Firm unveils network to enhance women’s participation in management positions

It is a fact that access to management positions in any organisations is not an easy task for lots of women in Nigeria.

This has led to relatively low representation of women in top management at work places compared to their male counterpart.

AXA Mansard an insurance company, bothered with this trend and set out to curtail it recently launched a women’s network tagged: Super Heroes Everyday (SHE).

Part of its objectives is to foster a community where the company’s employees thrive through career development by way of coaching, mentoring and other engagement activities, which will ultimately ensure that their women are empowered.

“The network would also ensure policies that nurture a better working environment for women,” said the General Counsel and Human Resource Director at AXA Mansard, Omowunmi Adewusi.

According to her, family support is crucial to be a successful career woman. She lamented cases where some women resign from their jobs just because the spouses are not comfortable with it.

She tasked organisations to do more by supporting young women to make the transition from young wives and mothers to senior managers easy.

“I believe that women need to be empowered. This is a self-determination, and ability to make choices that are truly free. A woman should be entitled to have her own dreams and chase such dreams; family support will enable her to progress at the workplace.

“Our men should help by supporting us. We do not want a boss that would cage us and feels we cannot rise in our careers just because we are women. When organisations do not treat female indifferently then there will be no limit to what they can achieve.”

Adewusi also task the government to step up in educating the girl child and noted that this would boost the morale and self esteem of the children at an early stage.