A good balance between men and women in the organization leads to better decisions and contributes to more innovation. That's VodafoneZiggo's strong conviction. Therefore, the company is working hard to improve the gender balance in all functions, levels and departments. The internal network Women Connected is aware that relatively few women still work in the telecom sector and is doing its best to change this.
Talent to the top
VodafoneZiggo has joined the 'Talent to the Top' initiative and promised to allow more women to progress to the top. "In the Discover Traineeship, our training program for young talents, the ratio between men and women is 50/50", says Barbara Jongerden, Director of External & Legal Affairs at VodafoneZiggo. "We actively participate in International Women's Day on March 8, and since 2019 we have also been organizing a Girls Day, where young girls visit VodafoneZiggo and get acquainted with telecom."
Respect, listen and grow
Barbara is an ambassador for Women Connected. "For me, diversity equals respect, listening and growing. I think it is important to treat everyone in the same way, to respect them. You achieve this by, for example, listening very carefully to others. We all learn from that, and eventually we will all grow."
Multiple angles
"Society is diverse and so is our organization by definition. If there are no diverse teams, you will get a disconnect between management and implementation and you may not reach people well," says Barbara. "It is also important in decision-making to have diverse teams. Approaching subjects from multiple angles, experiences, cultures and backgrounds yields a much better end result."
Women Connected is a network within VodafoneZiggo in which women and men work together to promote better gender diversity within the company.