Breaking Through

Chapter 10“Mentoring by ENGIE”

Interview with Gérard Mestrallet, Chairman of ENGIE

Why has ENGIE implemented a mentoring program aimed at women?

It's my belief that our group, that every group, should not only mirror society but lead social change and social thinking. To develop gender diversity requires daring, courage, and a certain level of determination. These are values that our group nurtures and wants our female employees to contribute to, and developing these values is in our interest, in the interest of our women, and in the interest of our men. Studies demonstrate that gender diversity and equality of opportunity can increase our overall performance as a company. In order to succeed in achieving these ends, we not only need a solid strategy but also to recruit a good mix of men and women, and a mix of different talents, but also to appoint a similar mix in our managers, and to elect such a mix to our board of directors. Of course, there are still cultural and historical difficulties, and this is why, with Valérie Bernis, ENGIE executive vice president, we agreed, in 2008, to an ambitious and global policy aimed at supporting and promoting women throughout the group. In 2008, we also launched a program called Women In Networking (WIN), an international network of ENGIE women whose goal is to help women throughout the group become stronger and more visible. Then, in 2010, when we became aware of the fact that women encounter difficulties to break through the glass ...