Bank wants more women at top

To hear Milan Kubek tell it, gender inequality continues to plague the work force, although the Czech Medical Chamber president is likely in the minority when it comes to opinions on what the problem with it is.

At a meeting of health committee deputies last week, Kubek touched off a small controversy when he decried the "feminization" of the healthcare industry, a problem in his mind because "a woman's dedication to the job can never compare to the dedication men have."

Thankfully, many companies work to combat that attitude and acknowledge that a mixed team at top executive levels isn't just the right thing to do, but can produce greater innovations that help the bottom line. UniCredit Bank has launched a program in cooperation with the U.S. Business School Praha (USBSP) to increase the percentage of female employees in top management positions, by encouraging existing employees and recruiting more women. Most recently, the program included a seminar led by Elisabet Rodriguez, a business strategy consultant from Pennsylvania who was invited by Jana Ryšlinková, dean of USBSP.

"UniCredit is a great example of taking this moment, that could be one of crisis, and agreeing that it's an opportunity to make sure we align our resources and talent to make things work better for the company," she said. "I hope others could look at it and use it as a benchmark to see how this can progress."

Ryšlinková said educational opportunities and initial hiring practices are wide open for women, but it's advancement to top levels where women tend to stall compared with their male counterparts.

"What's needed is to make sure we have enough energy, patience and the right set of skills to actually get recognized," she said. "Entering is one thing, being seriously considered a partner is another thing. It takes the effort of both men and women for that to happen."

USBSP will continue to work with UniCredit in organizing leadership and mentoring programs for existing employees, and Ryšlinková said the program could eventually be adapted for other companies that also want to focus on promoting women.

Within the banking sector, the distribution of women is strikingly pyramid-shaped, according to Dagmar Mádrová, the main branch manager at a UniCredit bank in Prague 5. Women hold more than half of entry level positions, only about a third in middle management and find themselves drastically outnumbered at the top, holding only 6 percent of senior management positions in the Czech banking sector.

Ingrained behavior

"The higher the positions, the fewer women there are," Mádrová said. "But we appreciate that UniCredit Group is giving women new opportunities to develop."

The proverbial glass ceiling is still there, Rodriguez said, but, beyond changing men's attitudes, there are certain behavioral patterns ingrained in many women from a young age that may be holding them back, she said. Women often lag behind men in networking, finding mentors and taking credit for successes, patterns that Petra Skrbková, a UniCredit department head, said she became more cognizant of after Rodriguez's sessions.

"I think that men are able to self-promote themselves naturally. Women can't wait for somebody to just find out about our hard work and willingness to grow just by chance," she said.

Jo Weaver has worked in Prague since establishing her PR company, JWA Prague, in 1991, and is also the chairwoman of the International Business Forum (IBF), which she helped found at the end of 2007. The IBF holds regular Women in Business seminars and a mentoring program that has been well attended by female members, she said. Women occupying top management positions bring the value of diversity to boards, she added.

"[Diversity] throws some different perspectives on the table. If you just have like-minded, similar people, it's not always a good thing," she said. Recent press reports that questioned whether more diverse executive boards would have prevented such a spectacular banking crisis raise an interesting point, she added.

"If you look at the banking situation, it's probably true that had those boards had a few women, they might have said, 'Well, hang on a minute,' " she said.

Claire Compton can be reached at
ccompton@praguepost.com