The FINANCIAL — “Nowhere have women made larger strides in recent years than in the business world. Women chief executives, while still far short of the majority, are no longer unusual. Three of our top ten Power Women now run companies as chief executives; another is a chief financial officer,” reported Forbes.
In the Georgia of 21st century businesswomen go even further and prove to be valuable sources in politics. Rusudan Kervalishvili’s electing the MP of Georgian parliament is of the obvious examples in the recent history of the country. The founder of Center Point, one of the leading Georgian developers, is today in charge of solving political issues in the legislative body.
The list of female sex representatives holding top positions at the companies in Georgia is quite impressive: Nino Mansurashvili- Deputy Director of TBC Bank, Maka Ekizashvil- Head of Investor Relations at Bank of Georgia, Maya Meredova – Deputy General Manager of Procredit Bank Georgia, Sarah Williamson- Vice President of UGT, Amy Denman- Executive Director of American Chamber of Commerce in Georgia (AmCham), Rusudan Kervalishvili, the founder of Center Point, Maia Rcheulishvili, the founder of Center Point, Tamara Tiffani- Director of DÉCOR, Keti Kvartskhava- Keti Kvartskhava, a partner at the law office BLC (Business & Legal Consulting), Shorena Darchiashvili- Director of Tiflis Development, Mariam Sparsiashvili- Director of LOGOS, Rusudan Chergoleishvili- Director of Art-X, Eva Berger- General Manager of Austrian Airlines in Georgia, Nata Davitashvili- Director of HAMAKI (Authorised dealer of Apple), Tamar Megrelishvil- Director of Prospero’s Books, Eter Kokoladze- Director of Elit Electronics, Mzia Pkhaladze- General Manager of KENARI, Maya Svanidze, Head of Organizational Department of People’s Bank, Nino Chichua- Head of Marketing Department, Eka Baramidze-Head of Human Resources Management and General Administration Department of Standard Bank, Ana Nikoladze- Head of Central Outlet of Standard Bank.
Women resources turn to be demanded much, so that female staff are attracted by other companies and offered better salaries to work for them. Last week Lika Kapanadze, PR manger of Aversi pharmaceutical moved to Bagrationi wine company. She carries on her work at the same position but now with a new employer. Tika Abulashvili former Marketing Manager of Procredit Bank replaced Nata Shelegia, CARTU, who left the bank and was appointed Millennium Challenge Georgia’s PR Manager.
Today the revival of GWS, one of the oldest wine companies in Georgia lies in the hands of a woman. Ana Beriashvili is Operations Director of the company.
“I cannot speak for others, but I can give the example of myself. The announcement regarding the promotion of a lady to the post of operations director was received very well by the whole staff,” Beriashvili told The FINANCIAL.
According to Beriashvili, only professional features can result in success. Women can even be more successful than men.
Men and women should be placed in the same category and then the best should be chosen fairly. Such a decision is in the best interest of any business.
“My evaluation of women’s involvement in the wine business is very positive, I’m pretty sure that ladies have something particular, specific features, and these particularities can be well used for the sake of the company,” she added.
Today GWS stock is entirely owned by one of Pernod Ricard’s biggest unions – Pernod Ricard Europe.
“Women rather than men have abilities like: responsibility, eagerness, mobilization, a sense of organization and this helps them to achieve success,” Maia Rcheulishvili, founder of Center Point.
“If you take a look at Georgian business, the field is dominated by men. However, I do not think that women run business less successfully. To be a successful businesswoman you must possess intuition, intellect and risk ability,” she added.
“If a woman is seriously interested in business, she tries to strongly introduce her place in the field, she tries her best, is more mobilized and puts in all her efforts. Women want to achieve success in business to avoid the unfair assumption: “She’s a woman and that’s why the business wasn’t successful,” said Irma Daushvili, Director and Founder of company Dio.
Dio has been on the Georgian market for ten years already and owns the largest part of the market. Dio produces vertical and safety jalousies, and remote controlled gates for garages.
As the company claims, annual capital turnover is USD 1.5 million.
“Unlike men, women treat business differently, basically, for women business is the same as controlling the family budget. She is constantly making it more efficient. However, of course some men run the family budget and business better than a woman would,” she added.
As the director of Dio noted, the general lack of successful women in business today is because the woman has to choose either family or business. Most women – probably 90% – choose family, as it is the biggest priority for them and ultimately consumes all their efforts.
A successful business deal depends on many things. Psychological aspects are one of the most important factors. The visual part is also of high importance including such details as: what and how you wear things, taste, style, how you behave. These are also a priority.
Dialogue skills can be obtained from experience. In general, during a business deal it is important to protect your interests so that you do not abuse the interests of your partner.
“Although, the most important thing in business is honesty. When your partner sees that all contractual conditions are fulfilled precisely, your partner inspires confidence, which helps the business to develop,” said Daushvili.
As she explained, businesswomen need more time to achieve success than men. The first must prove that females can lead business as well as the stronger sex and that in this case gender difference doesn’t matter. 90% hard work and 10% luck are necessary to achieve success.
“When I began work I had only a diploma of university, today I am the owner of the company Dio and resort Nunisi, I also have a big family which is very important,” she added.
One of the leading oil companies- Wissol Petroleum Georgia’s Marketing Director is also a woman.
“In Georgia it is of course more difficult for women to succeed in a man’s business environment as men are almost always prejudiced about men’s and women’s jobs. However I believe that it depends on the person and not their gender, whether or not they will be successful,” Nino Dgvepadze, Wissol’s Marketing Director, told The FINANCIAL.
Wissol owns the largest network of service stations. Currently the company has over 100 licenses. 67 Wissol service stations will be in operation by the end of 2008 bringing enhanced convenience to its customers.
“Looking back at my career path, I know that the struggle with these prejudices was a real challenge for me on my way to the position of Marketing Director and helped me to develop the features of a real manager and professional. Of course, things are changing as the years pass and in the Georgian reality we have a great number of successful women executives. And of course it depends on the company’s top management and their vision as well. In our company there is a balance and we have several women heads on the board,” she added.
According to Dgvepadze, in recent years we have witnessed many women succeeding in the modern business environment and the tendency is becoming more and more tangible even in Georgia. All over the world we have an increasingly large number of companies that either have a female director or are seeking one.
In fact, researchers at one of leading research companies, Catalyst, which oversees the progress of executive women, claims to find a connection between the presence of women on boards and financial performance of the company.
The study showed that companies with at least three women directors on a board performs significantly better than average in terms of return on sales and return on equity as well as on invested capital. The examples of high-level executives leading successful companies and the global rankings of Most Powerful Women by Fortune magazine urges us to think that this claim is actually quite close to the truth.
“As for the advantages of women, I believe that their careful nature makes them the best motivators and they are very loyal to their companies. Women love to delegate and do it in a proper way. What’s more their intuition works in the company’s favour most of the time,” Wissol’s Marketing Director noted.
“I believe that permanent effort to improve and a passion to succeed are the most essential features on top of which a woman manager can build her carrier. Without flexibility and diplomacy it is difficult to succeed even for a very bright woman. I believe that the recipe for success for a businesswoman lies in striking the right balance between work and family life,” she added.
As Dgvepadze noted, the tendency “Woman in Business” felt all over the world is becoming more common in Georgia as well. After the disintegration of the Soviet Union and the change of lifestyle most men were desperate hence women had to find in themselves the power to survive and help their families.
This forced women to work and work harder to compete with male colleagues and a male oriented mentality. Many women started with low positions and then succeeded in their careers which caused the boom of female managers in business. In recent years the idea of businesswomen has been that of the feminist with man-like features but this vision is changing and the time of the feminine businesswoman is coming.
According to Nino Chichua, PR of People’s Bank, women have several advantages over men in this respect. They are the best listeners. They are not as quick-tempered or volatile as men. They are more careful than men. In other words, they can pick up details that men usually miss.
Women cooperate with their team-mates very well and are better motivators and multi-taskers. At home, they need to take care of their husband and children. In business, they need to accomplish their tasks and goals. They are more patient than men. But above all, women should always keep their femininity.
It is not necessarily easier for men to run a business successfully. It always depends on the individual, on the person’s capabilities and skills.
“Over 5,200 people are employed at People’s Bank. From which 3,200(62%) are women and 2,000 (38%)- men. Managers of departments are generally men, 65% of them are men and 35%- women,” Nino Chichua told The FINANCIAL.
Even construction, usually considered a male-dominated sphere, tends to be very successfully led by Georgian women. “In the 21st century women have become more and more active and more women are occupying managerial positions and thereby achieving success for the company or body they work for. Their lifestyle and purpose has changed from the central and age-old duty of caring for their families to – being involved in business. Women can be considered as successful as men,” Maia Rcheulishvili, founder of Center Point, one of the leading local developers, told The FINANCIAL
“Women rather than men have abilities like: responsibility, eagerness, mobilization, a sense of organization and this helps them to achieve success,” she added.
According to Rcheulishvili there are many women working in their company, in top management as well in the sales network. Women have been taking on a big responsibility recently in Georgia. Many of them have taken the responsibility to care for their families as well as being the family’s breadwinner. Furthermore many women have gone abroad to create a better future for their children and family.
Women and men have equal rights in business. It is important to have a good sense of business intuition in the sphere. You have to know who all the members of your company are as well.
“I am very happy because I have the best team at Center Point. I trust them and their ideas,” declared Rcheulishvili.
“I began my business in the 90s. First I had an air agency and an air company. At the end of the 90s, Rusudan Mkervalishvili and I began the new business Center Point which we are still running today. Center Point is one of the biggest companies in Georgia. A lot of people are employed by our company, which is a very important fact,” said Rcheulishvili.
In her words, when you begin a business how much you have is not important, but how valuable an idea you have, and how well you can plan business development. Trust and responsibility are the key points for business dealing. Thousands of people trust Center Point.
“Women are innovative and active in business. They have a stronger sense of manoeuvring in business. The woman factor has never got me into trouble,” Marina Shengelia, General Director of Ergoline Georgia, Representative Director of the German company ERGOLINE in Georgia.
Ergoline was the first solarium studio on the Georgian market. Annual turnover of Ergoline Georgia has increased by 20% according to Shengelia.
“Any woman can be as successful as is possible. If a woman chooses to pursue a certain goal, she usually succeeds. We have a multi-dimensional set up of mind and can think of many things from different angles and perspectives at a time, though if we set a specific target, then we know in what direction to move forward,” Maia Chikvanaia, Lukoil Georgia sales and marketing Director, told The FINANCIAL.
“I see many successful women of my generation holding leading positions in both the public and private sectors. So the trend is obvious: women are women and they do what they believe they have to do. We live in a society where a person is free to make decisions, so every man and every woman decides independently where to be and what to do,” she added.
According to Chikvanaia, historically, Georgian women are strong and their opinion has always made a difference. Gender discrimination and pressure was never an issue here.
Women are very talented and creative by nature all around the world and Georgia is no exception. There are many examples of women bringing fresh and innovative ideas when it comes to decision making and problem solving. Women have a very well developed intuition, a so called sixth sense that guides them and those around them.
Women are good at negotiating and can easily justify their opinions. It is often said that women’s strength is their weakness and she agrees with this formula. Doors are always open when a female enters the game. The environment becomes warm and friendly. Doing business turns out to be pleasant and easy for all parties involved.
“I have a very good example of Lukoil Georgia. Women’s role and their input are highly valued in our company. We provide stable and open career growth opportunities to everyone. Women are present in the Board of Directors at Lukoil. They also hold key managing positions such as Heads of HR and Financial Departments,” said Chikvanaia.
“On a lower level, you can see women in the capacity of the operators at our gas station network – even though it was considered to be a purely men’s occupation just a short while ago. The overall trend is changing and I think Georgian employers should pay more attention to gender balance and try to create a gender friendly working environment,” she added.
As Chikvanaia noted, gender balance is an issue wherever you go, even in western countries. I think that this is because women’s active reproach made was made a big deal of, so women and the fact of their gender are constantly called to attention.
Just recently she was reading a quarterly bulletin published by IFC’s Corporate Governance Project in Georgia and found an interesting piece of statistics relevant to women conversation. Companies run by women managers have better results, are more efficient and profitable.
The state is prioritizing the gender issue and has shifted it to the top of its agenda. UN and SIDA as international donors are implementing a project on gender policy in the South Caucasus in close cooperation with the Parliament of Georgia.
“I say a person needs to be motivated and committed to becoming successful. It takes a lot of time and effort to materialize your potential and apply the academic knowledge to practice whether you are a man or a woman,” said Chikvanaia.
“I personally believe that both men and women are given equal opportunities in life, though some people take their chances and others do not. Business just like any other sphere requires a great deal of determination and personal integrity. Noting is easy, especially if we talk about successful business in a country like Georgia, where the business environment is just being formed and Georgian businessmen are learning how to better operate within a competitive and growing market economy,” she added.
Men and women managers are faced with the same dilemmas when it comes to complying with internationally recognized rules and regulations, tax regime, lack of qualified personnel, modern technologies and access to information.
“Over 2,550 people are employed at TBC Bank, out of which there are 1,429 women and 1,121 men. At TBC bank all positions are shared equally between men and women. Many women are managers of a department,” Sopho Balavadze, PR of Bank of Georgia told The FINANCIAL.
According to the SME Support Project, the total number of employees of enterprises is 297,852, out of which 40.5% are women and 59.5% men.
The percent of employed women in Georgia in the different regions:
Tbilisi – 54.00%, Imereti – 11.2%, Kvemo Kartli – 8.0%, Adjara – 7.9%, Samegrelo-Zemo-Svaneti – 5.5%.
The percent of employed men in Georgia in the different regions:
Tbilisi – 56.3%, Imereti – 11.00%, Kvemo Kartli- 7.3%, Adjara – 7.2%, Samegrelo-Zemo-Svaneti – 6.1%.
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