The Beautiful Six Hundred Club: what a woman can do

The idea of a women’s club as a ladies’ gathering, where only cutting and sewing, parenting or cooking recipes are on the agenda, has long been outdated. Women involved in production and public life are ready not only to discuss, but also to take on planning tasks, managerial decision-making and responsibility for them, and issues of competition in the profession. It is no coincidence that the gender aspect dominates today in the global ESG agenda, its Governance category – corporate governance.

It was with this goal in mind – to unite the company’s employees to strengthen the role of women and expand their opportunities in production – that the Women’s Club was created in AlES JSC in 2022. The club brought together about 600 employees of the company. But there is potential for growth.

It is clear that not all of them, due to their workload, visit it regularly, but they unequivocally support the stated tasks of the Women’s Club and try not to miss its meetings as much as possible.

Among the relevant areas of the club’s work are: discussing the problems of women’s society in the workplace and developing rational solutions, and their implementation; promoting the development of women’s initiatives in the workplace; stimulating gender equality through effective planning, recruitment and career development of personnel; creating a single platform for rallying employees of the company.

The next meeting of the club was held at the end of March at the B.Orazbayev CHP-1. The first issue on the agenda was the discussion of the results of the work over the past period and plans for the current one. Daria Shayzhanova, Head of the Corporate Development and Risk Department of the company, recalled what had been done.

Thus, during the previous meetings, such issues as the experience of promoting equal opportunities in AlES JSC; the image of a business person; gender equality; the ability to set goals and achieve results; women’s leadership – the way to Inspiration and Influence were discussed and analyzed.

As a rule, meetings are held at different production departments, so meetings are often combined with familiarization of these facilities. This allows colleagues from other departments to learn more about the specifics of production and better understand working conditions.

The topics of society and everyday life are not ignored by the Women’s Club. At previous meetings, the speaker noted, the topics of child rearing and the practice of using paramedicine in everyday life were discussed. There were also actions, for example, “16 days against domestic violence”.

– The Women’s Club is a wonderful initiative that allows women to work together, share experiences, learn new things and develop as professionals, – says Dina Abd-magit, process engineer of the Workshop for Commissioning and Environmental Protection of CHP-1im. B.Orazbayeva. – Participation in the event at CHP-1 was very interesting and informative. Such meetings not only help to strengthen the team, but also help each participant to reach their potential. I thank the organizers for such a wonderful event, I hope for further cooperation and development of the women’s community in our company!

Practical issues were also discussed at the March meeting. Such a seemingly simple topic: “Feedback: how to give and receive it correctly” is of great practical importance. Knowledge of the issue and practice contribute to improving communications, strengthening the business climate in the team. However, these skills can also be useful in everyday life. The principles of feedback: TIMELINESS; ACCURACY AND DIRECTNESS; PRAISE; CONFIDENTIALITY, as well as the “Hamburger Method” will certainly be useful to all members of the Sorority in practice.

At the meeting of the club, its participants discussed the topical topic of “Zero tolerance” – about the negative reaction of society to any offenses, and also watched the presentation of the Book Club “Knigovarka”, which was established in January this year.

However, many active members of the women’s reading club have already joined it. In a short time, five meetings of the “Bookmaker” have already taken place, where amazing literary works were discussed.

For those who participated in the Women’s Club meeting for the first time, it became a new interesting form of useful communication. For example, Aisulu Irzhanova, chief specialist of the Department of Industrial Safety and Labor Protection, enthusiastically received information about the Book Club. “I think this will have a positive impact on the overall culture in the team! I really like to read myself,” she says. – But young people now practically do not read books. It is necessary to expand and involve more colleagues, especially young ones!”

Ular Ryskulova, a laboratory assistant for chemical analysis at the Plant for Commissioning and Environmental Protection of A.Zhakutov CHPP-2, added that after the meeting she was also interested in reading fiction and learned a lot of useful things. “It is a very good idea to create a Women’s club in AlES, she believes, since women play a big role in our production.”

– Despite the different ages of the club members, the topics raised at the meeting were relevant for everyone. After the Women’s Club, I was impressed for a long time. There was a lot of useful and interesting information, – Olga Serova, design engineer of the repair service of CHP-3, shares her impressions. – I liked the presentation “Woman. Time. Space”, where they learned useful information about how to arrange their everyday life, how to communicate with colleagues. What the workplace should look like. I hope for further participation in the Women’s Club.”

Anastasia Bykova, an economist at CHP-3, participated in the club’s work for the second time. She notes that the topics that are chosen for discussion are quite interesting and really important for real life. “Everything is told and explained accurately, clearly and briefly, without overloading unnecessary information,” she notes. – I liked the mini-scene and the discussion on the “Hamburger Principle”. It was interesting to hear how other people shared their stories on conflict resolution. From each story, one could draw a certain conclusion for oneself. We also shared life hacks to optimize our time. Which was very interesting, and I took note of a couple of life hacks.”

Gulnur Mukazhanova, a toolmaker at B.Orazbayev CHP-1, notes that relevant, useful topics for women were touched upon at the meeting, it turned out to be instructive and interesting. “Everything went in one go,” she concludes.

And Venera Desyatnikova, an electrician for the repair and maintenance of automation and measuring instruments of power plants at Energoremont, stressed that the useful information received would be useful both in everyday life and in building relationships.

– It’s quite informative, – says Galina Zabolotskaya, an economist at Kapshagai HPP named after Sh.Chokina. – I am very interested in psychological trainings, where “models” of relationships are built both in the team and in the family. Useful information was on the last Women’s Club. In addition to my experience, I have learned something else that is necessary and useful.

“This time the meeting was super interesting and informative,” concludes Akerke Orazova, a training engineer at B.Orazbayev CHP-1. – As a young specialist, I admire the thinking of the female half of our company. I would like to learn a lot from them.

And the topics of zero tolerance and feedback were new to me, since I had not heard about them before. Such meetings are necessary for our development. I also joined a Book club. I think it will be interesting for me to exchange thoughts with the beautiful and intelligent women of our company…”