
The Roscongress Foundation is a socially oriented non-financial development institution and a major organizer of international conventions; exhibitions; and business, public, sporting, and cultural events. It was established in pursuance of a decision by the President of the Russian Federation.
The Foundation was established in 2007 with the aim of facilitating the development of Russia’s economic potential, promoting its national interests, and strengthening the country’s image. One of the roles of the Foundation is to comprehensively evaluate, analyse, and cover issues on the Russian and global economic agendas. It also offers administrative services, provides promotional support for business projects and attracting investment, and helps foster social entrepreneurship and charitable initiatives.
Each year, the Foundation’s events draw participants from 208 countries and territories, with more than 15,000 media representatives working on-site at Roscongress’ various venues. The Foundation benefits from analytical and professional expertise provided by 5000 people working in Russia and abroad. In addition, it works in close cooperation with 133 economic partners; industrialists’ and entrepreneurs’ unions; and financial, trade, and business associations from 70 countries worldwide.
Mars is a partner of the Innosocium National Social Projects Contest which is held by the Innosocium Foundation, a Roscongress Foundations social platform, and the Art, Science and Sport Charity Foundation. The company supports the Womens Leadership nomination. Director for Human Resources of one of Mars Inc departments Royal Canin Darya Maslovskaya explained why this topic is of such importance in their corporate culture and how to increase the number of women leaders.
Be authentic
Our culture was formed in the way that it does not restrain development of any employee, regardless of their gender. Staff training and development is a comprehensive process that includes activities of the Mars corporate university, student programmes, workshops and many more. But the most important thing is every single employees desire and willingness to grow and develop, and for that the company has provided a very fertile ground and all possible opportunities.
Empower
Nika Bush, General Director of Mars Edge, one of the companys departments, once said: «It is not the lack of technical skills that hinders womens development, it is the lack of confidence.» We cant but agree. We work towards boosting this confidence. How can we do that? First, provide role models. Second, provide support. The company has the Women at Mars club that brings together women in the countries where the company is represented.
Beat stereotypes
The company is free from stereotypes that there are mens and womens jobs, but women themselves might have such beliefs which prevent them from advancing their careers in STEM areas. To encourage more women to choose technical and scientific areas, we try to identify and cultivate talents right from the start, offering them internships in various engineering fields, finance, veterinary medicine and other STEM areas. There is another way to participate in the leaders development programme.
We have already achieved remarkable results: 65% of positions in R&D are occupied by women, in IT and digital technologies 37%, in engineering and production 22%. Two Mars factories in Russia are managed by women.
Develop continuously
In the company, we promote the idea that the success of their careers depends on employees themselves. This correlates with our strategy, according to which each staff member is responsible for their own development. Any line manager, as a mentor, just creates a supportive environment and provides advice. That is why all our training and development progammes are based on the 70/20/10 principle, where 10% are training programmes and self-education, 20% are training provided by others, including mentorship, and 70% are actual projects aimed at development.
Maintain diversity
The concept of unity and diversity in business was initially weaved into companys principles. All of us are different, and this is our strength. For example, we carry out the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) for teams personal profiles to see how their members complement each other. Also, we use the practice of rotating employees among segments. This is always for the best, as talent sharing facilitates mutual learning and helps develop strong relations between colleagues and segments in general.
Think globally
The women development programme is a part of the large-scale Mars Sustainable in a Generation Plan. This project helped, for instance, to teach financial management to over 3,000 women, together with Tanager international nonprofit. Since 2015, DOVE® Chocolate has partnered up with CARE International, a leading organization fighting poverty, to support women farmers who grow cocoa in Côte dIvoire. In the company, we are convinced that providing more rights and opportunities for women and sustainable development are two sides of the same coin.
The Roscongress Foundation is a socially oriented non-financial development institution and a major organizer of international conventions; exhibitions; and business, public, sporting, and cultural events. It was established in pursuance of a decision by the President of the Russian Federation.
The Foundation was established in 2007 with the aim of facilitating the development of Russia’s economic potential, promoting its national interests, and strengthening the country’s image. One of the roles of the Foundation is to comprehensively evaluate, analyse, and cover issues on the Russian and global economic agendas. It also offers administrative services, provides promotional support for business projects and attracting investment, and helps foster social entrepreneurship and charitable initiatives.
Each year, the Foundation’s events draw participants from 208 countries and territories, with more than 15,000 media representatives working on-site at Roscongress’ various venues. The Foundation benefits from analytical and professional expertise provided by 5000 people working in Russia and abroad. In addition, it works in close cooperation with 133 economic partners; industrialists’ and entrepreneurs’ unions; and financial, trade, and business associations from 70 countries worldwide.