About IDCIDC is committed to the focused development of women and through the department of Learning and Development initiated various Women’s Development Programmes, launched in August 2008, to look at the development of women within the organisation.
Why were the Women’s Development Programmes launched?
IDC wants to grow the leaders in its female talent pipeline whilst tracking the career progression opportunities for women. The programme is also a great retention mechanism.
What do the programmes entail?
There are four programmes running consecutively, one for each level within the organisation. On the A-band 24 women just completed the course on self leadership. The P-band has two courses: creating leadership and personal capacity (24participants) and a Da Vinci programme (14 participants). On the M-band, five women are following a Leadership and Innovation course.
How long are the programmes?
They vary, but the shortest course, which the A-band participants follow, is three months, whilst the course for the P-band participants is six months. We extended the programme to fit into the IDC’s business schedule and all courses will be completed by the end of June 2009.
What will happen after completion?
As a collective group, the participants will share their experiences, lessons learnt and the impact this might have on the IDC’s work environment with Executive Management. Participants are currently working on business critical work-based challenges to identify opportunities for the IDC from lessons learnt. The groups’ experiences might therefore be beneficial to all at IDC, resulting in a Return on Investment (ROI) measured in a different format.
Who can participate in the programme?
An invitation is sent to all women to participate, so women choose if they want to be part of the programme. Managers are then consulted to ascertain if participation was in line with individuals’ personal development plans. Executives are consulted for final approval of the participants of the programmes.
What was the aim of the overseas trips to China, Brazil and Hungary?
The women got to network with successful businesswomen in countries with emerging economies, similar to South Africa’s. Business meetings were set up, where these senior women shared their challenges and the reasons for their success. It provided for great networking opportunities as some of these women want to visit South Africa. Organisations visited provided an opportunity to identify business related aspects that the IDC can possibly learn from and implement. Through the programme, IDC is also collaborating with external parties and is represented on the Office for the Status of Women, a government forum that looks at broadening opportunities for professional women in the country.
What about developing IDC’s broader management and leadership talent?
The Learning and Development department has a clear line of development in place for all employees. A broader management and leadership framework has been approved, which is not gender exclusive and involves staff at all levels.
