In March 2001, Luxembourg's Ministry for the Advancement of Women awarded its annual prize for innovative company measures to promote the employment of women to Bank Hapoalim Luxembourg SA. The prize recognised the bank's efforts to ensure equal opportunities in career development.
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In March 2001, Luxembourg's Ministry for the Advancement of Women awarded its annual prize for innovative company measures to promote the employment of women to Bank Hapoalim Luxembourg SA. The prize recognised the bank's efforts to ensure equal opportunities in career development.
The stated aim of Luxembourg's Ministry for the Advancement of Women is to advance the situation of women in such a way as to develop a concept of genuine partnership between women and men, to achieve legal and practical equality between women and men, and to "develop models of cultural equivalence while at the same time integrating femininity and masculinity as components that are essential to the development of society".
One of the Ministry's initiatives is the annual award of a prize, known as the "Prix Féminin de l'Entreprise", to enterprises which have taken innovative measures to promote women's employment or organised positive action in favour of their female employees. The prize was introduced in 1993 at the suggestion of the Committee for Positive Action (Comité pour les Actions Positives), made up of representatives of various ministries (national education and vocational training, labour and employment, economy, middle classes and finance), of the Employment Administration (Administration de l'emploi), and of the professional chambers (representing employers and employees).
The 2001 prize was awarded on 19 March 2001 to Bank Hapoalim Luxembourg SA. This successful banking company employs 27 people in Luxembourg, of whom 17 are women and 10 are men. It is a subsidiary of the Israel-based Bank Hapoalim, which employs 9,000 staff worldwide.
According to the bank's management, its personnel policy is to invest considerable sums in its human capital and to encourage employees to complete their studies through university degrees. Some 63% of the bank's workforce are women, and an equal opportunities programme is open to all staff, both men and women, in the 15 countries where it has branches. The bank draws no distinctions between men and women in respect of career opportunities, and in particular offers a range of customised training packages. Management encourages employees who are fathers to take on various family obligations, and thereby strike a balance between work and family life. The principles of equality in terms of promotion are respected: only professional skills are taken into account, and women in particular are encouraged to draw up their own career plans so as to ensure that they do not find themselves unemployable one day, and thus unable to find work. Another "family-friendly" feature is that when a seminar is scheduled for the weekend, a pleasant venue is chosen and the employee's whole family is invited.
The Ministry's prize, which comes on top of a previously awarded grant, will fund a staff survey aimed at defining their needs and also the delivery of a range of training courses.
Eurofound recommends citing this publication in the following way.
Eurofound (2001), Bank Hapoalim wins equality prize, article.
