Leathwaite is pleased to announce a new partnership with Advance. Advance is an association and a network that takes specific measures to increase the share of women in leading positions in Switzerland.
The Advance mission is to actively increase the share of women in leading positions in Swiss companies on an ongoing basis. They believe that sustained success depends on having a balanced gender mix at all levels of an organization.
Yet, the gender balance in senior leadership positions in Switzerland is still far from mixed. The share of women falls well below the international average at only 9%. Advance’s aim is to ensure that women occupy 20% of all leading positions in our member companies by 2020 and hence, the economy benefits from the higher innovation, profit and productivity that result from having mixed-gender management teams.
Chris Rowe, based in Switzerland as Head of Leathwaite’s European Business and also Head of its global HR practice, said:
“Leathwaite is delighted to have joined Advance. We already have a comparatively strong track record of placing women into leadership positions within the Swiss market, but would be the first to say that more must be done.
Helping companies understand and unlock the hidden value associated with a diverse leadership team, rather than talk about diversity because they feel they should, is an underlying Leathwaite passion and Advance very clearly provides a coherent message, network and goal to make this happen.
Significantly increasing the proportion of women in leadership roles in Switzerland is doubtless a challenge, but we see it as a winnable battle. For this reason, supporting Advance was a very easy decision indeed”.
About Advance:
Advance was founded following an initiative by female executives from ten leading Swiss-based companies. It is a non-profit association and is funded through an annual subscription fee paid by the member companies. Other companies are highly welcome to become members.
Advance is a unique and comprehensive program that leverages the most innovative talent management tools of each member organization. Their offering focuses on four main pillars: Skill Building, Mentorship, Role Model Exposure and Best Practices for the Future Workspace.
Their objective is to increase the percentage of women in leadership roles in the Advance member companies and beyond to boost gender diversity in Switzerland.
