While women are much more often a minority at the highest levels of leadership in many companies, they are essential to business success. However, women often face many more obstacles than men in their career advancement. So, what can we do at Ansell to fix this?

Employees who participated in the Train-the-Trainer session are now essential to helping Ansell make the change for gender balance. Each training session will be facilitated by one of the employees who completed this training and who are now certified to deliver the training within the company. These employees will continue to be ambassadors for gender change, helping Ansell transform the mindset of the organization.

Using Gender Diversity Training to Create Culture Change

The Gender Dynamics workshop explored diversity topics including unique issues faced by women leaders, unconscious bias and personal views, and why gender still matters. Most importantly, this training addressed the mindsets that managers hold, the way those mindsets can create barriers for women who wish to advance, and actions that we as Ansell employees can take to minimize or do away with these barriers.

Which Do You Have More Often, Pie or Cake?

A key focus area for the training is creating a culture of mentorship and sponsorship where employees discuss about the type of mentoring men receive versus women. According to the research, men typically receive PIE Mentoring™:

• Performance of the business

• Image of a leader

• Exposure to key decision-makers

Conversely, research shows that women with career potential are less likely to receive this type of mentoring as often, creating barriers to their advancement. Instead, women tend to receive CAKE Mentoring™:

• Confidence

• Aptitude or strengths that can be further developed

• ‘K’onnection to resources needed for success in their position or profession

• Encouragement to reach for opportunities they might never have considered

It is important for both men and women to receive both Pie and Cake Mentoring in order to be successful in their careers.