This year’s theme for International Women’s Day was #BalanceForBetter, which we extended over the entire month of March to celebrate some of the amazing #WomenAtGlispa who push for, and inspire equality each day. One of them is Talent Manager Rebecca Guy, who was one of the driving forces behind the initiative and knows what it takes for women to run the world of tech alongside men. Read on as she shares her story.
A kicker, a Playstation console, and a ping pong table – these are common features you’re likely to find in any tech company. Any fun tech company that is. Having worked in such places for the past 3 years, I’ve noticed that it’s most often guys who use them.
This never bothered me, but when it came to actual business, the absence of a female influence struck me, and I started to wonder how this came about.
Research shows that the people who get to be and are considered good leaders are the ones showing traditional masculine traits, such as acting bold, confident and charismatic. That’s the definition of the tech world we took as the norm, and obviously women, who are proven to rather lead with EQ haven’t been the biggest beneficiaries of this.
You don’t need to be a sensitive person to recognize this either. Recent studies show us that to this date, women earn less than men in the US, are underrepresented in senior positions, and are less likely to get promoted compared to men.
So the pressing question is, what can be done to create equality for women so they can run the world of tech alongside men? We used the last women’s month as an opportunity to explore answers, which I’m proud to share with you now.
Redefining qualities together
At the root of it all, we challenged the way we define the qualities needed to reach goals and influence things, from a female perspective. It was important for us to look at these together and involve everyone in our offices. Let me explain why.
It’s wonderful to see women at Glispa being strong and discovering their own strength – and that can be anything from competence and humility to integrity and even winning table tennis matches. In taking ownership over these qualities, I witnessed my female co-workers start to shape the environments they’re surrounded by.
At the same time, it fascinates me to see that male colleagues have become increasingly aware of the status of events too. They helped endorse women through things such as being mentors and pushing for more visibility or fair pay.
To celebrate women who strive for equality and push for their goals, we asked our male employees to state what inspires them about their female counterparts. I’m so proud to click through this gallery of honest and heartwarming statements about authentic woman and the mutual support we share within our company.
And then it was Women’s day: who says you need to be outside to have a picnic?
We celebrated #IWD2019 a day early in our HQ (since it was a holiday in Berlin, woop woop!), transforming one of our meeting rooms into a cosy space. Beyond the DELICIOUS potluck, it was wonderful to spend time together and celebrate the amazing #WomenAtGlispa!
Off to ongoing transformation
Last month at Glispa made all of us more aware of the powerful and inspirational women that are helping shape our company. We opened up our space to share ideas and food, make the subtle visible and give rise to gender equality and balance.
The Playstation is handled a bit differently in our office, in case you were wondering. See a bunch of guys in front of the screen with their eyes glued to FIFA? Let me assure you, pass by later in the day and you’ll see a group of women hanging out playing Overcooked. And no, this isn’t a kitchen game. It’s about chefs. Mastering team play and competition.
Tech can be run in various ways. One of which is female. And it’s happening.
