International Women's Day

SPIE strengthens its So’SPIE Ladies mixed network

Cergy, March 6th, 2017 – In the lead-up to International Women’s Day, “So’SPIE Ladies”, the SPIE internal network composed of men and women, is stepping up its action. In fostering the development of this network, SPIE, the independent European leader in multi-technical services in the areas of energy and communications, is confirming its priorities: to translate equality in the workplace into action, to promote mixed gender teams, to attract the best talent and to foster individual skills enhancement.

Don't wait for International Women’s Day to take action

Set up in 2015, in two years the So’SPIE Ladies network has become a key player in terms of taking action to encourage a better gender mix in SPIE's teams. An event which is in line with the approach taken by this network, International Women’s Day provides an opportunity to unite employees even more closely on the issue of equality in the workplace. On this occasion, at the Group's subsidiaries, each woman and man will be asked to take part in workshops, breakfast seminars, screenings of So’SPIE Ladies videos and competitions for the best idea promoting mixed gender teams. Accordingly, at some entities, on the day before 8 March, around ten role plays will be enacted with a view to raising teams’ awareness for the purpose of combating stereotypes. All these initiatives will be circulated on the company's internal social network where several So’SPIE Ladies communities have already been set up.

The role of women in the company: an issue affecting everyone

SPIE invests extensively in the promotion of equality in the workplace throughout the year. The European subsidiaries of SPIE seek to optimise the role of women, not only in positions of responsibility but also in the technical divisions. In order to achieve this objective, a range of key initiatives aimed at all employees has been rolled out over two years. Each division focuses on a particular initiative on the basis of its own priorities. Some of the proposals advocated by the network are workshops for sharing experience and brainstorming, seeking feedback from female SPIE staff, mentoring programmes and recruitment workshops dedicated to women.

Raising awareness among external partners is another priority. There are an increasing number of partnerships with engineering and management schools. Certain subsidiaries are also working with the “Elles bougent” association to undertake initiatives at educational establishments providing young women with information about career opportunities at SPIE.