Roche Diagnostics highlights its commitment to reducing the gender gap at the Woman in Leadership Forum 2015

IVD leader champions women as game-changers in the workplace

UAE, Dubai, 02 November 2015 – Roche Diagnostics, the global and regional leaders in in-vitro diagnostics, participated in the 2015 edition of the Women in Leadership Economic Forum (WIL), which opened today in Abu Dhabi. The forum provides a platform for 600 global business and thought leaders to come together to champion gender diversity on a business and corporate level and discuss the increasing role of female leadership within the economy.

This year, the IVD leader was represented at WIL by Moritz Hartmann, General Manager of Roche Diagnostics Middle East, its Senior Vice President & Global Head of Human Resources, Cristina A. Wilbur, Kristen Presser, Vice President of HR Europe, Middle East, Africa and Latin America within Roche Diagnostics and Maysoun Ramadan, Communications Manager Roche Diagnostics Middle East. 

Roche’s efforts towards female empowerment have seen great results, largely due to its commitment to providing ground-breaking training and development initiatives that encourage and empower ongoing skill development of both female and male employees, to push not only their own boundaries, but of science and technology as well. It also provides its female employees with other benefits that include equal pay policies, and up to six months in maternity leave- a commitment that is clearly working well for the company on both a regional and global level. Roche Diagnostics can now boast the distinction of the region’s preferred IVD partner, contributing to global sales growth of 6% in the company’s Diagnostics Division during the first nine months of 2015. 

Commenting on the importance Roche places on gender diversity and female empowerment, Moritz Hartmann, General Manager of Roche Diagnostics Middle East said, “At Roche Diagnostics, we believe that diversity of all kinds is a driver of innovation, helping create the best possible outcomes. As the global and regional leader in in-vitro diagnostics, even though we operate in a more traditional male-dominated STEM industry, we have been successful in attracting and retaining female talent within the workplace. Across the region almost 18% of our leadership roles are now occupied by females. This is because we take our commitment to gender equality and inclusion very seriously, further reinforced by our participation in WIL for our third year running.”

Communication with the industry is key in highlighting the opportunities for women within the STEM fields, and engaging with them about how they can make a difference, which helps to create a workplace environment that fosters a culture of teamwork and unity. Aside from traditional HR activities, a tool Roche Diagnostic has found vital for communication in aiding females (and males) looking to further their career in the gender diverse environment is LinkedIn. (LinkedIn: Roche Diagnostics Middle East).

Commenting on the company’s global standpoint Roche’s Senior Vice President & Global Head of Human Resources, Cristina Wilbur added, “In an industry that is often mislabeled as male-dominant, women are making outstanding progress in their careers- but the difference between men and women lies in how they tackle career opportunities moving forward. Women must believe in their ability to overcome the gap.”