedrijven.

“Het glazen plafondconcept is al decennia een probleem, en de drop-off is het steilst net onder de C-suite, dus heb ik WeQual gelanceerd om gendergelijkheid bovenaan te promoten”, zegt Katie Litchfield, oprichter en CEO van WeQual.

World-Class Women Executives Shortlisted in WeQual EMEA Awards for Potential C-Suite Leaders

LONDON–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Twenty-four female executives of leading EMEA companies have been identified as having the leadership traits for top level C-suite positions. The WeQual Awards (www.wequal.com/awards) identify already successful senior women who are one level below C-suite, and are aimed at tackling the slow progress in appointing women to executive roles.

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Katie Litchfield – Founder & CEO, WeQual (Photo: Business Wire)

A quarter of the winners of previous UK and US WeQual Awards have since been promoted to the executive committees of FTSE and Fortune 500 companies.

“The glass-ceiling concept has been an issue for decades, and the drop-off is steepest just below the C-suite, so I launched WeQual to champion gender equality at the top,” says Katie Litchfield, founder and CEO of WeQual.

The EMEA finalists are from a wide range of sectors and companies, including Orange, Unilever, Schneider Electric, Bayer Consumer Health, ENGIE, KCB Group, Sodexo, Enel Group, L’Oréal, Mondi Group, Bureau Veritas, Standard Chartered, Veolia Environnement, Ericsson, Fresenius Medical Care, AkzoNobel, Ooredoo Qatar, Danone, Aryzta.

The 24 finalists were assessed against seven criteria: Leadership, Cognitive Ability, Integrity, Drive & Resilience, Equality, Knowledge of the Business, and Personal Development. All candidates were assessed blind with no name or company revealed in their application.

Eight executive interviewers will hold 30-minute interviews with the three finalists in their category before each choosing a category winner: Brand Innovation, Commercial Performance, Digital Impact, Finance, Head of Region, People Excellence, Strategy Development, and Transformational Leadership.

The finalists will be announced in December 2020.

Among supporters of the awards are Ann Cairns, Executive Chair of Mastercard and Global Chair of the gender equality campaign group ‘30% Club’; Sir Ian Cheshire, Chairman of Barclays; Dame Inga Beale; and Ron Kalifa OBE of Network International. They are part of a roster of well-known C-suite executives who will now choose eight category winners.

Sir Ian Cheshire says: “These awards are among the first to target women at this level. We believe building awareness of these talented people, as well as connecting them to each other, is an important step in improving diversity at top levels of business.”

This senior group of 24 executives will become members of the WeQual Club and join the existing 72 senior FTSE and Fortune 500 female executives.

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Notes to editors

Methodology: The eight assessment questions were developed from a research-based meta-analysis of the factors and characteristics that mark leaders as different from non-leaders (Kirkpatrick and Locke, 1991). They were designed to help the women best describe how they deliver on leadership characteristics and how they are seen by others as a leader, and indeed engage people who see them as fit to lead.

About WeQual

WeQual’s mission is to make businesses more inclusive by identifying exceptional women executives and address the gender imbalance across the world’s Executive Committees. Katie Litchfield, founder and CEO of WeQual Awards, devised the new platform which calls for women senior executives to build their case as to why they are deserving to be appointed to the Executive Committee.

www.wequal.com

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Contacts

Katie Litchfield

katie@wequal.com
Mobile: + 44 7796 147466 #

UK office: +44 20 3290 3389