The Western world provides an example of how women, along with men, take the helm of companies in difficult, historically "male" industries. There will soon be no objective prohibitions in the field of female labor. It will only be the choice of the woman herself.
The other day, # nbsp; answering # nbsp; to a question from a journalist # nbsp; Bloomberg, LUKOIL President Vagit Alekperov confirmed that he thinks about who will lead the company after he retires. And he called the replacement of a woman impossible. According to him, this is due to the predominantly male nature of the oil industry. Although LUKOIL's board of directors is currently two of the 11 seats held by women - vice president and chief accountant of the company # nbsp; Lyubov Khoba # nbsp; and president of TTG Global Toby Gati. Moreover, both appointments are quite "fresh": Gati joined the council in 2016, and Khoba - in 2017. It seems that there is a slight trend towards female leadership in the historically male business.
Moreover, recently it became known about the appointment of Tatyana Mitrova to the global board of directors of the oilfield services giant Schlumberger. Prior to that, not a single Russian was on the board of directors of global public companies. And then immediately a woman! Although we must admit the obvious: Russia lags significantly behind the countries of Europe and America in terms of the number of women at the helm of companies and on boards of directors. And # nbsp; if in telecom, retail or media, a woman top manager now does not cause much surprise, then a woman - the head of a company in oil and gas, chemistry, metallurgy and mechanical engineering - # nbsp; is, rather, a model of the future.
Russian women themselves are not very keen on "heavy" industries. I'm not talking now about office specialties (financiers, lawyers, HR, marketers), # nbsp; - # nbsp; women do not go exactly to engineering, manufacturing professions. As a recruiter, I often face a shortage of female professionals when looking for my clients-employers for various positions. Gold mining companies, for example, are eager to hire female candidates for a range of critical tasks related to direct gold mining. A woman's neat, attentive and responsible approach to the position of a cashier of a gold-receiving cash register is very valuable. Such a specialist keeps records of the gold mined by the dredge.
Also, these enterprises readily take women to the position of SHOW closers: they clean the gold concentrate from impurities at the concentrating plant, thereby increasing the purity of the gold. Finding such employees can be very difficult. After all, enterprises are often located far from settlements, the work is on a rotational basis. Most women in our country are not mobile. They have families, children. They cannot, like men, leave for gold mining in the taiga for eight months. Therefore, many professions and specialties remain "underdeveloped" by women.
Not so long ago, we had an order to find a director of labor protection for a mining enterprise in the Far North. Working in very harsh conditions. But the search parameters indicated: female candidate. Finding such a specialist turned out to be incredibly difficult. There were plenty of women candidates by education "Labor protection and industrial safety", but only a few with real proven experience at an industrial enterprise!
Women, receiving such an education, do not strive to work in mines, mines # nbsp; and in mines # nbsp; "settling" somewhere in the cities in the field of housing and communal services or are engaged in methodological work. But those units that still go to industrial enterprises reach incredible heights. We have examples of very successful women's careers in health and safety in large oilfield services, engineering companies. Also, the market is well aware of women top managers in the strategy of oil companies. True, their path to the top ran through international business schools and leading consulting companies, and was not built from a drill shaft or a machine tool.
Recently there was another interesting case: it was necessary to find a sales director for graphite electrodes. Ten # nbsp; male candidates and one female. And she won the competition for the position # nbsp; - # nbsp; a very knowledgeable and experienced specialist in both sales and chemistry. Moreover, not only the experience, but also the education of this woman turned out to be "correct" - engineering and technical.Doubtful horizons
Some time ago, # nbsp; was widely discussed the news that the Ministry of Labor # nbsp; will revise # nbsp; the list of professions prohibited for women. There are more than 400 items in this list, such as electric train driver, truck driver, cattle and pig fighter, diver, fisherman, forest feller.
As part of my professional recruiting activity, I have visited large metallurgical and mining enterprises: in Cherepovets, Chelyabinsk, Perm, Chita, as well as in the USA. Our customers-employers gave us field trips to show the scale of the activity and the working conditions of the employees. After half an hour in the foundry, my eyes grew dim and my head hurt. And if you spend a whole day in this roar, hiss, soot # nbsp; But the professions of the foundry, such as a welder of castings, a metal pourer, a chopper who works with pneumatic tools, a smelter of metal and alloys, also come under revision.
Of course, many professions have undergone significant changes recently due to # nbsp; technical # nbsp; progress # nbsp; and production automation. And they are no longer as severe and harmful to a woman's reproductive health as they were decades ago, when the ban was introduced. But still, is it really necessary for women to go into these professions, even taking into account the softening of working conditions? After all, there are many specialties without such restrictions. And even with a preference for female labor.
Discussing the topic of revising the list of professions prohibited for women with candidates, I found out that many, # nbsp; supporting this initiative, rather emotionally react to the word "prohibition", perceiving the phrase "professions prohibited for women" as discrimination against oneself in the right to choose and bear your risks. In fact, they have absolutely no intention of going to work as a minder on a ship or as a cattle fighter.
And with regard to women's reproductive health, in general, we can say that there are not so many professions that do not harm him. I recently spoke with a woman who is the financial director of an engineering plant. The company is now in difficulties, and she spends 14 hours at work at the workplace every day, almost seven days a week. This is a sedentary, nervous, stressful job. There is no time for family, for rest, or for a normal lunch.
Likewise, work in audit, revision and consulting. In conversations with a large number of female candidates, I have heard the same story. In the active season, one project ends, another begins immediately. The geography of cities is very diverse. From Lipetsk to Magadan, from Magadan to Norilsk, from Norilsk to Togliatti. Inspection of industrial enterprises, their reporting, business processes, internal control systems. Working conditions are often close to field conditions. Plus frequent flights, change of time zones, opposition from employees of the audited enterprises. And in terms of its harmfulness and detriment to women's health, such work is not much different from work in the foundry.
The world is changing. Borders are opening, prohibitions are being lifted, horizons are expanding. The Western world provides an example of how women, along with men, take the helm of companies in difficult, historically "male" industries. There will soon be no objective prohibitions in the field of # nbsp; female labor. This will only become the choice of the woman herself. And her decision: is she ready to sacrifice her life balance and risk her family while building a career "from the drilling rig" to the CEO chair.
Victoria Filippova, Partner PROTALENT LAB, PCC ICF coach
Source: https: //www.forbes.ru/forbes-woman/370379-spasibo-ne-nado-zhenshchiny-ne-hotyat-rabotat-v-tyazhelyh-industriyah
2021-07-30 15:40