It’s time to Assemble

by David Alberts

We are gathered here today ….

Last month I was invited by the team at WiW to join a day that brought together the good and the great of the Women in Work movement.

It was a wonderful day filled with superb speakers and provocative panels that shared their stories of progress.?

But it was also a day where people shared their frustrations with the pace of progress.

An issue made very clear by Prerana Issar , Chief People and Corporate Affairs Officer at Sainsbury’s, who shared that at the current rate of change it will take 163 years to reach the goals that have been set.?

Despite the energy of all those in the room, unfortunately not many of the attendees on the day were going to be around to see the promise of a better tomorrow.

This is a movement that feels more glacial in nature when what is needed is something more ground breaking.

Are we preaching to the converted?

As I looked around the packed Auditorium I realised there was something missing.

Men.

And I couldn't help but think that this is a community in danger of preaching to the converted.

Speaker after speaker provided evidence that making work work for women, works for everyone in business, with figures quoting between 25-40% difference in growth between those companies who have implemented change and those who haven’t. But still not enough seems to change.

As Kirstin Furber , People Director at Channel 4 observed “People understand the business case for Women in Work they just don't know a way to have the conversation with a wider audience”

Edwina Dunn OBE Dunn was even more specific when she explained that? "Leaders, mostly men, must be part of the conversation '?

It is clear that if we are going to make a meaningful difference, we must convene a group of people that are prepared to have meaningful conversations.

It’s time to make everyone part of the solution, not just part of the problem.

And that includes men.

It’s time to Assemble.

Over the past 18 months I have been fortunate enough to become very involved in the Citizens Assembly Movement, and earlier this year ran two Assemblies for the European Commission, one on Energy Efficiency and the other on Tackling Hatred in Society.

In each case we identified 150 randomly selected people 50% Men, 50% Women, from?

27 different countries, different ages, different socio-economic backgrounds and brought them together in Brussels where we moderated a process that resulted in over 20? strategic solutions that were then presented back to the Commission and today are being implemented in countries and communities across Europe.

In working with Laura Biggs and Mariella Frostrup and understanding the challenges companies face translating theory into practice we sat down and designed a process that could do the same thing to bring about change in the Women in Work Movement.

And that is why we have launched WiW Assemble.

A process that selects a cohort of Employees, 50% Women, 50% Men, from the factory floor to the boardroom floor, to come together and create actionable outcomes designed by people inside an organisation, men and women, that will work for the organisation.

Cordi O'Hara OBE FEI , President at National Grid, was very clear. "We must create spaces for people to have a conversation".

And Clare Barclay from Microsoft reminded us "We have to find a way to encourage people to get involved".

And this is where WiW Assemble can help.

We are currently in discussions with a number of companies about running a WiW Assemble process with them, be it across industry, inside a category or within a company.?

As Mariella said in her closing speech "it’s time to assemble, like superheroes, people from every level of our organisations to solve problems for our organisations, it may actually be the only way to make the difference".

If you would like to learn more please contact me at [email protected] or my partner [email protected] or contact ?[email protected]

David