KPN: room for top women
Thu 01 January 1970
, KPN
KPN still has a long way to go as far as female participation is concerned. An ambitious diversity policy is therefore under construction since this year. The driving force behind it is Marion Koopman, Director of Diversity at KPN.
It will be a tough job to bring in and retain more women, confirms Marion Koopman, Director of Diversity. At KPN very few women have made it to the top so far and at the same time, there is a ‘leak’ in the middle ranks. This second issue is an especially big problem, Marion tells us. ‘Unfortunately, many talented women don’t feel at ease with us, so they leave. More so than men, women need to feel a personal bond with the company they work for. They want to have ‘sparring partners’ to discuss their work, their career and the combination with their private life. They like to get feedback and coaching. KPN is still unable to meet that need adequately.’
Why is it important for us to take on more women?
‘Because of the graying of the population there will be a huge shortage on the labor market in the near future. In 2030 the number of people over 65 will have doubled. So we cannot allow ourselves to draw exclusively from the male labor supply. That would eventually result in us being short of talent. We are going to have to adapt our culture in such a way that we appeal to women and retain them.’
The percentage of women in top positions at KPN is one of the lowest in the sector…
‘Now that we are giving the issue the attention it deserves, you will see it is gathering pace. There’s a broad support base and I see that the Board of Directors has had the courage to get to grips with the matter. And of course diversity is not just about women, it’s also about multiculturalism and age. But first of all we are concentrating on women. That’s the area in which we have to make up the most ground. Less than a quarter of KPN employees are women.’
What support are you getting in your endeavors?
‘The Diversity Steering Committee is making a case for diversity in our business. The committee includes Marike van Lier Lels from the Supervisory Board, Baptiest Coopmans from the Board of Directors, HR director Hein Knaapen and all the directors of the business units. They give me enormous support. Nevertheless, many people in our organization unwittingly adopt attitudes that are bad for diversity. People intuitively choose employees who resemble themselves. Therefore, if the top executives are all men, it isn’t strange for this to be the case in the next tier down as well. You see, especially in the recruitment policy, that women sometimes don’t even get put forward as candidates. Simply because people aren’t used to doing so.’
Why should men change? What’s in it for them?
‘A lot of men recognize that it’s crazy to have no women at all on your management team. You often hear people say that there aren’t enough good women around. But when I refer to other companies they see that this argument doesn’t hold water. To cut a long story short, we need women! Not because they’re better, but because they’re different. Sometimes their ideas literally lead to new business. For example, at Hi there’s a team with quite a lot of women and different cultures – very unusual. It turned out that, contrary to men, women tend to save their text messages. As there are so many women in that team, a new service has been developed that is geared to that particular wish of our female customers.’
What is your approach?
‘In recent months I have talked to a lot of people and made them aware that this is a real issue. If you are consciously involved with something, you look at it differently. In addition, we are going to create more room for top managers to set an example and give support. And I won’t be approaching only the men about this, but the women too. I would like them to support rather than abandon each other. Furthermore, both male and female employees have to be given more attention and coaching. Many women have left because they didn’t feel any involvement with the company.
How will KPN change?
‘My ideal scenario is that KPN will still be highly result-driven and set ourselves ambitious targets, but that we will give more attention and warmth to our staff. That won’t stop all of us from continuing to fight hard for a good result, but as a team.’
Print
