Within the framework of the V Women's Energy Club Forum that was held at KAZENERGY week in Nur-Sultan, industry professionals raised the issue of gender balance in the energy industry. Today, almost a quarter of TCO employees are women. At the same time, over the past 10 years, the number of women leadership positions has increased from 14% in 2011 to 21% in 2021, including three TCO General Managers. It should be noted that two of them took part in the V Women's Energy Club Forum, where they delivered reports on TCO achievements. They are Zamzagul Bekova, TCO General Manager of the Finance Department, and Kamshat Baizhanova, TCO General Manager of the Human Resources Department.
Diversity and inclusion are core values at TCO. Each employee makes significant contributions to the company’s achievements due to their diverse backgrounds, ethnicity, gender, age, education and socioeconomic status, religious and political beliefs, and personal qualities.
Even though the majority of oil and gas workers are usually male, TCO is convinced that the concept of “successful leadership” does not imply a specific gender, but rather it depends on the professional qualities of a person, the necessary skills, technical competencies, and leadership skills. Therefore, TCO pays special attention to nurturing a strong inclusive culture and developing human resources, despite any differences.
Each employee has an opportunity to advance their skills according to their talents and professional interests. Across the 10 departments within the company, 6 of them have over 50% of female employees. TCO’s Strategic Planning and Analysis Team holds the
outstanding record of 86% of the staff being female employees. At the same time, women and men in similar positions have equal salaries, and career opportunities are open to all.
In addition, the company has implemented conditions that help enable employees who have children, to be successful in the workplace, for example providing a kindergarten, organizing children's recreation, and helping to obtain higher education for the children - this is more than a social package. If you help mothers to solve these everyday challenges, they will begin to develop in different aspects, which means that the increasing number of women leaders is the result of support from both company and society.
As HR General Manager Kamshat Baizhanova noted within the framework of the Women's Energy Club Forum: “The definition of “Leadership” has changed over the past few years. Previously, we perceived leadership as achieving goals and objectives, and effectively resolving problems. Nowadays, leadership has a different meaning. It is more about the ability to inspire the team, while acting with the right values, and leading by example. Women and men can complement each other in the workplace and this balance of unique perspectives and approaches is what will make our company successful now and into the future".
