Gender intelligence campaign walks tall at VWG

Gender intelligence campaign walks tall at VWG

“Our campaign raised awareness of the potential issues and got people talking about them. The campaign visuals were simple, effective and got the concept across. The day-long series of events captured people’s imagination and landed the key messages.”

Internal Communications and Engagement Manager, Volkswagen Group UK Ltd

The challenge

In the automotive industry, only 16% of the workforce is female. At Volkswagen Group UK it’s 42%, but the organisation still wants to do more, including a target of 30% female representation on their Management Board by 2021. The business wants to highlight the opportunities around gender intelligence and equality, start conversations, and inspire more women to join its senior team.

Gender intelligence campaign walks tall at VWG
Gender intelligence campaign walks tall at VWG

The solution

Our concept centred on the idea of walking in somebody else’s shoes to really understand them, bringing to life the importance and benefits of gender intelligence and diversity. We created an employee engagement campaign to build awareness and interest. Our campaign utilised a number of people channels including the intranet. Creative content and promotion led up to a day of gender intelligence events dedicated to discussing opportunities around a more diverse workforce as well as dispelling a number of myths.

The results

The ‘A Day in Their Shoes’ event had tangible benefits, including wider support for the international #DrivenWomen programme along with a greater awareness of unconscious bias and its effects. As a follow-up, we helped develop the ‘Take a Step in Their Shoes’ job-shadowing initiative, designed to place junior men and women with senior colleagues of the opposite gender. In a first for the company, the initiative was launched using a smart video, allowing the viewer to access additional interactive information during play.

Bryan Jones

Why we love it

“This was a great theme, well delivered, but the real measure of this gender intelligence campaign was the way it led to new initiatives that drove meaningful change for Volkswagen Group UK.”

Bryan Jones, Senior Project Manager