Sii Power Women Community – a space for women in search of mutual support, inspiration and motivation
The community of women in Sii Poland is developing dynamically – Sii Power Women Community functions for almost 1000 women working at the company, organizing discussions, webinars and charity campaigns. The number of members still increases, and their engagement can be counted as one of the best among all of Sii Communities.
When in June 2020 Sii Poland launched remote teams of Sii Communities to facilitate the exchange of knowledge between the company’s employees and foster integration, no one expected that they would gain such popularity so quickly. Most of the communities are based on technological interests or shared passions, but among them there is one female group that stands out with the constant increase in the number of members and their engagement – Sii Power Women Community.
Where did the inspiration to create space for female development in an IT company come from?
– I work with women who are starting their careers, as well as with those who have an established position in high managerial positions. And despite the fact that at Sii all our employees, regardless of gender, are treated equally and have equal opportunities for development, for years I have seen how much we girls need each other – says Joanna Kucharska, CHRO at Sii Poland. – Mutual support and motivation bring out our potential. A strong women community will help both individuals and the company to develop, and our employees’ development is in the Sii’s mission. Sii Power Women Community acts on behalf of almost 1000 women in the organization. Its aim is integration, development through sharing knowledge during webinars, as well as inspiring discussions. As women go, there is no shortage of a channels for “secret”, informal talks on unusual challenges and special support – she adds.
From the very first days, the women’s community focused on supporting mutual development and the exchange of experiences. The first topics that appeared in the group concerned the presence of women in the IT sector, then it was time to create dedicated themed channels and plan the first webinars.
As Sii Power Women is not only about casual conversations over coffee, the next stage of community development was establishing the mission, goals and a list of initiatives that team members would like to undertake. In order to get to know each other better and start a discussion in smaller groups, local coordinators organized a series of meetings at Sii branches, during which the girls talked about what topics were important to them, what challenges await them every day and what they would like to get involved at the local and organizational level. The collected information made it possible to develop a common position and plan the development of the community.
The knowledge exchange is one of the most popular activities among the participants of the discussions. In addition to recommending valuable books or courses, during the 8 months since the community was established, 12 speakers conducted 8 internal webinars. Their topics varied from those concerning the place of humanities specialists in IT and reskilling, motivation, communication or discovering one’s strengths, to mentoring for mothers or the cult of beauty in today’s culture.
– I had the opportunity to conduct several webinars within the community, mainly on communication and mentoring. Webinars have always been a great opportunity for interesting discussions and exchange of views – these girls do not need to be encouraged to express their opinion! – says Aleksandra Kalbarczyk, Senior Training Specialist at Sii Poland. – I am glad that I am part of this community, because I feel that we can inspire each other with good energy. Thanks to Sii Power Women Community, I also have the feeling that I am surrounded by many valuable women from whom I can learn and whose support I can count on – she adds.
On the channel concerning non-work related topics, participants discuss their passion or other activities. It is also a space for exchanging views with other women and for conversations with enthusiasts of pets, art, cooking, gardening or physical activity. There is also a special channel for mothers within the community. This is where topics related to the special role of the parents are mentioned. Girls support each other, share questions, opinions, ideas.
Sii Power Women also means charity activities. In addition to supporting smaller initiatives, the female community has already had the first official volunteer project, organized in cooperation with the Ronald McDonald Foundation – Czapka od Serca. 10 Sii Power Women made almost 50 unique winter hats using crocheting techniques. They were auctioned at Allegro Charytatywni platform. The total sale amount – over 3 000 PLN – was transferred to Foundation’s account, supporting the construction of the Ronald McDonald House in Warsaw for the families of chronically ill children at the Pediatric Children’s Hospital of the Medical University of Warsaw.
What distinguishes Sii Power Women from other Sii Poland communities is openness to mutual inspiration, but also great engagement from the members. Each week there are several new, widely commented threads, and on a monthly basis, in the team at Microsoft Teams, the percentage of active users reaches 95%.
At Sii, we know that women are an important part of the IT world! If you want to see how Sii Power Women Community works in practice, join us!
