SELWN matches SEB’s commitment to women empowerment
KUCHING: Sarawak Energy Bhd ( SEB) has reaffirmed its commitment to women empowerment at its International Women’s Day ( IWD) 2019 celebration, recognising the importance of diversity and inclusion in the organisation.
According to SEB chief executive officer Datu Sharbini Suhaili, as the group aims to be a top- quartile energy company and energy powerhouse of the Asean region, having a balanced workforce is imperative towards achieving this vision.
“Our people underpin the delivery of this ambition and we need a balanced workforce that ref lects the communities that we operate in and the customers whom we service.
“This also ensures that the decisions we make are wellgrounded and include different perspectives for greater value creation.
“Human resources policies are helping to acquire, develop and deploy our female top talents. Our professional networking group, the Sarawak Energy Leading Women Network ( SELWN) complements this effort through its focus on developing and empowering these talents, so they can take up leadership roles. This is in line with the nation’s aim of increasing the representation of
Our people underpin the delivery of this ambition and we need a balanced workforce that reflects the communities that we operate in and the customers whom we service. Datu Sharbini Suhaili, SEB chief executive officer
women at the board and senior management levels,” he said in his speech for SEB’s IWD 2019 yesterday where SEB group chief operating officer Lu Yew Hung, and its executive vice-president (corporate services) Aisah Eden were also present.
The event featured a sape performance by Warisan Sape Telang Usan and also a forum on ‘ Malaysia Women in Energy’ ( MyWIE) recommendations from its first stakeholders workshop last year – ‘ Strategies and Best Practices for Attracting, Developing and Retaining Women in STEM ( Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) and Energy Sector in Malaysia’.
There was also a sharing session by Dr Wan Wardatul Amani Wan Salim, former principal investigator to NASA Small Satellite Project.
Aisah, who is also SELWN executive champion, said IWD 2019’s celebration theme was ‘ Innovate for Women – Think Equal, Build Smart, Innovate for Change’.
This, she said, focused on innovative ways in which gender equality and empowerment of women could be advanced.
“SELWN is aligning its objectives to the national 30- per cent target of women representation in band senior management team. Early this year, we hosted the 30 Per Cent Club Malaysia Chapter’s roundtable discussion – the first to be held in Sarawak – to engage with related groups from Sabah and Sarawak towards building the strong pipeline of women for leadership positions.
“In addition, we have also rolled out our mentor- mentee programme through which our women colleagues with potential receive one- to- one coaching and mentoring from senior management.
“Our initiatives are also aligned to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal No 5, on gender equality and women empowerment – and we plan on doing more,” she added.