Giving Women Wings - Building Gender Balanced Business

“Increasing diversity is a business strategy: We want our employees to be representative of the community in which we do business.”— Elisabeth Bussé, Bombardier’s director of leadership development

Bombardier Aerospace’s goal is to bring the percentage of women in management up from 16% to 25% by next year

One marketing strategy is to enlist the help of women such as Bombardier’s own Julie Brulotte, an aerospace mechanical engineer, who participates in career fairs

“If you’re competent, that’s all that matters. It’s important to lead by example, for young women to see for themselves that they don’t have to make a choice between having a family and being an engineer.” — Julie Brulotte, aerospace engineer and mother of three

Recruiting more women is just one part of Bombardier’s greater diversity strategy, which includes making an effort to hire people of various ethnic backgrounds and sexual orientations

Bombardier, which already has employees representing 40 different nationalities, reviews its progress monthly, helping to ensure that its diversity initiatives are actually effective

“Diversity needs to be approached from multiple levels and be part of a company’s philosophy, policy, practices, monitoring and statistical measurement that links results to performance.”— Anne Fawcell, of Caldwell Partners International

Although Bombardier is using a team of recruiters to actively promote diversity, the company is also committed to making the hiring process egalitarian and transparent, ensuring that the most qualified person gets the job

Julie Brulotte believes there are a few key things that male-dominated companies can do to attract and keep more female employees:

1. Introduce mentoring programs: “I’ve had regular contact with other senior female leaders, women of all different levels of experience. They’re always available to me to discuss business and personal aspects of working at Bombardier.”

1. Send the right messages, such as making it clear that you can still have a family while serving in a leadership position at work

1. Reach out to potential employees and future leaders: “At networking events or by partnering with schools, take feedback and questions from young women.”

‘Bombardier: Giving women wings’
GAIL JOHNSON
From Monday’s Globe and Mail
Published Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011, Click here to read the full article