Page 14 - Public Gaming International September/October 2017

INTERVIEWS Stéphane

PALLEZ

PUBLIC GAMING President & Chief Executive Officer, Française des Jeux,

1st Vice President of EL Executive Committee and WLA
Executive Committee Member

Equal Opportunity for Women
It’s not just a matter of fairness. It is also good business.

PGRI Introduction: Paul Jason: A recent United Nations report indicates
How does business culture affect the progress that based on current trends, equality of pay
Stéphane Pallez began her career at towards a work-place that has equal between men and women will not be reached
the French Treasury Department and opportunity and pay for women? And has it until … 2069! I think we can all agree that
was Deputy Director at the board of changed over the last twenty years? is not an acceptable rate of progress!
the World Bank in Washington. She
held different positions in the French Stéphane Pallez: You pointed out that it is not just about fairness
Treasury including Insurance Super- This issue has a personal focus for me because to women.
vision and Regulation, monitoring of I have always challenged the status quo and
State-owned companies and served pressed leaders to create a work environment Stéphane Pallez:
as Head of the European and Inter- that promises equal opportunity and pay for Talent, creativity, hard work, and ambition
national Affairs. In 2004, she joined everyone. My own career has placed me in should be rewarded equally for women and
France Telecom-Orange as Deputy a good position to watch during my whole men. The fact that equality of opportunity
CFO. In July 2011, she became professional life how it has evolved. And yes, and compensation is the right thing to do is
President and CEO of CCR (Caisse of course there has been significant progress itself enough reason for embracing the cause.
Centrale de Réassurance). and positive change. The other reason, though, is that businesses
There is now at least a high awareness of want and need to leverage all their resources.
the importance of the issue of gender equal- There is probably no more vital goal than to
ity in the work-place. There is recognition optimize the full capacity of human resources.
that business culture must evolve to be Insofar as the talent and productive capac-
more inclusive and enabling for women to ity of women are not applied to the fullest
apply their talent and energies to accom- potential, that represents a loss for society
plish the enterprise objectives, to assume and an under-utilized asset for businesses
In 2014, she was appointed to Pres- more responsibility based on their abilities, and growth.
ident-Director General of Française and to be rewarded for their contributions
des Jeux where she is now leading to the corporate mission. It’s clear that the CEOs and business leaders might be more likely
the digital transformation of the sec- capabilities of women are still under-utilized to take decisive action and show real leader-
ond largest lottery in Europe. which means there is a positive opportunity ship when they recognize gender equality as an
for companies to tap into this asset for the opportunity to improve business performance.
Stéphane Pallez, Rebecca Hargrove benefit of all stakeholders. This recognition
and their colleagues around the world is itself an important sign of progress, and a Stéphane Pallez:
created Women’s Initiative in Lottery prerequisite for more substantial change. Creating a fair and just work-place for every-
Leadership as an organization to But we are not where we should be. It will one does coincide with the goal of optimizing
empower women and promote take even more deliberate and outspoken enterprise performance.
equal opportunity in the work-place. leadership to correct this imbalance. There That’s when corporate culture will evolve,
are still huge differences in pay, for instance. become genuinely blind to differences in

14 // PUBLIC GAMING INTERNATIONAL // SEPTEMBER /OCTOBER 2017