News
The reverse mentoring workshop at SKEMA Lille.
SKEMA Alumni, the Women & Business Chair, SKEMA Ventures and Force Femmes held the Force Femmes association's first reverse mentoring workshop for women entrepreneurs on 5 February 2019 in the convivial Kcenter! (album)
Reverse mentoring is about having the younger generation coach and support their elders. This practice is gaining popularity in companies. It helps to see situations and problems differently.
For this workshop we welcomed four women entrepreneurs, who received mentoring and coaching throughout the afternoon from three of our students and five of our alumni.
These women entrepreneurs are developing their ventures with the help of the Forces Femmes association. This non-profit organisation focuses on assisting women over the age of 45 with starting their own business or returning to the workforce. Very little research is devoted to business creation by women over 45. INSEE[1] data tells us that in 2016 40% of sole trader businesses were started by women. These business creations are mainly in a few sectors such as health, social welfare and household services. Figures show that the average age of entrepreneurs starting businesses in France is about 36. Yet women over 45 who start businesses remain invisible. Even abroad, there are very few studies covering this specific subset of entrepreneurs. They really are invisible. As such, there are quite a few avenues for research to explore. The change in demographics in our Western countries with an ageing workforce, longer working lives due to a higher retirement age, but also the fact that some pensioners need to supplement their income are all factors that will most likely encourage business creation by older workers and, in particular, by women. This seems like a very pertinent topic for our times and certainly one that should be examined more closely.
The aim of the type of workshop we organised is to draw attention to these entrepreneurs and show their contributions and the importance of their ventures. Throughout the afternoon time slots were devoted to pitching, presenting business ideas, giving personalised advise, discussing and exchanging points of view. At the end of this jam-packed programme, each of the entrepreneurs presented her venture again, with a new development angle.
Over the course of the afternoon were held 3 mentoring sessions in groups of three, focused on giving support and advice. These sessions were punctuated by plenary discussions to hear expert advice from our alumni, whom we thank! Alex Sauvage SK 1988, formerly the founder of Croissance Directe, now Partner at Interface Entreprises, Laurent Varjacques, SK 2008, Chartered Accountant at Sogedex, Eric Delobel SK 2011, Co-founder of Take a chance, Justine Thiriez-Rebold SK 2011, Managing Partner at LEMON Interactive, Tanguy Dubly SK 2010, lawyer at Bignon Lebray.
The outside perspective and advice our expert alumni and students gave to the entrepreneurs enabled them to draw up an action plan to implement in the short term, and leave with the energy boost and objectivity they needed to grow, or in some cases reposition, their business!
All of the mentors and coaches took these business creators’ high level of expertise, the quality of their offering and the huge potential of their project up another notch.
It would seem that the entrepreneurial women very much enjoyed the experience. Here is what one of them had to say:
“Alternating between experts and students was very interesting, the different personalities, my own presentation which evolved as the afternoon wore on, the highly concrete suggestions of each of the generations and the experiences of the experts and students, who didn’t mince their words or hold back. I didn’t hear: why aren’t you doing this, and why aren’t you doing that! Instead I heard, you could do this or that with this specific tool, with this supplier for example, and to me it was a real revelation to be able to move forward and, I hope, gain real visibility. It’s so nice to meet people who want to help you rise!” - Brigitte
It’s very likely that this experience will be repeated next year. Thank you to all our participants
Remember, SKEMA Ventures is at the disposal of alumni and students who are getting a venture off the ground, and the SKEMA Alumni Career Service is there to help alumni who are considering starting their own business.
The next two events organised by SKEMA’s Women & Business Chair will be on:
- 5 March on the Sophia Antipolis campus: "Management and equality workshop: the keys for taking action"
- 11 March on the Lille campus: "Communication without sexism workshop"
