Corporate Practices: Investor AB to promote women’s careers at all levels, including boards

Pro-active policy to recruit women. “This is a key issue. Something must be done to improve, in the end, the number of female leaders” declared Investor AB’s VP, Börje Ekholm, in 2006. This policy, directly commanded by Jacob Wallenberg, is now implemented throughout the professional career within the company. Thus, during recruitment procedures, it is imposed that there should be at least one female applicant, which puts a lot of pressure on recruitment firms. Besides, all managers, including Börje Ekholm, have a pay bonus called “equality bonus” (jämställdhetsbonus) depending on the number of women hired for positions of responsibility over the year. Then, human resources took steps to improve work-life balance, notably via easier access to many services such as childcare or cleaning work. More flexible working arrangements also exist, with more flexible working hours or the possibility to partly work from home. These provisions are valid for all employees. Human resources also listed women working in the company to make up a tank of potentials to draw from for positions of business manager or board member.