Back in November, the Newfoundland and Labrador Organization of Women Entrepreneurs (NLOWE) hosted a series of economic forums across the province, “Drivers of Growth,” where they spoke with female entrepreneurs and leaders to understand the challenges they are facing.
NLOWE listened to the struggles these women faced in the workplace, and the Unleashing the Potential of Women action plan was created. NLOWE’s report — “An Economic Action Plan for Newfoundland and Labrador: Unleashing the Potential of Women” — was released Wednesday morning at the Airport Comfort Inn.
The action plan outlines the barriers and provides recommendations on what organizations, government and individuals can do to get women in leadership roles.
They include creating more support for female entrepreneurs, promoting the benefits of diversity, implementing support for better work-family balance, increasing the number of mentors and role models, and creating networks for women interested in leadership positions.
“As a government, we know that we need to do more to support women in business and leadership roles,” Minister of Finance Cathy Bennett said. “There are some areas in this action plan that already align with initiatives that we’ve made progress on.”
Bennett says the provincial government’s implementation of full-day kindergarten was a step toward helping to provide consistency for women and families in their schedules.
For dual business owner Rhonda Skanes, having a flexible work schedule is beneficial.
“As a business owner it’s a huge challenge to balance work and family,” said Skanes. “I’m a single mom, so it would be great to have some flexibility when it comes to hours.”
Women have come a long way in the past number of years, but still have a ways to go.
The technology sector is Canada’s fastest-growing economic sector, yet only 18.5 per cent of the CEO positions are held by women.
One of NLOWE’s main concerns is that many organizations are unaware of the benefits of diversity.
Nalcor Energy executive vice-president Jim Keating is one of the individuals who is making sure his company is committed to diversity.
“Nalcor Energy is committed to diversity and inclusion,” said Keating. “We believe that diverse backgrounds, ideas and experiences enriches our company and contributes to an innovative and high-performance environment.”
Research by Mckinsey & Company shows that having at least 30 per cent women in higher-level leadership positions significantly improves the financial performance of organizations.
“As a government, we support the action plan,” said Bennett “We know how hard our province’s entrepreneurs work, and the sacrifice it takes to run a business, especially for women.
