GENDER EQUALITY STARTS AT HOME AND CONTINUES IN THE WORKPLACE: MARIJA TODOROVSKA, DIRECTOR OF PEOPLE AND CULTURE SECTOR AT PIVARA SKOPJE
The role of women in society
As a woman, I can say that we are lucky to live in a time that is very different from the times in which our mothers, grandmothers, great-grandmothers grew up or lived in. We live in a time in which we enjoy all civil liberties, the right to education, the right to vote, the right to choose. Women today are more and more confident in realizing their potential and making a choice for their education or career. But despite the fact that it is 2023, unfortunately, there are still women in the world who do not enjoy these basic human rights and freedoms.
That’s why it’s important that all of us in society, whether we’re men or women, talk openly about these topics that can often be controversial or uncomfortable. What is the position of women in society, in the home, at the workplace, in politics, and let’s admit that we have not yet reached true equality and that we still have a lot of room for progress in this area.
If we consider the report of the World Economic Forum on the subject, it is devastating to predict that it would take us another 132 years to achieve true gender equality in terms of equal access to opportunities, equal rights and equal pay for work.
If we look at the numbers and statistics, we will see that women rarely reach the top positions, anywhere in the world. Out of 190 countries in the world, only 30 have women presidents of states or governments. Only 26% of MPs worldwide are women and only 15% of CEOs of the world’s largest companies are women. Now, if we ask why these numbers are important and why it is important for women to have more representation, especially in places where policies and practices are created, the answer is simple. 50% of the population are women, so it is natural that women should have a greater role in making decisions and creating policies that relate to them, especially policies that address the specific needs of women, who except as people who get involved on the labor market and contribute to the development of economies, they also have a wider social role determined by their biological characteristics, which is to create offspring, and thereby ensure the survival of societies and economies.
The woman in the workplace
This is a topic that is often discussed in the context of gender equality. And this is the topic where we often come across stereotypes and prejudices that people, but more specifically women, face.
Starting from childhood, the education system tells girls that they are better in the areas of literature and reading and boys that they are better in mathematics. And guess what? Indeed, after several years in school, girls show better results in reading and boys in mathematics. But this is not because these skills are gendered, but because girls and boys spend more time mastering the skills we tell them they are better at. Furthermore, in the workplace, it is definitely women who face the more difficult choice. To build their career the way their ambition dictates or to take a break from working to take care of children and family. Or they don’t even try to advance in their career because almost the entire burden of raising and raising children and performing household duties falls on them.
Therefore, I believe that gender equality begins in the home. Starting from how we raise girls to how we distribute responsibilities in the home. What I find particularly interesting is when you walk into a toy store, you will immediately notice pink and purple mops, vacuum cleaners, kitchens, mixers, dolls and babies, while for boys we have a variety of prams, trucks, excavators, legos and more construction toys. Here, in our society in particular, we still have a very traditional division of household duties, so washing, cooking, cleaning, etc. are exclusively “women’s work”. Now, when women have to do two or three jobs every day, and men generally have only one profession, it is normal that women face a difficult choice, because the resources, time and energy we have are limited.
What I think is an additional limiting factor for women also comes from the education system, is the way we direct girls and boys which professions they will choose for themselves. And here again we are faced with stereotypical divisions of male and female professions. Don’t get me wrong, every individual, regardless of gender, should choose a profession appropriate to their abilities, interests and potential, but even in everyday speech we have a division of professions into doctor, surgeon and nurse, engineer, educator, teacher, forklift driver , textile worker, etc. The problem is not so much who chooses which profession, but the problem that women mostly end up in professions that are traditionally less paid. This in turn brings them to a position of less economic independence, less opportunities for development and investment in themselves, and at the end of the day less money to invest in their children. It is therefore important that more and more girls are encouraged to focus on engineering, mathematics and science professions, which are higher paying professions and offer many more opportunities for advancement and development.
To what extent does the corporate culture in companies influence the role that women will have and the opportunities for career growth and development?
It is in the interest of companies, especially from the perspective of growth, opportunity for innovation and business results, to have as many talented people as possible in their teams who will bring with them different skills, knowledge, experience, way of thinking and solving problems. If we know that half of the population are women, then why would we limit access and opportunities to realize their potential to the half of people who are also consumers of what companies sell as products and services.
It is the corporate culture that has the key factor in which values and which behaviors the company represents. And the most important role that companies have in this context is the active fight against stereotypes and prejudices that we all carry with us as people.
But culture alone cannot change people’s behavior or mindset if the processes or internal procedures themselves do not reflect the companies’ commitment to enabling equality in the workplace. And we will achieve that if we first consistently implement the laws that offer special protection to certain categories of citizens to protect them from discrimination, such as the right to motherhood, the right to parental leave, understanding the needs of parents, especially small children, etc. Furthermore, to provide employees with equal access to opportunities for learning and advancement and ultimately, equal pay for equal work.
Pivara Skopje is a company with a 100-year tradition, part of two large corporations Coca-Cola Hellenic and Heineken. What is your strategic commitment and your position regarding equality in the workplace?
Pivara Skopje, as a company with a rich history and tradition, but also a part of 2 large, modern, international companies absolutely, fully supports the commitment to achieve full equality not only between men and women, but between all people in general. As a socially responsible company, we also have a wider responsibility to be an example to others in creating and implementing policies that go in this direction, but at the same time we want to encourage and inspire everyone, especially girls and young women, that there are places where we actively fight against stereotypes and prejudices. Here at Pivara we also have forklift operators, production operators, managers, marketers, etc.
It doesn’t matter to us what gender you belong to, how old you are, whether you belong to a religious community or not. It is most important to us that people have the necessary qualifications and skills to do the job, and we will ensure that we offer people the opportunity to learn, develop and progress in their careers according to their potential and ambitions.
For us as a company, the most important thing is that each employee feels that he belongs to the organization, that he is free to express his views, that he receives equal opportunities for growth and development, and that he feels valued, supported and heard by the rest of the organization. We also recognize that different categories of employees have different needs, so we try to meet their requirements. So, for example, to our employees who work in positions that allow it, we have enabled them to independently organize their working hours, deciding whether they will work from the office, from home, or combine as suits them, or adjust it again. the beginning and end of working hours. And this step turned out to be quite successful, considering that more than 80% of our population uses this opportunity, and women and young parents especially benefit, giving them complete freedom during the day to organize both official and private obligations, which in turn significantly affects the improvement of their balance between work and free time.
And I believe that only through concrete actions like this, we can act and build inclusive environments, in which every individual will find himself and be satisfied with the role he has.
Source: Zenski Magazin
