DELOITTE ENCOURAGES WOMEN’S LEADERSHIP

DANIJELA FIŠAKOV, President of the Slovenian Business Club Equal Pay Is A Difficult Goal

There is no longer any area of management in which women have not proven at least their equality with colleagues but are not paid equally for the same work. In Slovenia, this gap is about 8%

Throughout human history, women have never been banned from working. But what they have been denied is the right to decide and the right to a reward appropriate to their work. In the last ten years, there have been an ever greater number of women in a growing number of companies and institutions whose efficiency and effectiveness exceed that of their male colleagues. The share of women employed in the world economy is estimated at over 45 percent, and managers in some multinationals occupy up to 60 percent of important positions. There is no longer any area of leadership in which women have not proven at least their equality with their colleagues. However, despite the Treaty of Rome on equal pay for equal work, already signed in 1957, even the practice of the developed world still shows a completely different picture. There are still differences in earnings. In EU countries for example, women are paid on average 14% (20% in Austria and 8% in Slovenia) less than their male counterparts for regular work, not to mention the size of bonuses.

In the last ten years, a growing number of women who manage companies and institutions significantly surpass their male colleagues in their efficiency and effectiveness.

ALEKSANDRA PETROVIĆ,

Financial Advisory Director, testifying financial expert and Leader of the SheXO initiative at Deloitte Serbia

Deloitte Encourages Women’s Leadership

As one of the few experienced female financial experts in international arbitrations, I observe the lack of gender diversity in the arbitration world. Various studies show that female arbitrators or providers of expert testimony are selected to serve on arbitration panels at a rate of renumeration that is lower than that of their male counterparts. As such, the empowerment of women and advocating for gender parity in the workplace are extremely important

We, at Deloitte, have long championed the advancement of women through different programmes focused on empowering them in the workplace. We understand that we need to support women individually. Regardless of the phase of life that they happen to be in or the goals they’ve set to achieve, we aspire to enable them to achieve their individual goals. It is also crucial to build a network of female business leaders who will enhance the capacity to play according to the same rules as male leaders. One such initiative is the SheXO Initiative, a programme consisting of various activities aimed at advocating for women’s advancement in the workplace across the region.

Our objective isn’t just to empower women and advocate for gender parity in the workplace, which is implied in and of itself, but rather to building a network

It is also crucial to build a network of female business leaders who will enhance the capacity to play according to the same rules as male leaders

and doing business, retaining talent and mirroring clients’ priorities.

Visibility in the industry is essential and involves a lot of networking, travelling, active participation in conferences and article writing. Building the eminence and reputation in business is a long and thorny road, but I strongly encourage all talented and qualified women not to shy away from this challenge. Choosing to be a woman in leadership shouldn’t mean choosing between your work and your private life, but rather a choice for yourself. And that would achieve the objective of Deloitte’s SheXo Initiative.