Robert van der Eijk

06 Jul 2020

Robert van der Eijk, who is the Capgemini Invent Leader at Belgium and Luxembourg, was appointed as a Jury Member in the admission committee of Women on Board, Belgium. In a candid chat with him we learnt about the committee, his role, responsibilities and long-term goals at Women on Board.

Tell us something about Women on Board?

The initiative Women on Board is a non-profit association dedicated to promote female access to directorship roles within Belgian Enterprises. The association primarily works to train and sponsor women who are potential executives on board level.

Tell us more about your role in committee?

As a juror, I evaluate candidates, make assessments of the different profiles and recommend them to companies seeking to strengthen their board with female representation. If required, the jury members also chart out a training plan for the potential candidates to help them upskill and re-evaluate these profiles every few months for opportunities.

What is your vision for the committee?

This committee exists for years now and has evolved from a very small club to a reputed insitution. The association has grown from strength to strength with its key focus on diversity and inclusion. We seek to become a recognized organization for promoting the thought behind ‘Women on Board’ and help more companies find women board members as per their specific requirements.

What difference are you planning to make as a part of the committee?

I seek to be consistent with our plan to include more and more women to the workplace. I will be working very closely with the potential women board members to mentor them to take on new, challenging roles and train them with digital tools as we constantly evolve from ‘physical’ to ‘digital’

How are the roles for women changing in the corporate world?

The role of women in the corporate world is changing tremendously. The companies are moving away from having women on board only because of ‘quotas’ and are now recognizing the skillset and quality women bring to the table. We are truly seeing a revolution as more and more women enter the professional world and take on leadership roles. We are also seeing a surge in the number of younger women holding critical positions in the leadership and board teams across companies.

How important is gender diversity for an organization’s success?

An inclusive workplace is very fruitful to an organization’s growth and success as it exposes the organization to different cultures, insights and perspective. A woman’s view is different from a man’s view and enables the organization to think differently to connect with larger audiences.

How has Covid-19 impacted the working ways at WoB?

We have transitioned and moved into a total virtual set-up. We have switched to safer online practices and are now conducting virtual events and workshops. The meetings have become short and to the point and the women enrolled with us are evolving digitally each day to adapt to the current times.