A precarious position.
Serena Williams indignant on the tennis court. As a woman, she feels discriminated against by the referee.
On the train ride from Zurich to Bern, two strangers get into a fist fight. One of the passengers interprets a touch on the armrest as sexual harassment. On the political stage, there are seven female members on the Council of States, from 46 possible seats in the small chamber for the 2018 autumn session. According to the 2018 Schilling Report, 7% of management positions in Switzerland are held by females.
When it comes to “diversity”, the diversification of the sexes, we are in a precarious position. Discussions are becoming increasingly emotional and common sense is receding into the background. Many men feel more and more excluded or misunderstood. For their part, women are reacting more violently than necessary. The answer put forward by all sides, the way out of the impasse: regulation – the quota regulation. I am against this approach. I want to start earlier. After all, what is the value of a new rule if it is only adhered to because it is there? Frustration is growing and the gap is widening. We should focus on flexible solutions and finding common ground.
Two worlds.
Our daughter was born on January 8, 2018. Some eight years earlier, I had founded a women’s network to address issues of our decade, our generation. And some years before that, I was a co-intiator of the Credit Suisse Women’s Forum. I can confirm the necessity and benefits of diversification from experience. Before my daughter’s birth, I dedicated entire evening events or articles to possible solutions. “The proof of the pudding is in the eating”, as the saying goes, did not come until my daugther’s birth.
My daugther opened up a whole new world for me. I would never have thought that new life would have such a profound impact on me. I love spending time with her. I love seeing the world through her eyes and viewing many things afresh. For five years, I have been living my passion as an entrepreneur. I love what I do. I love to think strategically, to implement with foresight, to keep abreast of current affairs and to find the best solutions for my customers. Thanks to my independence, I was able to unite my two worlds from day one. I can live in both. If I were now a member of the executive committee of a large organisation, I would probably miss out on a lot. I would have a long maternity leave, the wages of my team would be secured and I could dedicate myself to my daughter completely for six months. But from the first day “back at the office” I would hardly have the opportunity to see Sophia during the day, let alone breastfeed her.
Flexibility and creativity.
My aim is to show that diversification is possible: whether employed or self-employed, women can and want to be actively involved from early on after giving birth, but we need to increase the scope of our thinking and actions to enable this to happen. Flexibility and creativity are necessary if we want to take a step forward.
According to current labour law, we have 14 hours in which to do our work. This includes breaks and overtime. Were I, as an employee, to answer e-mails at 6 a.m. before my daughter wakes up and to do my last task at 10 p.m., when my daughter has fallen asleep, I would officially be in violation of the law. However, this is everyday life for many working parents. The same applies to maternity leave. Officially, neither e-mails, nor telephone calls may be answered.
If our law no longer corresponds in any way to today’s digital world, how do we as a society expect to move forward?
A change in thinking and a stage for new ideas.
I do not yet have the answer to this dilemma. With the prize «5vor12 – Preis für schlaue De-Regulierung», however, we gave Thierry Burkart a platform to present his proposal on how to make labour laws more flexible for a broader public. With the Wunsch-Schloss 2019, we curate ideas on how we as a society can profit from more diversity. I firmly believe that honest dialogue is the prerequisite for finding long-term and creative solutions. I further believe that we can hereby reduce frustration for both men and women.
Personally, I try to be a role model on a daily basis. My daughter accompanied me on business trips to San Francisco and to the Max Schmidheiny Forum in Bad Ragaz. I try to show that if we ourselves remain open, the world will respond in kind. Because it is one thing to change regulation. But the real impact comes from personal attitude and behaviours as well as good will and flexibility on both sides. There is no such thing as “one size fits all”, but with good will, much can be achieved.
Yes, it takes courage and strength and perseverance, but the positive impact and personal satisfaction that result when the combination succeeds are priceless. People are motivated to do more, which also makes Switzerland a more attractive place for doing business.