Earlier today, Dell earned a place in The Times Top 50 Employers for Women list. Lots of our team members are honoured to be part of this group. The award recognises areas of excellence that Dell is undertaking internally that make it a top employer for women, and also the work Dell is doing externally to promote gender equality, diversity and inclusion, in addition to increasing inclusive opportunities for women. I sat down with our Global Corporate Secretary Shirley Creed to highlight some of our efforts that have moved us forward.
Some internal initiatives include:
- Connected Workplace – which is about building a highly mobile, collaborative and agile work environment which offers both men & women the flexibility to help manage life events and ensure they have the support to manage personal commitments.
- Embracing the Stage – a one day training programme aimed at helping all attendees develop their leadership skills within Dell focussing on networking, influencing and delivering an elevator pitch.
- Wise in Bracknell and Glasgow – the women's resource groups active on both sites facilitating networking and collaborative sharing to promote Dell's efforts to build a diverse and winning workforce by acting as champions for the recruitment, retention, and development of women at Dell.
- Maternity / Paternity package – which actively supports our employees who are experiencing changing circumstances due to maternity and childcare.
Our external initiatives included:
- Connected Women in Technology (CWT) activities in both England and Scotland – linking in with colleagues in other IT companies including Avaya, Cisco, HP, Google, IBM, Intel and Microsoft to facilitate bi-annual networking events to share common gender challenges across the industry.
- Sponsorship of the first Everywoman in Technology Awards via the CWT network demonstrating our commitment to women in the workplace and particularly in technology.
- Supporting Dell's YouthConnect programme to launch "Apps for Good" in the Central Foundation School for Girls in Bow, London.
Dell being placed in The times Top 50 Employers for Women 2011 in the UK is a great recognition of all the activities and initiatives being undertaken both internally and externally by various teams across a number of sites in the UK to support women in the workplace.
