Qatar Shell Celebrates International Women’s Day
Mar 10, 2014
In celebration of International Women’s Day, Qatar Shell held its annual International Women’s Day event last week. The event attracted participation from employees across Qatar Shell, including the company’s headquarters in Doha, the Pearl Gas to Liquids plant in Ras Laffan, and the company’s research laboratory located at the Qatar Science and Technology Park.
The theme of the event was ‘Make it Happen’, encouraging all staff to ensure that women in the company enjoy the same respect and career opportunities as their male counterparts, and celebrating those who have contributed to make it happen.
The meeting was organized by the Qatar Shell Women’s Association Network (QSWAN), a voluntary network of Qatar Shell staff seeking to promote diversity and inclusion of staff in the Qatar Shell organization, focusing specifically on maximizing the potential of female staff members.
The half-day event featured speeches from senior Qatar Shell leaders, a lively debate, and a choice of workshops enabling the participants to consider to focus on specific issues within the Qatar Shell diversity journey. The event finished with an award ceremony to recognize the single staff member who has most strongly contributed to advancing Shell’s gender diversity agenda over the past year. The inaugural ‘Staircase to Success’ Award was won by Lorraine Holleway, Qatar Shell’s Deputy Controller, recognizing her constant support and role-modeling of career success for women.
Steve Johnson, General Manager of Production for Pearl GTL, kicked off the event with an inspiring speech about a former female team member’s career journey within the company and how she was able to maintain a balance between work and her family life, an issue that many members of the audience - male and female - could readily identify with from their own experiences.
Wael Sawan, Managing Director and Chairman of Qatar Shell Companies, concluded the event with a passionate call for maximizing the potential of female staff. He highlighted its importance to Qatar Shell and the wider Qatari community and its future. “Within Qatar Shell, we are proactively addressing the diversity challenges and gaps for female staff members,” said Mr. Sawan. “We hope that the International Women’s Day serves as a reminder to us all that diversity gives us strength, and while much is being done to be inclusive of women, we can always do more.”
With significant numbers of female employees, especially young Qatari graduates in technical roles, Qatar Shell has embraced the challenge to unlock the potential of its female staff. The company uses a number of different initiatives and events, such as QSWAN, to inspire and engage employees on topics concerning the empowerment of women. These initiatives have enjoyed success, especially in Ras Laffan where many of the company’s female engineers work.
Through QSWAN, the company is committed to developing a more gender diverse and inclusive workplace by building a strong support network to empower its members to develop themselves.
Enquiries:
Qatar Shell Ali Al-Ansari +97455598198