At Westinghouse, promoting diversity is one of our core values. On Friday, March 8, Westinghouse China cosponsored an International Women’s Day (IWD) activity in Shanghai that was organized by WomenRisingByond, a platform to encourage entrepreneurship and help women achieve success in career.
More than 50 women from four continents participated in this three-hour activity. Westinghouse Asia Human Resources Director, Donna Huang, gave a presentation about advancing women in the workplace and shared what Balance for Better, the 2019 IWD theme, means to her.
In her presentation, she noted that about 61.5% of women in the global workforces are in Services sectors, where empathy and communication skills are vital qualities. Huang further expanded on the importance of empathy, noting that it is one of the critical elements that the Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has employed in building their culture. Empathy allows him to listen to the needs of the employees and the voice of customers. Only by attentive listening and understanding of the problems the customers face can they develop and sell solutions.
Huang also shared that women have progressed so much in the workplace that in 2018, Fortune’s ‘Top 50 Greatest Leaders in The World’ was equally split between women and men. The successful female leaders are from all walks of life: Corporate leaders, politicians, athletes and artists. Sharing from her own experience, she encouraged women in the workplace to embrace the challenges by not shying away from speaking up, setting good examples by “walking the talk” and delivering results, which are important in building one’s trust and credibility.
She added that with the roles and expectations of women changing with time, so are the roles that men take on in society, especially at home, where partners often share many family responsibilities that support each other in marriages. Still, there is a natural tendency for women to face greater demands and higher workloads as they try to balance work and family. When facing more than they can reasonably tackle, she recommends women seek help from colleagues and family members and reassess priorities.
Other speakers at the event include TEDx speaker Tbird Luv, who is a contemporary flautist, artist and performer, and Dr. Angeline Lok, who spoke at the event about women’s health.
