Huge #HeForShe mobilisation for gender equality at Schneider

Created in 2014 by UN Women, the United Nations entity for gender equality and the empowerment of women, #HeForShe is a global effort to engage men and boys in removing the social and cultural barriers that prevent women and girls from achieving their potential. #HeForShe invites men and boys as equal partners in the crafting and implementing of a shared vision of gender equality that will benefit all of humanity.

The ambitious aim is to secure the commitment of one billion men to support the issue of gender equality and women's empowerment, starting at a high level with a simple positive pledge, and moving to a deeper level of concrete action and social change. Men joining the campaign are counted through online and smart phone activations, rural and urban events, and mobile phone technology activations. Their stories are being captured and shared to inspire others to follow suit.

Olivier Blum, chief human resources officer at Schneider Electric says: "Around 20 per cent of our male employees have already joined this inspiring initiative with a lot of energy and true commitment. And the number is still growing. For all Schneider Electric employees, #HeForShe is not merely a communication campaign but an important change management campaign aimed to improve the relationship between women and men at the workplace across our company and globally. As a corporate enterprise, we have a central role to play in this positive transformation and we commit to act as a key agent of change. In this exciting and very inspiring journey toward more diversity and equality, Schneider Electric #HeForShe mobilisation message is: a world and a company with more gender diversity and equality means a better world!"

Schneider Electric started its internal #HeForShe campaign in June 2015. As of end of October, over 23,000 of its male employees have signed the petition, with strong employee mobilisation in India, Brazil, United States and France. Signatories are encouraged to speak publicly and share their testimonials and commitment to gender diversity and equality internally as well as externally. For example, they can illustrate their commitment by publishing selfies in support of the #HeForShe solidarity movement on social media channels. Schneider Electric teams are also organising dedicated events and publishing their photos and videos on the internal social network of Schneider Electric.

Follow the link to find out more about Schneider Electric's internal #HeForShe campaign.