The McGraw-Hill companies have 1,250 employees in the UK, 1,000 of whom are based at the UK headquarters at Canary Wharf.

Rationale

For McGraw-Hill, the business case for gender equality is simple: the company wants to avoid talent loss, expand its brand into as many markets as possible, and have strong candidates in the pipeline for future leadership. In a recent presentation to a WINS event, CEO Terry McGraw recognised the effort and commitment of committee members:

"[WINS] is part of the survival of this organisation. It’s that serious."

The approach

WINS supports employees across McGraw-Hill by providing a network where they can share experiences, find mentoring opportunities, learn and develop. It describes itself as ‘By women, about women, for everyone’. The network holds about one event each month, addressing issues requested by members. While most event attendees are female, male employees are also welcome.

A typical event includes a presentation by an internal or external expert followed by discussion and experience-sharing, with time for networking at the end. Subjects covered recently included emotional intelligence, transformation and change and enhancing mentor/mentee relationships. The network has held pan-European and global events.

Impact

In the last year, almost 30 per cent of female employees in London attended one or more event. Membership is growing fast, with attendees reporting great benefits in terms of learning, confidence and leadership skills. Seventy-four per cent of women reported that WINS has helped advance important issues to women at McGraw-Hill.

"Attending WINS seminars has been very inspiring…It has taught me to explore alternatives, and to be more analytical…I’m already feeling some benefits in terms of my career. I have been asked to work on topics I wouldn’t have dreamed about as a result of my work with WINS…My boss really supports my participation in WINS. He knows that if I am happy at work it means that I’m going to perform better."
Rosi Baran, Administrative Assistant at Standard ' Poor’s and Secretary to the WINS European Steering Group