She Knows Program – How Do You Envision Inclusive Workplaces and the Culture That Enables Them?

Julie Hill was accompanied by her husband, US Ambassador to Serbia Christopher Hill, as she opened the module by emphasizing the importance of equal treatment in the workplace. In her speech, Mrs. Hill highlighted the significance of creating inclusive workplaces, reminding everyone of the social and economic benefits that equal access to all resources for both genders brings.

Ursula Eysin, director of the consultancy Red Swan, conducted a workshop focused on future scenarios, centering on the topic of assuming responsibility in the workplace. Participants discussed corporate cultures characterized by reduced decision-making autonomy at the middle management level, as well as the future of leadership from the perspective of taking both responsibility and credit. The workshop underlined the importance of developing business scenarios with poor outcomes, as these encourage out-of-the-box thinking and foster creativity and critical reasoning.

A workshop on strategies, initiatives, and practices for team inclusion was led by Ivana Bamburać and Slavica Petrović of NLB Komercijalna Banka. Together with the participants, they redefined six categories of employees within every workplace who need specific benefits. The participants then worked in groups to discuss and present potential best practices in companies for categories such as single parents, caregivers, and employees planning to start families.

Vanda Kučera, Corporate Affairs Manager at I&F McCann Group, gave a presentation on promoting gender equality in public campaigns. She used examples from advertising history to point out significant disparities that amounted to gender-based discrimination. Participants reviewed advertising materials to understand how companies today perceive women’s roles in society and the ethical methods they use to convey their messages to a broader audience. The session also explored how the marketing industry perceives women’s roles and the strategies used to communicate messages of gender equality.

Bojana Bolović of Coca-Cola HBC discussed gender dynamics in field teams. She shared her company’s experiences with creating and implementing inclusive teams, highlighting the challenges faced by policymakers, such as integrating women into predominantly male teams, and the importance and advantages of gender diversity in teams.

See photos from the event here.