Anyone with any knowledge of the tech and women in leadership program sector knows there is something of a battle on to attract and retain women. While Boards and executive teams are increasingly sold on the commercially competitive advantages of gender equality; real change is tough. Despite significant investment in policies to address systemic issues (i.e. workplace flexibility, pay equity etc), there is still low female representation and where women are joining organisations, they are often not staying around.
Collaborating with SAP
SAP, is the world’s largest business software company. Renowned for being forward-thinking and a globally recognised brand, SAP wanted to tackle gender diversity head-on. Under the leadership of John Ruthven (MD), Gina McNamara (now SAP ANZ CFO) and Lisa Christy (now APAC HRD Wolters Kluwer), SAP engaged Dattner Group and Fabian Dattner to explore opportunities. Lisa had previously sent a team of SAP women to participate in Dattner Group’s national women’s program, Compass, and decided the program would be more effective if tailored to SAP’s specific needs.
Dattner Group redesigned its Compass women in leadership program, normally seven days across five months, to a three-day intensive, with a focus on building an internal collaboration of women at SAP to drive Diversity and Inclusion. This represented a significant challenge – in compressing the program so much, would the women have the transformational experience? If Dattner Group ran the program entirely internally, would the participants get that sense of common issue/cause that emerges in a public program?
In the words of Fabian Dattner, founding partner and creator of Compass, “what emerged was possibly the best program I’ve designed for women and it worked like a rocket”. High performing, senior women from different areas of SAP who had no relationship to speak of got to focus on personal purpose and values, to share quality time exploring their sense of self in the context of a highly competitive sector and lastly to explore the narrative of business acumen as a means of accelerating their contribution to the SAP business.
Program Success
The program succeeded so well that it has been repeated several times, with Dattner Group running alumni programs on new content to keep the women refreshed and connected. SAP has further increased its support for women, maintaining a strong focus on properly engaging its female workforce. Participants have also organized internal processes to stay connected in the months after the program, ensuring its impact extends far beyond the intensive three days.
There are approximately 80 women who have done the internal Compass program through SAP. Several participants have taken on more senior roles in SAP, with greater influence and commercial impact. These women are clear about who they are, their boundaries as leaders, their voice and influence and the power of their unique approach to leadership. They also have each other’s backs in tough times. Participants feedback suggested that the program had been deeply transformational, had taken them by surprise in the nature of its content and had increased their effectiveness not only as employees of SAP but as friends, mothers and among their families and networks.
