Global engineering and technology powerhouse Siemens has engaged one of the UK’s leading gender coaching consultancies, Talking Talent, in a bid to accelerate the progression of its high potential women and improve gender balance at the top of the organisation.
Maria Ferraro, Chief Financial Officer at Siemens UK and executive sponsor of the new initiative, comments, “Siemens is leading the way in our sector with the launch of our new ‘Women into Leadership’ programme. In a period when all big companies are under pressure to achieve the Government’s target of 30% female boardroom representation, I am so proud that we have walked the walk and translated debate into action. This is not about meeting targets. We have such an incredible diverse talent pool and we want to be the company where women have the same opportunities to rise to the top and become leaders just as much as men”.
National trends illustrate an erosion of gender diversity with seniority, which has historically been typical within Siemens. However, Siemens Women into Leadership programme aims to reverse this trend and empower female talents to take up leadership roles.
Siemens approached Talking Talent to develop and deliver its Women into Leadership programme, as a result of the coaching consultancy’s in-depth knowledge and renowned expertise in gender-specific development for women. Siemens required a high impact, coaching-led intervention to accelerate engagement and performance.
The Women into Leadership programme is aimed at the next generation of senior leadership. It consists of both group and 1:1 coaching, targeted and tailored events, as well as mentoring from senior individuals in the business across a six month period. Each cohort is made up of twelve high potential women.
The programme looks to address common areas that tend to impede women from progressing, including self-belief and confidence; political savviness; networking; influencing; authentic personal brand; presence and gravitas; and strategic career planning.
In addition to coaching each individual, the programme also focuses on the role of her line manager in career progression and provides support for the corresponding manager cohort. Talking Talent research* highlights better line manager support is the no.1 request from women wanting to progress their careers, while sadly one in three women say line manager behaviour impedes their career prospects.
Julie Holyland, Learning and Talent Development Lead at Siemens, commented, “Women continue to be significantly underrepresented in the engineering and technology industry and we are working towards attracting more women in the business. The focus of Women into Leadership is to ensure we then inspire, retain and engage high potential women and enable them to maximise their potential.”
“We are clear about the benefits of a more diverse and inclusive workforce, both from a commercial and individual perspective. We are excited to be partnering with Talking Talent to support Siemens success and strengthen inclusion and diversity in the business.”
Rebecca Hourston, Managing Director and Head of Coaching Programmes at Talking Talent said, “We love partnering with organisations like Siemens who are so committed to increasing the number of women progressing through the business. By working with Talking Talent, Siemens will make significant progress towards ensuring that the barriers to women succeeding in the business are reduced, if not removed. We’re confident we will see a substantial shift in the number of women progressing at Siemens in the very near future.”
-ENDS-
* SOURCE: ‘Up, Out or Different’ – Talking Talent 2015 survey of 2,500 women.
About Talking Talent
Talking Talent is the leading provider of consultancy and coaching for women and working parents in the UK and is at the forefront of developing the female talent pipeline across the globe.
Through listening to its coachees’ personal challenges, hopes, fears and ambitions, Talking Talent has developed bespoke, innovative and impactful coaching programmes. Talking Talent’s own flexible approach to working has attracted the very best in coaching talent and the company now employs over 50 of the most experienced coaches in the world, all with significant commercial backgrounds.
Talking Talent’s Top Ten achievements over the last decade:
1. 15,000+ women coached
2. Supported 4,000+ managers
3. More than 50 coaches worldwide
4. 100+ clients globally
5. 10 industry research studies and insight guides published
6. 80% of Lloyds Banking Group coachees promoted or given enhanced roles
7. 2,500 coaching sessions held over the last year alone
8. £17 million of savings in 18 months (EY)
9. 13% increase in retention across maternity period for Citi employees
10. 18 of The Times top 50 Employers for Women are TT clients
For more information, photography or to organise an interview with Rebecca Hourston (Managing Director and Head of Coaching Programmes, Talking Talent), please contact:
Laura Lally
Head of Marketing
Laura.lally@talking-talent.com
T: 01491 821850
About Siemens
Siemens is a global technology powerhouse that has stood for engineering excellence, innovation, quality, reliability and internationality for more than 165 years. The company is active in more than 200 countries, focusing on the areas of electrification, automation and digitalization. One of the world’s largest producers of energy-efficient, resource-saving technologies, Siemens is a leading supplier of efficient power generation and power transmission solutions and a pioneer in infrastructure solutions as well as automation, drive and software solutions for industry. The company is also a leading provider of medical imaging equipment – such as computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging systems – and a leader in laboratory diagnostics as well as clinical IT. In fiscal 2016, which ended on September 30, 2016, Siemens generated revenue of €79.6 billion and net income of €5.6 billion. At the end of September 2016, the company had around 351,000 employees in over 200 countries worldwide
Further information is available on the Internet at www.siemens.com.
Anne Keogh
Head of Internal and External Communications
E: Anne.keogh@siemens.com
T: 07808 823545
Katie Byrnes
Employee & Leadership Communications Consultant
E: katie.byrnes@siemens.com
T: 07808 823433
