Daily CSR delivers the latest news and in-depth coverage about corporate social responsibility, ethics and sustainability. Bertin Environics CEO Kirsi Hedman was chosen among other women working for the group Bertin Technologies to represent and tell about the path of women in tech, as well as the experience of being the group’s leader of the CBRN business (Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear threats).
The full interview “Kirsi Hedman and Julie Gay, women in motion at Bertin Technologies ” is available from Daily CSR website, but below are some quotes referring to all the questions:
How would you define Bertin Technologies’ identity today, after the many changes it has undergone?
(…) It’s a technological and innovative company which is growing. It’s also an industrial company which has very interesting critical customer groups. We have very demanding customers requiring high technology products and solutions.
What challenges have you identified over the next few years, both for yourself and for your perimeter?
(…) I think the most important part of it, is human resources management. How we keep the talents we have now but also how we get new ones that are compatible with our aims, and also have the skills and mindset we need. (…)
How is Bertin Technologies coping with the gradual internationalization of its brand and customers?
It’s a French company but also an international one. I come from Environics, a Finnish company which is 37 years old and has been an international one from the beginning. 90% of Environics revenue has come from outside Finland for years. (…)
How would you define Bertin Technologies’ corporate culture?
Our corporate values are trust, skills, team spirit, and courage. I really feel that this is in place in the organization already. (…)
Gender diversity is a key issue in the technology sector. How did your vocation come about? How does gender diversity express itself within the company?
(…) If we have an open position, like a technical engineer position, we may have quickly 20 applicants but no more than 2 or 3 of them are female. (…)
Is being a woman engineer in a tech company today a non-issue, or is there still room for improvement?
(…) We do not have an equal amount of managers female and male because the organization does not have enough females. But I feel that who will be appointed as a manager or having a new role is not dependent on the gender. (…)