Following International Women’s Day, Chalhoub Group launched its ‘Women in Leadership' programme during ‘Immersion’ week on March 16 & 17, including select female participants, their line managers, coaches, senior leadership, and prominent figures and speakers. This launch is another key milestone towards the company’s ambitious and bold commitment to have 50% of senior leadership roles filled by women by 2024.

Today, the Group’s workforce is comprised of 61% women, 40% of whom are in management roles, a number which becomes 30% at senior leadership positions. This programme is intended to support women in areas of self-discovery, servant leadership, influencing without authority and addressing biases to contribute to their career growth at the Group.

Wassim Eid, President of People & Culture at Chalhoub Group said: “With the launch of the ‘Women in Leadership’ programme, it is a key step to increase female representation as well as create a culture of “Intentional Inclusion”, which entails building the desire and capacity of people to act with the conscious intent of including everyone. We are not starting from scratch, for many years now we have been committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, creating a flexible working environment, increasing maternity leave and the training programs that have helped us to get where we are today. We still have a long way to go, and we are committed to making a difference and achieving our commitment.”

Chalhoub Group is focused on developing a diverse leadership team and has identified proactive avenues to accelerate career readiness amongst existing female employees and provide mentorship opportunities.

The programme will be divided into three modules:

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The Women in Me – focused on discovering strengths and building confidence

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Women in the Team – a reflection on self and team leadership

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The Women in Business – exploring how to become an effective leader

The ‘Women in Leadership’ programme is just one part of a wider movement for 2022 to put a spotlight on how Chalhoub Group hires, manages performance, develops succession plans and guides women with the aim for gender parity. The programme targets mid-to-senior level female managers selected through the annual ‘Talent Identification’ process to build stronger female talent pipelines across the region.