Image: (IFC) NCS Human Resources Manger Violet Aopi.
Papua New Guinea’s largest catering and camp management company, NCS, has become the first company in the Pacific to be awarded the leading global assessment and business certification for gender equality – EDGE, the Economic Dividends for Gender Equality – backed by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
NCS, now joins 12 other organizations in the East Asia Pacific region to be awarded the EDGE gender certification.
The EDGE gender certification evaluates companies’ workplace gender equality performance, against global and industry benchmarks. It provides a competitive advantage by positioning a company or organization as a gender equal environment to work in, invest in, and do business with. EDGE is currently working with nearly 200 organizations, in 50 countries, and 23 industries.
NCS employs 680 women in a workforce of 1300. Through the EDGE gender assessment process, and with support from the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, NCS has actively pursued employing and promoting women in its workforce, through measures such as sending high-potential female staff to leadership training, and setting up an in-house mentoring program. The company has also systematically worked on building a culture that values women as equals. NCS has also benefitted from implementing a policy on family and sexual violence in the workplace to help its staff, reduce absenteeism, and improve productivity.
“I could see how the EDGE gender certification and our work with IFC on gender-smart initiatives would help our female staff, especially those impacted by violence,” said John Gethin-Jones, former Managing Director of NCS and now Chief Executive Officer of its parent company, Anitua.“As a business, we gained the added bonus of benefiting from a workplace where all staff are viewed as equal so we now have a more productive, engaged, loyal, and skilled team.
“Gender equality is without a doubt a win-win for both our staff and business.”
IFC’s Country Manager for the Pacific, Thomas Jacobs said:“NCS now stands out as an employer of choice for women. We hope more companies will discover the strength of the business case for greater gender equality in the workplace,
“There’s no doubt that companies can deliver greater business impact and be more competitive by fostering an equitable and inclusive workplace for women and men.”
IFC’s work in PNG is supported by the Australian and New Zealand Governments under the Papua New Guinea Partnership (PNGP).
SOURCE: International Finance Corporation
