In its second edition, the Arab Women Leadership Forum continued to discuss a number of crucial issues in its second day under the title Women’s leadership in organizations: Towards new conceptions of work-life balance. The forum was held under the patronage and presence of H.H. Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Vice-President and Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai and under the leadership of H.H. Sheikha Manal bint Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, President of DWE, wife of HH Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Presidential Affairs.
Under the title: Recognizing the role of men in achieving work-life balance in a globalized world, the first session discussed the most recent research on work-life balance focusing on the methods spouses can follow to achieve family harmony and accordingly balance between their professional and personal life.
The moderator of the session was Dr. Mohammed Al-Redha, Head of Planning & Development - Health Data & Information Analysis Department – Health Policy & Strategy Sector, Dubai Health Authority- United Arab Emirates. The session panelists were: Dr. Suzan Lewis Professor of Organizational Psychology, Middlesex University, United Kingdom, Dr. Katty Marmenout Assistant Professor of Management, EMLYON Business School, France and Ms. Aysha bin Breik, HR manager Middle East HR operations and UAE, Shell, United Arab Emirates.
Dr. Al-Redha commented on the topic from his personal experience with spending more time with his family saying: “We as men contribute to the work-life balance issue as much as women, The new generation of young Emarati men are more aware than their ancestors of the importance of having a family life and seek to participate more in the day to day details making sure they do not miss out on their children’s development process”.
“Although in the west we have achieved a lot over the last decade in empowering women, the stereotypical image of women is still to undertake the household issues”. Dr. Suzan Lewis commented. She stressed that the change of the cultural perception can be achieved by empowering individual regardless of their gender: “The existing corporate policies are not effective, and we should go from practice to policies rather than the other way around”.
From her expertise in the UAE, Dr. Katty Marmenout said: “I have noticed a remarkable progress in the perception of the roles of men and women in the Emarati society, men are more involved in their family’s issues. But changing the stereotype radically would need more efforts and time to be realized”.
While Ms. Aysha bin Breik affirms that employees should have the choice on the method of negotiation to reach a stage of work-life balance: “the employee needs to feel valued and appreciated from his/her employer, so they should identify the best ways to help them achieve the balance between their professional and personal life which, in turn, generates loyalty and better performance”
Aisha Al Suwaidi, Director of DWE Women Leadership Development Department, commented from her side: “empowering women is not the responsibility of women alone, men play an essential role as well. To achieve balance it requires both parties’ to share the responsibility, the more support the husband gives his wife and family, the more he participates in supporting the wife’s progress at work and achieving an overall healthy and balanced society”.
Moderated by Mr. Essa Al-Mulla, Executive Director of National Workforce Development, Emirates Nationals Development Program, United Arab Emirates, the third panel “Re-integration: How to make it work at work” discussed the work of successful policy-making bodies and organizations that help women re-integrate into the workplace. Many organizations have initiated programs that help women transition back to work (on-ramping) after leaving for a short break. Such initiatives are critical for creating flexible and integrative solutions conducive to a woman’s dual roles.
The panel featured Dr. Sylvia-Ann Hewlett, Founding President and Chairman, Center for Work-Life Policy-United States, Dr. Zeynep Aycan, Professor of Psychology, Koç University- Turkey and Ms. Aniela Unguresan, Co-Founder, The Gender Equality Project – Switzerland.
Mr. Essa expressed his optimism towards the growing participation of Emarati women to join the workforce: “From our experience in the recruitment market, we observed the increasing number of women seeking jobs which shows women’s persistence in playing an effective part in developing the society”.
Dr. Zeynep Aycan explained that work and home are integral entities that can not be looked at separately: “there is a positive impact between work and home if you achieve one that gives the woman the incentive to achieve the other”. She also explained the different perceptions of certain situations in different countries especially when it comes to working and non-working mothers.
As for Dr. Sylvia-Ann Hewlett, it is an employee’s right to request a break from work. She also called for raising awareness amongst employees to make use of the existing corporate policies: “woman shouldn’t feel guilty for having a break whether it’s a long or short one; in fact it is healthy for everyone to have a break from time to time”.
“Although women have proved to have effective roles in their societies especially in the light of the global economic situation according to a recent study in USA, institutions suffer incompetence to attract and maintain female talents”. Dr. Sylvia added.
Presenting the main areas need to be developed to achieve gender equality, Ms. Aniela called for following assessment methods to achieve the best results at work: “Every institution should have a success index, our assessments comprehensive methodology covers all elements of the process; policies, practice and results”.
Al Swaidi concluded: “Discussing such topics calls for developing policies that supports women’s role in the society and recommend new initiatives implemented by some of the organization to help women reintegrate, as well as a number of other crucial issues within the area of achieving work-life balance, which is the main theme of the second Arab Women Leadership Forum”.
The Arab Women Leadership Forum is an annual conference organized by The Dubai Women’s Establishment (DWE). The DWE’s mandate is to contribute to the economic and social development of the UAE through gender sensitive policy design, research, leadership development programs, and networking events. Through these initiatives, the DWE aims at creating opportunities to engage UAE women in the country’s development process. The DWE annual conference is an opportunity to acknowledge the contribution of outstanding individuals and organizations that have contributed to advancing women’s leadership worldwide.
