{"id":23520,"date":"2024-03-08T11:57:40","date_gmt":"2024-03-08T10:57:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/de\/?p=35207"},"modified":"2024-09-05T10:45:34","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T08:45:34","slug":"networks-for-women-empowered-to-forge-their-own-path-together","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rewe-group.com\/en\/press-and-media\/newsroom\/stories\/networks-for-women-empowered-to-forge-their-own-path-together\/","title":{"rendered":"Networks for women: empowered to forge their own path together"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Whether they are dedicated employees, aspiring leaders or long-serving managers, all women at the REWE Group can now benefit from a comprehensive development programme. Programme Manager Iris Nguyen gives the lowdown on the importance of the development programme, the role of male mentors and why women should work to their strengths.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Women\u2019s Drive is the REWE Group\u2019s development programme for women. The scheme has recently been expanded significantly. Can you tell us more about this?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Iris Nguyen: Women\u2019s Drive encourages, motivates and supports female employees to take up leadership positions or to develop further within these roles.<\/p>\n

The women previously involved in Women\u2019s Drive had already embarked on the leadership path. This prompted us to redefine the Women\u2019s Drive profile. We now have Women\u2019s Drive Start, for women with one to two years of lateral or disciplinary leadership experience or those whose STEPs discussions indicate they are likely to take that route in the foreseeable future.<\/p>\n

We also have Women\u2019s Drive Advanced; a programme for experienced female managers at leadership levels 3 and 4. This programme focuses on disciplinary leadership. In addition, we now provide an annual follow-up with alternating focal topics to all previous Women\u2019s Drive participants.<\/p>\n

However, we do of course have many dedicated female employees who are interested in further development but do not yet know exactly where their professional journey will take them. For these employees, we offer the Know Yourself and Develop Yourself programmes, which are, if you like, the stages before Women\u2019s Drive. Just like Women\u2019s Drive, these programmes are open to women across the Group.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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\n \"iris-nguyen-organisatorin-fernetzt\"\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n
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About:<\/h2>

\n Iris Nguyen <\/p>\n\n

Expert CoE Talentmanagement REWE Group<\/p>\n \n

\n Iris Nguyen, CoE Talent Management Expert at Reatail Germany, organizes REWE Group’s women’s network, f.ernetzt. <\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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What makes these programmes different?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Iris Nguyen:<\/strong> All these initiatives are designed to fully support women in their professional development and expand the Group\u2019s internal network. The programmes all work with peer mentoring and group coaching. They provide a safe space for women to look at topics together and support one another in pursuing their own development paths.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The mentors are a key feature of Women\u2019s Drive Start. How do you find them and what is their motivation?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Iris Nguyen:<\/strong> In the beginning, we would approach them but the programme is now so well-known that they have started coming to us. Some of them even volunteer more than once. Among both our male and our female mentors, many are motivated by the fact that they would have liked to have had a similar opportunity at the start of their own career. However, I find the term \u2018career\u2019 too one-dimensional and prefer to speak of a development path. By mentoring others, many are keen to advance and support the company\u2019s mission of increasing the number of women in leadership roles.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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How are mentors and mentees paired up?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Iris Nguyen:<\/strong> Wherever possible, we like to pair people that would not otherwise meet in a professional context; i.e. employees from different fields and companies within the Group. This promotes networking and affords a broader perspective.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Women should become more aware of their own female leadership skills and demonstrate that they work and lead differently.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n <\/div>\n

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Iris Nguyen, Expert CoE Talentmanagement REWE Group<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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\n \"iris-nguyen-organisatorin-fernetzt\"\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

Iris Nguyen, Expert CoE Talentmanagement REWE Group<\/p>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Around half of the mentors are male. How does Women\u2019s Drive change their outlook?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Iris Nguyen:<\/strong> After the getting-to-know you session, one of the mentors said he wasn\u2019t sure who would learn the most, he or his mentee. That sums it up quite nicely because Women\u2019s Drive is not a one-way street but a two-way process of personal development. The mentor has leadership experience, of course, but the mentee also brings her own perspective to the table. And men approach certain things completely differently. Women\u2019s Drive is certainly not about women becoming more like men, however. Instead, we want to encourage them to be themselves, to be aware of their own personal strengths and skills and to use these on their own development path.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Female managers therefore don\u2019t need to be like their male counterparts?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Iris Nguyen:<\/strong> No, they should become more aware of their own female leadership skills and demonstrate that they work and lead differently. A programme like Women\u2019s Drive is a good way to support this.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Speaking of support, shouldn\u2019t we eventually get to the point where we simply no longer need development programmes for women?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Iris Nguyen:<\/strong> Yes. I would love to get to the point where it is no longer needed \u2013that is my ultimate goal However, although we are certainly on the right track, Women\u2019s Drive is likely to continue for a few years yet.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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The Women\u2019s Drive programme<\/h2>\n

Since Women\u2019s Drive was launched in 2017, over 170 women have taken part. The twelfth round is currently underway. Each participant, known as a mentee, is assigned a male or female mentor. A total of 130 mentors have guided mentees through the programme to date. The number of male and female mentors has been fairly equal and some of them have volunteered to mentor a mentee several times. An increasing number of former Women\u2019s Drive graduates have also gone on to support the programme as mentors.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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