#20thanniversay

A powerful message to start with as we truly believe that having leaders and sponsors within our company as demonstrated by Gergő above we are at the best possible place.

How can a company support female colleagues to achieve their career goals, to develop their professional skills and knowledge? GE’s Women’s Network’s initiative provides professional development opportunities for female talents. Let’s see how.

The journey has been long, 20 years of cooperation within our businesses, within our communities and we have had amazing achievements. If we look back to the Hungarian team’s history we can see excellent events, great accomplishments. Just to highlight a few milestones:

·        in 2004 our focus was on driving attention to work-life balance;

·        in 2005 we sponsored the Bridge of Health Alliance to raise awareness to the importance of women’s health;

·        in 2006 we had a shift towards supporting noble causes, which set the bases of our volunteer teams in the region;

·        in 2007 focus was on the importance of career;

·        in 2008 diversity became a key initiative and the team starts sharing best practices, supporting and mentoring each other;

·        in 2009 we won the Best Workplace for Women Award;

·        the 2010 initiatives and events focused on working mothers;

·        2012 was the year when the MyConnection program kicked off and personal branding became a priority;

·        in 2013 and 2014 Toastmasters trainings all over across business sites gave learning opportunities to master presentation skills;

·        2015 was the era of inclusive leaders and the importance of Emotional Intelligence (EQ);

·        2016 became the digital zone incorporating the mindset.

 There has been an immense variety of activities, with more than 750 events reaching out to 32,500 colleagues, both males and females, during these years.

It is worth celebrating and spending some time together, demonstrating our appreciation to all our committed Ladies for tirelessly dedicating energy besides their everyday jobs to create value and support each other.

Get to know our Women’s Network Leaders sharing their thoughts about inspiration, passion, commitment, and connections in this video.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of Women’s Network event titled “Power of me/we” was a token of saying THANK YOU, a day for all our colleagues, supporters and sponsors from across all businesses represented in Hungary (Power, Aviation, Global Operations, Energy Connections, Working Capital Solutions, Digital, Lighting, Healthcare, and Oil&Gas).

Roundtable with GE Executive leaders. Source: GE

How can we cope in a men-dominated environment? How to create a gender-balanced organization? Why are initiatives, like the Women’s Network, so important for a big company like GE? Executive leaders answered all these questions and shared their stories in a open discussion which gave inspiration to all participants.

The highlight of the event was our prominent guest speaker, Eszter Cseke. She is a Prima Primissima Award winning Hungarian documentary film director, reporter, and journalist who won the 2011 Press Freedom Award. Her stories enchanted everyone and made us more than ever committed that it is worth to work hard for our dreams.

One thing for sure we can be thankful for is the group of ladies, CONNECTIONS, as most certainly we would have never met or cooperated if it weren’t for the Women’s Network. To express appreciations, we created a live board, where we received more than 50 messages with the title: “A lady to celebrate” that everyone could share showing how they empowered and raised each other. A thoughtful message, a quick chat or a bit of inspiration can sometimes work wonders. It was the time to highlight our fellow Women’s Network members who deserve a “YOU’RE GREAT” in all block capitals.

“A lady to celebrate” messages on the live board. Source: GE

Starting with a quote and closing with one from our sponsors as it truly resonates with our mission:

“Women have power, especially when they band together. They also need the help of mentors and sponsors – both male and female – along with a community of supporters who believe wholeheartedly in their visions, potentials, and values. As a sponsor, my commitment is to build a culture of no differentiation by gender, to build a power network that fosters Women’s success ...” Viktor Glósz, Working Capital Solutions.

Thank you,