This is a success for Ever Without Them : with BNP Paribas, for the first time a group of the CAC 40 sign the charter launched by the association in January 2016.
They were all signed individually, this afternoon : the director-general, Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, and the other 19 members of the executive committee of BNP Paribas, among them 16 men and three women, have affixed today their name at the bottom of the charter Never Without Them. This is the first time that a group of the CAC 40 commits on this text requiring conducted by the association of the same name. It forced the leaders of the company do not participate in events, panels, roundtables, internal or external, involving more than three people, and where no woman would be represented.
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“The challenge is clear : it is the visibility and representation of women,” explains Natacha Quester-Semeon, spokesperson of Never Without Them, which now has 320 signatories. Up to now, only three companies, subsidiaries of foreign groups, had signed the charter : – Microsoft France, Dentsu France and SAP France.
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it All started with the hashtag “never without them,” on social networks in reaction to the absence of women at the podium at the conference digital franco-German Elysée palace in October 2015. The term has actually fly (more than 250 000 references from 2016), and triggered a movement of substance. On January 20, 2016, the association Never Without They launched a charter, signed by many eminent persons, and of men in the first place : entrepreneurs, politicians, intellectuals, executives, journalists, among the first signatories, Gilles Babinet, Jean-Michel Blanquer, Alexandre Jardin, Jacques-Antoine Granjon, Nicolas Bordas… and Antoine Sire, the director of the commitment of the BNP Paribas group.
concrete commitments
Never be Without Them relying on his power of influence to move the lines. And it works. Companies are gradually coming closer together of the association, co-chaired by Tatiana F. Salomon and Guy Mamou-Mani to sign the charter at their tower. They enrich each of goals of their own, with the support of the association. “It is necessary that the charters should be readable by all, with a few key commitments that are concrete and easily identifiable,” says Natacha Quester-Semeon. The objective is to “break the locks that prevent women’s access to positions of responsibility”. “Our ambition is shared governance” hammers Natacha Quester-Semeon.
The phenomenon has not escaped Marie-Claire Capobianco, the first woman to have joined the executive committee of BNP Paribas in 2012 (they are now three), and leader highly committed to ensuring that women take their full place in the economic world. It is she who proposes to Jean-Laurent Bonnafé to engage with, Never Without Them. A logical step in his eyes : BNP Paribas has joined as of 2015 the movement He for She UN and its boss has become in 2018 a “He for she “champion”, a man who is committed to women.
But board the executive committee of a banking group in the adventure Never Without They asked for a real substantive work even if “we have rather a good level of maturity on the issues of equality between women and men”, acknowledges Marie-Claire Capobianco. Because deny taking the floor in the absence of women in the events of the financial world and to promote their presence in this sector is a real challenge ! “Take the fintech, or the market activities are dominated occupations very male,’ recalls Caroline Courtin, head of diversity and inclusion at BNP Paribas.” It took two sessions of collective discussion on the comex to reach a consensus and consider that, in effect, the objective was difficult to achieve – from three people on a panel it must be at least one woman – but a necessary one. “It’s ambitious, but we will embark on a virtuous circle. If the women do not appear, mechanically, forget, points out Caroline Courtin. It is as for new hires, we need to think about every day.”
training effect
Carlo Purassanta, president of Microsoft France, is the chief executive officer to have engaged his company on the charter Never Without Them : in the fall of 2018, the 14 members of its executive committee have signed the text. Of course, running everyday is not always obvious. The association provides the tools to respond in case of non-conforming situation : a pool of women workers, for example, in which business can draw. “And if at the time you arrive on scene you find that there is no woman, asked the organizers to find a and is found !” said Carlo Purassanta.
Microsoft France is also committed on the presence of at least one woman (three staff) during meetings, customers or suppliers : “it is difficult to organise but it involves the entire company,” explains Carlo Purassanta. We are in a profession where women account for, on average, 25% of the workforce. If you want to get out of the statistics, it is necessary to put forward”. This pattern sees a double benefit : operational efficiency – “balanced teams and diverse are much better” – and a signal to clients – “a better representation”. “And if we do not succeed, it was explained to the client that this should not be so. Such a commitment is always of interest.”
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From his side, BNP Paribas wished to disseminate the commitment, beyond its executive committee : by 2021, the top 100 managers of the company shall also have signed the charter. “The example must come from the top, but then it is necessary to involve the frameworks in concentric circles, it is very powerful,” says Marie-Claire Capobianco. The patron saint of business growth and companies of the banking group is hoping with this signature that BNP Paribas will also be emulated in the CAC 40.