Speech
The Empowerment of Women in the Workplace
Address by Françoise Bertrand, Chairperson
Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission
to the Canadian Women in Communications
Ottawa, Ontario
February 17, 1997
I greatly appreciate the opportunity the CWC is giving me on this special gala
evening to share a few thoughts with you on the empowerment of women in the
workplace.
First of all, I would like to point out that I strongly believe not only in
the convergence of the communications industries, but also in the convergence of
men and women in organizations as a means to strengthen the latter and make them
more versatile. The agreement between this belief of mine and CWC's mission is a
crucial element in my support of the Association as well as the reason why I am
here tonight.
I share CWC's vision, stated in the Strategic Planning Report , of an
organization aiming, among other goals, at providing programs and networking
opportunities in this era of convergence, and at providing the breadth of
cross-sectoral contacts that will facilitate moving within sectors.
In our field, on a two-year comparison, statistics show that in the
broadcasting sector the representation of women in the upper-level management
category was slightly above 15% in 1995, compared to 13.1% in 1994. In the
telecommunications carriers sector, the representation of women was 18.1% in
1995, compared to 16.2% in 1994. These statistics consistently show an increase;
we are moving in the right direction, but it is clear we must sustain our efforts
in order to ensure that competent and talented women get a fair chance to reach
the top steps of the corporate ladder.
We should also be alert to the fact that, in our industry, when women reach
senior executive levels they seem to be confined to certain areas of expertise,
like regulatory services for example. Even though I meet a lot of people, I have
encountered very few female vice presidents, Finance or Technology. In the
private and public sectors, key positions are still filled by male incumbents.
As well, at some CRTC hearings, many all-men panels present their case before
us. And this, despite specific encouragement from the Commission that companies
respect employment equity legislation. Well, hopefully back in their
organizations, their workforce is more diverse than their delegations lead us to
believe.
We all know that success stories do not happen overnight; that in building
their careers, men and women alike experience ups and downs, and sometimes
dramatic setbacks, but still carry on to reach their goals. If all of us in this
room were able to do it, how can we help the younger generation reach their
goals? In an era of convergence, globalization of markets and ever evolving
trends, how can we, as men and women working together towards the same goal, help
shape the workplace for today's and tomorrow's knowledge workers?
I guess you pretty much know the answers as well as I do. But let me emphasize
a few points which, in my opinion, play a key role in the creation of a more
convergent workplace:
- sharing our strengths;
- mentoring;
- facilitating the creation of networks;
- accepting and valuing differences and
- shattering the glass ceiling.
Sharing our strengths
Sharing our strengths basically means providing those surrounding us with
something deeply authentic and true about ourselves to connect with. It can be
leadership style, flexibility, interpersonal skills, a specific ability, in short
a strength that is our own. Authenticity and honesty are the key words here.
When people are in the process of building their careers, they need
self-confidence to overcome their feelings of doubt, anxiety and uncertainty.
Since we have gone through these uneasy moments in our lives and probably still
do at times, we could as role models help those who need this help, build their
self-confidence.
This is a crucial element for us, women, because we haven't necessarily been
brought up to think of ourselves as being able to achieve, to make things happen.
Women usually won't try, unless they feel they are absolutely perfect. We are
often our own harshest critics, pointing out our flaws or mistakes sometimes even
before they are noticed.
There is one thing I have learned over the years and that is to save myself
the pain and agony of feeling "inadequate", "unauthorized", or "unable". Which
does not mean that I never made mistakes or that things always worked out as I
had planned, but I sure gave myself the right to try. When I was faced with the
unknown or with difficulties, although I experienced fear, it never paralyzed me.
My curiosity, my desire to try new things was always stronger and compelled me to
action.
Mentoring
As for mentoring, any successful woman will agree with me on the importance of
finding one or several mentors for ourselves and, in turn, becoming one for
others.
It is extremely important to be able to rely on a mentor. This is the person
in whom we can confide and to whom we can turn for advice, motivation and honest
feedback. The mentors I had guided me through some paths I hadn't thought of
exploring or felt were out of my reach. They inspired me and supported me.
Facilitating the creation of networks
Another vital support is the network, or for that matter networks, of contacts
who can help develop a career. Each of us has his or her own network. Over the
years, we have expanded it and worked it as a two-way street, both taking from
and offering back something to our contacts. For some, it's easy to build these
types of relationships; for others, it seems an overwhelming task. I'm sure we,
in this room, can facilitate the process for someone who has difficulty in
creating a network by being responsive and readily agreeing to sponsor, teach,
inform, nurture, advise or connect.
The "old boys network" has been there for a long time. Women have also learned
to build their networks but we need to keep working at it. We need to help the
younger ones learn how to use this precious tool. Most important of all, we need
to remember we are not talking "mutually exclusive" or segregated networks: men
on one side, women on the other. These work relationships will be enriched
through diversity. An integrated network which includes women as well as men,
provides more powerful feedback and broadens the scope of experiences. Which
brings me to my next point.
Accepting and valuing differences
Differences can be related to culture, religion, race, skills, age, etc. I'll
focus on gender-based differences. I am often asked if I am in favor of having
more women in upper-level management positions, or if I advocate their promotion
in key positions. Of course my answer is "yes", but with some nuances.
Hiring more women at senior levels does not make an organization better or
worse, but it helps it reflect reality more faithfully and enables it to draw
upon its diversity. I'm convinced we must accept and value others, regardless of
their gender.
One good reason for this acceptance is that in our professional and business
worlds we need to have the opportunity of gathering information from a variety of
people whose skills, resources and experiences will enrich us and open up new
perspectives.
Furthermore, the challenges we have to face have led us to set up
multidisciplinary teams in which both female and male members, through their
specific contributions, help our organizations achieve increasingly demanding
goals.
The workplace is undoubtedly evolving, but we still must be very careful not
to loose what we have gained. With the downsizing and flattening of
organizations, the budget cuts and the minimal recruitment policies, younger
women may not find themselves equally represented at the higher levels of the
hierarchy. Despite these obstacles, all of us in this room must do all we can not
to end up with worse statistics than the ones we presently have.
Shattering the glass ceiling
I have kept one last rock in my pocket. Just to have the fun of shattering the
"Glass Ceiling". I'll be blunt: it never existed for me. I have always refused to
see it hanging over my head. Maybe the experience has been different for some of
the women here tonight. It doesn't mean we cannot carry a positive message across
to young women.
The way I see things is that, in spite of numerous studies proving the glass
ceiling to be real even in very progressive organizations, if women accept to be
stopped by barriers, they will hinder their progress on their career paths and
will prevent themselves from moving forward and accomplishing what they intend.
What I'm talking about here is not magical. I'm saying that women need to make
something positive out of a would-be stalemate situation. They need to break away
from it and not carry the burden in their mind that a particular obstacle is so
big it prevents them from achieving their goal. They have to pause, look at the
big picture, put things back in perspective: if one door is closed,there might be
other doors that are open. Above all, they must free themselves from feelings of
hopelessness and find some comfort. It helps raise the ceiling and make it
disappear. I know it sounds hard to believe. But it's worth trying and, as one
researcher titled her study, they might find themselves "Walking on Broken
Glass".
In closing, I would like to congratulate tonight's award recipients. Your
skills, long hours of work, perseverance and sense of humour have brought you to
this point in your career. In your own personal way, as women, you have
contributed to change, either drastically or subtly, the workplace in the
"converging communications industries".
In this process, I am fairly certain you were supported by other women as well
as by men. The CWC is precisely the type of organization where individuals,
regardless of their gender, can be supportive of one another. In looking at the
future, we must continue working together to improve the work environment for the
younger generation and attain some, if not all, of the convergence objectives.
By expanding its leadership and enhancing its already strong profile, CWC is
directly contributing to the empowerment of women. We all know this cannot be
accomplished single-handedly. We need combined, shall I say "converging" efforts.
Since tonight men and women gathered here in nearly equal numbers to celebrate
the achievements of female colleagues, I am sure you will agree with me that if
we pursue our unfailing collaboration and keep up the good work, we will
contribute to shaping a more stimulating thus more successful workplace.
I thank you for your attention.
- 30 -
Contact: CRTC Public Affairs, Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0N2
Tel.: (819) 997-0313, TDD: (819) 994-0423, Fax: (819) 994-0218
Date Modified: 1997-02-17 |
