PwC Diversity Summit 2014: Breaking Barriers
The recent PwC Diversity Summit which was held on 12 November at Aloft Kuala Lumpur Sentral had one goal in mind – to challenge the status quo or assumptions, whether real or imagined, for both men and women and highlight the importance of using their skills and knowledge for progress and growth.
And it may have done just that.
For starters, more than 30 male attendees participated in this year’s Diversity Summit, which is a significant number indeed. This only goes to show the rise of the male agenda in the diversity conversation – in supporting women and how they need to be considered too.
Secondly, the welcome note and keynote address were delivered by men - PwC Malaysia’s Managing Partner Sridharan Nair and Executive Chairman Dato’ Mohammad Faiz Azmi respectively – both of whom are champions of diversity and great supporters of retaining women in the workforce.
Sri highlighted the need for companies to leverage on diversity as a business case and to break the perception issues and long-held assumptions that are setting both men and women back from realising their full potential as individuals, whilst Dato’ Faiz spoke from the heart about the importance of getting men into the equation by sharing his personal story.
Thirdly and surprisingly, the most popular session of the day turned out to be the all-male panel session titled “Real men are cheerleaders” featuring two mystery speakers - Andrew Chan, PwC's South East Asian Consulting services Sustainability & Climate Change Leader and Wan Firdaus, an investment banker and founder of Young Corporate Malaysians.
The session was moderated by popular BFM Radio anchor, Umapagan Ampikaipakan.
As a father of two boys, Andrew was asked to share his views on breaking barriers from the male perspective and the role he played in supporting his wife’s career.
There were many interesting insights peppered with witty quotes from Andrew including the popular “a happy wife means a happy life and family” as he openly spoke about having to take a year off from work and moving to the US to follow his wife and look after the family, while she did her MBA at MIT.
Firdaus had the crowd applauding when he shared how he didn’t mind being a hands-on dad – he brings his son along for meetings and even arranges for meetings in child-friendly venues – as he viewed it as a blessing to be able to spend time with his son.“Men also contribute to the diversity agenda and need to lead by example. Then more men will follow,” he quipped.
Umpagan asking Andrew and Firdaus the tough questions on how they were supportive spouses
Needless to say, attendees found Andrew’s and Wan Firdaus’ comments both refreshing and candid as they shared amazing personal stories on being equal partners and making sacrifices for the family.
Key highlights from the session as tweeted by the attendees
- @TalentCorpMsia: @WMFIRDAUS @MYawkchan -"Men also contribute to the diversity agenda & need to lead by example" #PwCdiversity
- @_melodywong: Impt to stay connected to the workforce if u take time off work - @MYawkchan at #pwcdiversity
- @suitfang: .@umapagan How did u become the way you r to b so supportive to @MYawkchan @WMFIRDAUS. V strong women figures in their lives #pwcdiversity
- @suitfang: .@WMFIRDAUS We need more good nurseries. The reality is that we will see more nurseries in the office in the future #pwcdiversity
- @salikasuksuwan: Totally agree-corporate Msia has to change in order to retain smart women talent.TQ @WMFIRDAUS for being brave to say that #pwcdiversity
Representing the millennial workforce, PwC Malaysia’s Consulting Associate Lydia Kwan meanwhile, joined guest speakers Lily Rozita, Head of Legal from Shell Malaysia and Shazmi Ali, HR Director from Pfizer Malaysia, to share her views on ‘Meeting, greeting, and retaining tomorrow’s female leaders’ later that day.
The interactive session moderated by PwC Malaysia’s marketing and communications lead, Stephanie Caunter, discussed the female millennial based on the findings from PwC’s Next Generation Diversity report.
The diverse group of speakers certainly raised some key issues.
As a Gen-Y, Lydia spoke about the importance of being recognised for merit, the need for women to be candid and talk about how they failed and got back up again, and why neither husbands nor wives should have to give up their careers.
Lily, Shazmi, Lydia and Stephanie take the stage for their panel session
Key highlights from the session as tweeted by the attendees
- @rsraj: PwC Mgt Consultant Lydia Kwan -" I want to be recognized for my merit and not my gender" @PwC_Malaysia #pwcdiversity
- @_melodywong: It rests on our shoulders to change cultural norms - Lily #shell on men staying home #pwcdiversity
- @suitfang: Lydia - for role models I don't look for the perfect person but one who has the experiences including failures #pwcdiversity
- @suitfang: Lily @Shell MY - ambition needs to start with the women themselves. It's something internal #pwcdiversity
- @suitfang: Lydia - I don't think either husband or wife shd give up their careers. It shd be collaborative and they shd work it out #pwcdiversity
- @_melodywong: Shazmi #pfizer everyone needs a mentor to succeed, regardless of gender #pwcdiversity
- @flopeiyee: 'Don't sell urself short. Have confidence and drive' Shazmi's advice for women who hold themselves back #pwcdiversity
The event also featured an interview style session with Ung Yiu Lin, founder of Shoes, Shoes, Shoes, and a personal sharing by Low Ngai Yuen, Head of Kakiseni on how they broke barriers to progress in their careers and rise to the top.
Overall though, both panel topics seemed to hit the nail on the head and touched on key issues close to the attendees’ hearts, and many of the attendees probably went home feeling both inspired and empowered to start breaking barriers.
According to one attendee, the event had “great topics ... truly diverse and not just on women diversity”.
Another said that:
“For me, it continues to reaffirm in me the various positive thoughts on diversity which I want to practise at work and home and to instil in my day to day interaction with my colleagues, both subordinates and bosses. I most enjoyed the session with Uma, Andrew and Firdaus. To further your effort, you can consider ways to reach out to more men, so that they can learn to identify with such situations. These are real and inevitable.”
It was also heartening to note that attendees were willing to engage with panellists by posting their questions via their mobile devices using the online tool, Pigeonhole Live, a twist to the usual Q&A format. This truly made the discussions lively and interesting.
Attendees were also thrilled to receive “diversi-tea" themed gifts and cookies, which were not only yummy, but also served as reminder that it was important for everyone to continue ‘breaking barriers’ and ‘celebrating the differences’.
One of the many male attendees who had questions for panellists
The Diversity Summit is part of a three year informal collaboration between PwC, Shell and Pfizer - each company will take turns to host the summit. This year’s event was hosted by PwC and is the second collaboration to be held.
We hope we empowered companies and individuals to make a more conscious effort to embrace diversity. After all, "Diversity is the mix. Inclusion is making it work”.
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