High-performing female employees mentored by telecom giant

Telecom giant Ericsson has been hosting special ‘unconscious bias’ training courses for line managers to help achieve the target of having a 30% female work force by 2020.

The face-to-face sessions for thousands of employees are part of a mentoring programme for high-performing female employees to help them move forward in their careers.

Next generation of leaders

The company aims to create the next generation of female leaders across its global operations with these new initiatives.

A company spokesperson said: “Our definition of diversity is broad, but we have decided to have special focus on gender diversity as that is the area where we have identified the greatest need for improvements."

Ericsson is ensuring all of its executive leadership team mentors a high-performing female employee.

“Competence always comes first; we want to build the best talent in the industry,” the spokesperson explained. “Ericsson does not believe in quotas or reprimands for meeting/not meeting set targets, but want to achieve sustainable change through our company culture, awareness, training and targeted activities. There is no single way to make change happen; companies need a whole ecosystem of measures.”

New programmes

Ericsson's global presence means the new moves are likely to have a significant impact in the industry. Last year the company launched a Global Diversity & Inclusion Council consisting of senior business leaders who would take responsibility for driving the company's D&I strategy forward.