Getting a Seat at the Table

Female execs voiced their thoughts on breaking the glass ceiling in the MENA region at the RiiSE Conference: Achieving Women Forum 2019.

The second panel discussion at the RiiSE Conference: Achieving Women Forum 2019 saw Roula Jouny, Group Managing Director, FTI Group; Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen, CEO, Novo Cinemas; Dr. Alia Al Serkal, Vice President – People Learning and Growth, du; and Assia Riccio, founder, Evolvin’ Women, voice their opinion on the tools and tactics that women can use to break the glass ceiling in their respective workplaces. Here are a few highlights:

1/ EMBRACE THE CHALLENGE

"For me, it has never been about the glass ceiling, but I always say that it’s more about the glass floor, meaning that it’s more about how much confidence and courage you have to take that first step,” Evolvin’ Women’s Assia Riccio said at the forum. “I come from the south of Italy, a community whose social norms have created an image that a woman should only be a mother, so after the first year of my marriage, my parents wondered why I was not pregnant, and the year after, it was already about the questions of which one of us had a problem. At that moment, for me, it was about how much courage I had to voice my decision not to have children.”

RiiSE Conference: Achieving Women Forum 2019 Second panel: Breaking the Glass Ceiling

Dr. Alia Al Serkal, Vice President – People Learning and Growth, du, echoed this sentiment by saying, “The glass ceiling depends on how one perceives it. Initially, at the beginning of one’s career, you may see it as the glass ceiling. But as you move and progress, and understand how to navigate the work environment, you break that glass ceiling.” The experience of Roula Jouny, Group Managing Director, FTI Group, was different. She said, “For me, it has been a journey of breaking through the glass ceiling. First of all, I got married very young, at 19 years old, and after four years of bad marriage, I had to escape with my young son, and had to come to this region, where I started a successful business and raised my son on my own. After 10 years in this region, I went to Europe, where you would have expected that things would have got easier, but then I realized that the UAE had been a blessing for a woman like me when seen in contrast to other countries.”

Novo Cinemas CEO Debbie Stanford- Kristiansen added, “If you had asked me that question 25 years ago, I would have said yes, there really was a glass ceiling, but for me right now, there is no glass ceiling anymore. I grab every opportunity that comes my way, because I don’t want to live my life with any regret, even if I have made poor decisions along the way. Having that confidence of how I can rebound from those decisions, and take myself forward keeps me grounded, but 25 years ago, I didn’t have that confidence at all.”

Assia Riccio, founder, Evolvin' Women

2/ BUILD YOUR SUPPORT SYSTEMS

Stanford-Kristiansen explained that mentorship had a huge role in boosting her self-confidence. “They say that mentors see things in you that you don’t see yourself, and they help you to bring that confidence out,” she said. “When I was 25, I was in the travel industry, and I had an amazing boss. I went on a business trip to Jordan with him where we were supposed to be presenting to the Travel Trade by the Jordanian Tourist Board. We got to the event, and about ten minutes before he was about to go on stage, he said that that day would be different, because I was going to be presenting. I was absolutely petrified, and I said that there was no way I could do it. He said, ‘I wouldn’t put you in this situation unless I believed you were ready for it.’ It was because of the fear of letting him down that I got through it. 20 minutes later, that exhilarating feeling of overcoming one of my greatest fears of standing up in front of people and presenting was the most amazing feeling.”

DR. Alia Al Serkal, Vice President-- People Learning and Growth, du

Du’s Dr. Al Serkal pointed out to another reason why mentorship was important. “In 20 years’ time, 75% of roles will be different or not exist anymore,” she said. “So, it’s not about skills anymore, but about behaviors which include agility, being dynamic, being curious, being out there, and ready for whatever we have to embrace. I think that as long as we can develop the workforce, both men and women, to be ready for whatever the future will bring, that will be a way of closing the gap as well. For that reason, at du, we are about to create a council where both men and women will be mentored in order to make them realize that there are no barriers to how much they can grow.” Riccio noted that that the mission of Evolvin’ Women has been essentially derived from mentorship. “We work with women who have gone through violent experiences, and one thing that we do with them before we even start seeking help from other people, is to teach them to pat themselves on the back, and celebrate small achievements,” she said. “Once you do that, learn to be kind to themselves, you’ll need less help from others, and then, of course, mentorship is the next step.”

TODAY, THE WORKING WOMAN HAS BECOME THE NORM, BUT WHAT IS STILL NOT THERE IS HAVING A WOMAN AT A HIGH EXECUTIVE LEVEL. IT’S NOW ABOUT TIME AND AWARENESS. JUST AS THE EDUCATION GAP BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN HAS BEEN CLOSED, NOW WE NEED TO CLOSE OTHER GAPS AND IN DIFFERENT SECTORS.

3/ RISE WITH, NOT AGAINST, EACH OTHER

When it comes to women advancing in their careers, Stanford-Kristiansen said, “Women cannot make it on their own, just as men cannot make it on their own. They need to support each other. Today, the working woman has become the norm, but what is still not there is having a woman at a high executive level. It’s now about time and awareness. Just as the education gap between men and women has been closed, now we need to close other gaps and in different sectors.” Jouny put forward an idea in this regard. “In order to make sure that we have more women rising to top positions, I believe that we have to set the mandates when looking for top executive positions, in order to have as many women as men at the final interview stage,” she said. “So, we need to mandate that for final interviews, and then assess purely on skills.”

Roula Jouny, Group Managing Director, FTI Group

However, Stanford-Kristiansen said that women need to be more supportive of each other. “I faced an issue with a woman during my career; it wasn’t a boss, but a counterpart whom I really admired, but I didn’t realize that she felt threatened by me, which is a very sad thing to experience,” she said. And how does she deal with these kind of scenarios? “I kill with kindness,” Stanford- Kristiansen continued. The only way I can deal with those situations is to be the nicest person I could possibly be. I won’t allow someone to treat me badly and to put me down, but that makes me more energized to be nice to and to help those people, because I actually felt sorry for that person needing to break somebody else down, especially other women. We should be bringing each other up.”

Debbie Stanford-Kristiansen, CEO, Novo Cinemas

4/ CHANGE STARTS AT THE TOP

All of the speakers noted that a societal culture that actively supports women is integral to the advancement of women in the workplace, and the UAE has been a great example in terms of a nation that’s actually walking the talk, they said. “The UAE is known to be one of the most competitive business environments, but still, every day of my hard work has paid off,” said Jouny. “Not for one day did I think that as a woman I would be less privileged than a man. That has happened in other countries, not here.”

Assia Riccio, founder, Evolvin’ Women, added, “Once, I was asked by an investor what my family plans were when we talked about my business plan- and that was not in the UAE. In return, I asked him whether he would ask my husband the same thing if he had been there, but he just moved on from there. So, when it comes to this, and in terms of opportunities, we are so lucky to be living in the UAE when compared to other countries. Also, when it comes to gender imbalance, which is a really complex topic, and to address it you need to create different systems, in your workplace, in your family, and an important part is finding channels where you can share and connect with others. In the UAE, we have the Women Empowerment Principles Committee, which is a great platform for all of us to share best practices in this area. It is important, because sometimes we need to unlearn what we know and embrace change, little by little.”

RiiSE Conference: Achieving Women Forum 2019