Timeline Equipped Corporate Trainers to Advance Gender Inclusion in the Workplace

On July 20, 2024, Timeline Consultancy, at the invitation of UN Women and Guangdong Textile Association, provided two training sessions in Foshan, Guangdong, as part of the first training of trainers (TOT). The sessions focused on “Enhancing Personal Influence in the Workplace through Effective Communication” and “Representing Workers to Communicate with Management Effectively”. This TOT training is a crucial component of UN Women’s “Women in Motion” program for creating gender-inclusive workplaces.

The training program is designed to cultivate a group of internal trainers within the textile industry who can lead professional development initiatives for women. This effort aims to enhance employment prospects and career advancement opportunities for the significant number of female employees in these companies. Over 60 participants from 30 textile enterprises took part in this training.

The Timeline team facilitated interactive training sessions to explain and practice the core content of two training courses, highlighting the characteristics, methods, and techniques applicable in a corporate environment. Throughout the sessions, participants exhibited a strong enthusiasm for learning and actively engaged in the process. Their early arrival at the training venue, eagerness to ask questions, willingness to volunteer for role-plays, and genuine sharing of experiences and insights demonstrated their significant potential to conduct similar training for a wider audience of female employees in their respective companies.

(All photos credit: Xuedi Xie and Zhiyi Lai from UN Women)

Since its inception, Timeline Consultancy has focused on capacity building for women’s career development, witnessing the growth of numerous corporate managers, workers, and worker representatives over the past two decades. During this training, we clearly observed the strong desire among managers and workers in Guangdong to learn, grow, and progress, accompanied by their vibrant, enthusiastic, and positive attitudes.

Guangdong Province is a major manufacturing province and a hub for the textile and apparel industry. We aspire for the “Women in Motion” project to thrive and yield significant results within Guangdong’s textile enterprises, supported by the engagement and collaboration of all stakeholders involved.