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Produced by the International Training Centre of the ILO in partnership with the Association of European Chambers of Commerce and Industry (EUROCHAMBRES)
in the framework of the contract "Raising the awareness of companies about combating gender stereotypes" commissioned by the Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities DG of the European Commission.
I am Despo Lefkariti. The company is Delema McCann Erickson.
Delema began in 1985. Our work is communication, the wider field of communication.’’
It is a Cypriot company which, in the last few years, has become European, and indeed universal…
… that deals with advertising, public relations, promotion…
When Despo started running the company, and then we came in as well, it was just women.
We didn’t aim for that; it just happened.
To keep a balance, we need to have both genders.
I believe that, especially in the creative department, it does not matter whether you are a man or a woman.
What is important is whether you are creative or not.
I have worked with them for at least ten years, because they are really cool.
A team is formed by people. If those people are not satisfied,
you are bound to lose them, so we try to keep them.
Here is paradise, and hell is here too.
The atmosphere is very, very nice.
Magic!
Wonderful!
It is very interesting working here.
Faultless.
I am very happy.
Very, very good.
It is craziness.
Crazy!
Crazy, crazy, crazy! This is the word that describes Delema and its human resources.
Schizophrenic.
I really love what I do, and I like to be among tuned-in people.
It is the way people are different that makes the idea unique
OK. And this is the one we did from the inside, but we don’t have its dimensions yet.
Labour market segregation by gender affects all European countries.
Whatever the country or culture concerned,
women and men tend to be found in similar occupational groups and economic sectors.
Now, what does this mean?
Do jobs have a gender?
Looking at the European labour market, it seems as though they do.
But in fact, they do not.
The idea that “women are not suited to doing the same jobs or tasks as men,
and men are not suited to doing the same jobs or task as women”
often reflects unthinking, unproductive stereotypes.
Labour market segregation undermines business.
Mixed-gender teams perform better.
It’s not a matter of basic differences or empathy
or intelligence (these are still stereotypes!)
It’s a matter of different experience and perspectives,
things that boost the capacity both to innovate and to make good decisions
There is a group of five people that basically decides company policy.
The first time that one of the male colleagues had a baby,
we realized that we had to treat the father the same way that we treat a mother.
We used the gift of money that I received as a father from Delema to buy the child’s first necessities.
I used the extra bonus days I got as a father to be with my child and my wife.
Delema always tries to encourage its employees’ personal achievements, in their own spare time.
This is Georgia, a fellow worker who went to Mt. Êilimanjaro with a group of climbers.
The company helped me a lot, both financially and psychologically.
We try in every case to detect each person’s strengths and give them opportunities.
It’s time to see the reconciliation of work and private life from a broader perspective.
Men increasingly ask to spend more time with their families, an opportunity they are all too often denied.
They can run up against prejudice on the part of employers,
co-workers, even the broader community.
Smart businesses recognize their employees’ needs.
Smart businesses create work environments in which human development is a value.
Valued people perform better, and boost the value of their business.
I believe we are a company that has important basic principles.
One of them is respect.
This video is supported under the European Community Programme for Employment and Social Solidarity (2007-2013). This programme is managed by the Employment, Social Affairs and Equal Opportunities DG of the European Commission.
It was established to financially support the implementation of the objectives of the European Union in the employment and social affairs area, as set out in the Social Agenda,
and thereby contribute to the achievement of the Lisbon Strategy goals in these fields.
The seven-year Programme targets all stakeholders who can help shape the development of appropriate and effective employment and social legislation and policies, across the EU-27, EFTA-EEA and EU candidate and pre-candidate countries.
PROGRESS mission is to strengthen the EU contribution in support of Member States' commitments and efforts to create more and better jobs and to build a more cohesive society.
To that effect, PROGRESS will be instrumental in:(1) providing analysis and policy advice on PROGRESS policy areas;
(2) monitoring and reporting on the implementation of EU legislation and policies in PROGRESS policy areas;
(3) promoting policy transfer, learning and support among Member States on EU objectives and priorities; and
(4) relaying the views of the stakeholders and society at large.
For more information see:http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=327&langId=en
The information contained in this video does not necessarily reflect the position or opinion of the European Commission.
Neither the Commission nor any person acting on its behalf is responsible for the use that might be made of the information contained in this video.