It’s been a busy summer for the Women’s Leadership Council (WLC) chapters in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA). Dozens of people recently gathered for dynamic WLC workshops in Turkey and France, while WLC members in Germany are now working hard, after launching their chapter a few months ago.
Turkey
The Turkey chapter opened the summer season with a program that featured presentations by Isabella Ercole, Quattordio Plant Manager, Karin Priarollo, President of WLC EMEA, Rene Latten, EMEA HR, Benelux Director, Melanie Barth, Auto Quality Directorand Rodolfo Saporiti, FIAT Global Account director.
Ninety percent of female employees in Turkey attended the event and worked together to create a diversity roadmap for Turkish operations.
France
A few weeks later, a day-long meeting for French WLC members focused on how women can apply their skills and experience to help PPG achieve its innovation and organic growth objectives. A lively panel discussion examined strategies to attract, support, retain and advance women.
This gave guests much to consider when they divided into small groups to discuss career management, work/life balance strategies and positive influences for women.
Panelists included Hervé Tiberghien, Vice President Human Resources, Laura Alvarez, Marketing Director of brands and stores, architectural coatings, South Europe, Caroline Peyridieux, Technical Manager Coil, industrial coatings, EMEA and Emmanuelle Guerin, Director of sales and strategic segments, industrial coatings, EMEA.
Germany
Most recently, nearly 20 women representing every strategic business unit in Germany met to begin addressing priorities related to mentoring, networking and career opportunities.
To start with, they plan to establish a Yammer networking platform for chapter members and create guidelines for expectant employees and their managers.
These strategies include organizing professional development events for chapter members and ways to help new mothers transition back into the workplace.
The Women’s Leadership Council chapters in EMEA are also active in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom. We are looking forward to new exciting initiatives that come from these forums.