Corporate Vision January 2017

NEWS , “But equality is everyone’s busi- ness – and it benefits both men and women alike. Men have an important role to play in champi- oning gender equality and this in- itiative will encourage even more men to actively drive this issue so that all employees can reach their full potential.‎” The survey shows male manag- ers strongly support gender pari- ty, with 84% in favour of a gender balanced workplace. The survey also reveals that three-quarters (75%) believe men in senior lead- ership roles have a particular re- sponsibility to support the career development of talented women. Ann Francke, CEO at CMI, said: “It’s amazing that four in five man- agers have witnessed some form of gender biased-behaviour at work in the past year. Achieving a better gender balance is essential to boosting the UK’s productivi- ty, which lags far behind our G7 competitors. If we’re to meet this ambitious target, then managers at all levels must call out behav- iour that discriminates against women and encourage equality within their workplace. “Of course, there are many things that managers, and par- ticularly men in senior roles, can do. There are the big things like championing better flexible work- ing arrangements and sponsoring and mentoring women. But there are the everyday things, like giv- ing everyone an equal chance to be heard in meetings, and to cut out the ‘locker room’ banter that is holding us all back.” CMI Women has created ‘Blue- print for Balance’, an innova- tive open source tool that helps organisations achieve 50/50 management. According to the managers surveyed, the top five Blueprint for Balance interven- tions they think would lead to a gender balanced workforce are: • Flexible working – having a better work/life balance • Balanced recruitment – see- ing different sorts of role mod- els for leadership • Promoting leadership equali- ty - recognising that work can have an emotional impact on employees Paul Kearney has been appointed Managing Director of London-based digital marketing company, ITG Creator. The multi-award-winning com- pany specialises in developing CRM Strategy as well as deliver- ing complex, data-led digital mar- keting campaigns to clients such as Virgin Trains, TUI Holidays, Liberty Global Group as well as a number of global Pharmaceutical brands. Kearney will take over respon- sibility for the company’s opera- tions and customer service, while ITG Creator founder and CEO Mark Brennan shifts focus to de- veloping new business and strat- egies that enable clients to deliver one-to-one personalised commu- nications to customers. Kearney joins from global engi- neering and project management giant Bechtel Corporation, where he spent three years in various senior roles, including Operations Director for large infrastructure projects in Gabon as well as be- ing the Regional Manager. A founding member of Inspired Thinking Group, from 2010 to 2013, he was the digital market- ing director and prior to that he spent 16 years in the Royal Ma- rines, where he set up, trained and commanded a 110-man spe- cial forces unit and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel RM. He has spent a significant amount of his time on operations in Koso- vo, Afghanistan and Iraq. Simon Ward, CEO, Inspired Thinking Group, said: “We are delighted that Paul has re-joined the team, he is the ideal person to lead such a dynamic and fast growing company. His experi- ence within ITG and his broader management experience in huge organisations will benefit the en- tire business as we continue to expand.” ITG Creator is a London-based big data specialist that helps de- velop CRM strategies for blue- chip clients by identifying revenue opportunities in their customer data, then executing heavily per- sonalised creative strategies that engage with customers on a one- to-one basis to increase customer lifetime value. It delivered four billion personal- ised emails, app push and text messages in 2016. ITG Creator is the personalised marketing arm of Inspired Think- ing Group, whose Media Centre marketing resource management technology automates the mar- keting operations of some of the world’s leading brands and retail- ers, including Marks & Spencers, Heineken, Audi, PUMA. • Mentoring and sponsorship – more opportunities for wom- en • Skills and career develop- ment - everyone having ap- propriate opportunities to contribute and be heard in meetings Heather Melville, Chair of CMI Women and Director for Strategic Partnerships at RBS, comment- ed: “We need men at every level as management to champion and support women rise up through the ranks and get their fair shot at reaching the top. Our Blueprint for Balance sets out the many ways that men can promote gender equality, strengthen their organ- isations and help us reach our target of 1.5m more women in management by 2024.” Today’s research has been re- leased to coincide with the sec- ond phase of CMI Women, ‘Men as Role Models’. Senior execu- tives from leading UK businesses are lending their support to the initiative, encouraging men in management to be role models in the workplace and becoming everyday champions of women at work. They include: • Chris Stylianou, Chief Operating Office (UK and Ire- land) of Sky • Michael Lewis, CEO of E.On Climate & Renewables • Martin Steadman, CEO of Nutmeg ‘Blueprint for Balance’ is a free online resource that allows em- ployers to share information and learn from others the practices and policies that have helped im- prove gender balance in their or- ganisations: www.managers.org. uk/cmi-women/blueprint-for-bal- ance Big Data Specialist Appoints New Managing Director N The specialist data company, ITG Creator, was acquired in February 2016 bymarketing technology and services company, Inspired Thinking Group (ITG).