Volkswagen Group: Inspiring The Next Generation Of Women At CDX17
April 28, 2017 by Volkswagen Group UKMilton Keynes, 28 April 2017: The Volkswagen Group will be the main sponsor of the UK Automotive 30% Club Inspiring Automotive Women event, one of the highlights of the CDX17 event which takes place at Silverstone on 23 May 2017. Brought to Silverstone by UK Automotive 30% Club Founder Julia Muir for the second year, Inspiring Automotive Women highlights the careers available in the motor industry, through keynote speeches, a careers fair for 100 female students from up to ten secondary schools, and speed networking. Human Resources Director of the Volkswagen Group UK, which encompasses the Volkswagen Passenger Cars, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Audi, SEAT and ŠKODA brands and employees over 900 people in the UK, of which 42 per cent are women, explains: 'When an organisation has a truly diverse workforce, it's more innovative, better at responding to customer needs and ultimately more successful. We at the Volkswagen Group are working hard to increase the diversity within our workforce and believe the business case for this is clear. 'We want to encourage girls to start thinking about careers in the motor industry at a far earlier stage, which is why connecting with schools at CDX17 is a great opportunity. As well as those attracted by the 'traditional' technical roles, we need to reach out to young women who might be considering moving into retail, digital, customer service or sales, and make them think about automotive.' The event is an important part of the 'reach out' phase of the UK Automotive 30% Club's '30 by 30' strategy. The organiser of the event Julia Muir, Founder of the UK Automotive 30% Club and CEO of Gaia Innovation – an organisation which builds positive relationships between employers, universities and schools – explains: 'The Automotive 30% Club is a voluntary group of progressive motor industry CEOs and MDs who are taking action to achieve a better gender balance in their organisations. The club has an aspirational aim to fill 30% of key leadership positions with women by 2030 - the '30 by 30' strategy - and this includes initiatives to attract more women to join the industry. Through sponsoring this event, the Volkswagen Group is enabling the club to reach out to 100 girls on behalf of the wider automotive industry and inspire them to seek careers in the sector by informing them about the huge variety of rewarding roles we can offer.' Sponsoring the event at Silverstone is just one part of the Volkswagen Group's strategy and efforts to boost diversity within its organisation. As well as encouraging and inspiring young women to consider careers in the Volkswagen Group, both from schools, colleges and through apprenticeships, the Group is also developing women to take on more senior roles in future, and keeping employees within the organisation, for example following maternity leave and as their careers progress through different life stages. In February it held a 'Day in their Shoes' event to update employees on the various parts of the organisation's diversity agenda and a number of other initiatives will be rolled out on an ongoing basis. Burnett concludes: 'No single event can be the solution as culture change doesn't happen overnight. But we'll continue to strive to bring better balance into our business, ensuring fairness and rigour at all times, and look forward to building an organisation which is fit for the future.'
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For more information or to register for CDX17 at Silverstone, please visit http://cardealerexpo.co.uk/ For more details on careers in the Volkswagen Group, go to http://vwgcareers.co.uk/
