Ida Luka-Lognoné, CEO of Health at Allianz Partners, marks International Equal Pay Day, highlighting the need to harness the participation of employees, in order to achieve gender equity.
International Equal Pay Day may not be a major calendar event for some, and, to an extent, that's entirely understandable. Not everyone has been on a lifelong pursuit for equity in the workplace and may be somewhat guilty of taking the salaries and opportunities they've been afforded for granted.
For me though, the global event that takes place on September 18 grants an opportunity to ponder and reflect, to look back on my own personal journey that has taken me from a humble background to my current position as a multinational CEO.
That journey began in communist Poland where I was born and raised. Growing up I was always curious about the world beyond the Iron Curtain and whether I could prosper in what felt like a parallel universe. So, when such an opportunity presented itself, I was keen to grasp it and find out what the world had to offer an enthusiastic young woman from the far side of Europe. Naturally, striving to find my place in the West brought challenges, and the fact that I was a young woman only increased the size of the obstacles before me.
For all the aspirations I harboured, I still put my personal life over career ambitions during the early stages of my career, which was immensely tough given I have always been a hyper-motivated and ambitious person. But it was ultimately the right decision, and I eventually went on to build a career the young woman from Poland could never have imagined.
But this unique journey has placed me in an advantageous position from which to assess the current climate, in terms of how far we've come in the quest for equality and the steps we need to take as a society to continue evolving in a positive manner. And we have come a long way. In my first board position I was the only woman at the table and it remained that way for more than a decade.
But there's now a 50/50 split on the board I am on and Allianz also recently announced that since the end of 2021 we have successfully achieved equal pay across our global insurance companies between women and men performing the same or similar work. This is a significant achievement I'm very proud of and shows how far we've come, as a society.
The movement has well and truly taken hold and women are feeling emboldened in this inclusive new landscape. They're finding their voice. They're being encouraged to embrace opportunities. They're no longer subject to the stereotypical mindsets at every turn that curbed the career progress of women in the past.
This is not to say more cannot be done to drive this movement to a more inclusive future yet again.
But how can we convert these aspirations into reality?
We've recently established a global employee network, Allianz NEO, with this very question in mind. Its mission is to address and challenge gender stereotypes that ultimately prevent all genders from reaching their full potential.
In order to truly break down barriers in business, we need to create a more holistic approach to the development of each business, fostering a sense of everyone rowing in one direction because every employee has the capacity to learn and impart wisdom on the issue of gender inclusion.
In fact, when it comes to equality, those best placed to lead from the front are often those away from the boardroom. The network is about sharing and exchanging ideas, stimulating awareness, finding new ways of catapulting the business into the middle of the 21st century. Everyone has a part to play.
Of course, we can always do more - as individuals, as businesses, as a society.
But this is the path upon which we're most likely to make most progress on gender-related issues - within an inclusive community with the shared objective of eliminating stereotypes and gender bias.
When it comes to eliminating gender inequity from the workplace the power doesn't lie within the confines of the boardroom - it's held by every member of the business.
