Women at Telenor
A balanced workforce is key to Telenor’s success. We’re committed to fostering a working environment where women employees are supported and empowered in all areas of their work.
Here are just some ways we make that happen:
Telenor’s six-month maternity leave policy
In October 2015, Telenor Group announced that all women across the company’s markets were entitled to a minimum of six months of paid maternity leave. This company policy particularly impacted five of Telenor’s Asian markets, where the local standard is less than six months. The move was an effort to strengthen Telenor’s competitiveness in these countries by attracting and retaining the best women talents.
Upon the announcement of the new maternity leave policy, Telenor Group CEO Sigve Brekke said, “We are confident that the costs of an improved maternity leave policy are outweighed by the savings of reduced staff turnover and the increased competitiveness we anticipate from a more diverse and equitable workplace.”
Telenor’s Women Inspiration Network
Women Inspiration Networks (WIN) started in 2016. WIN is an arena for women in leadership positions at Telenor to meet, interact, seek advice and grow professionally. Its purpose is to strengthen the leadership pipeline in Telenor and prepare more women for top management roles. Based on best practice and inspiration from McKinsey and major employers globally, network activities include addressing dilemmas and challenges for career growth, working actively with role models, developing skills for change and fostering understanding.
“We believe that diversity, in terms of competence, gender and cultural backgrounds, leads to better organisational performance,” says Cecilie Heuch, EVP & Chief People Officer of Telenor Group. “Diversity fosters innovation and enables higher employee engagement. Our long-term goal is to reach 35 per cent women top leaders by 2023. WIN represents a significant step towards reaching this goal, as it will help us develop a strong leadership pipeline,” she says.