Member Article

A fair share for fair work is the pathway to advancing gender equality

By Stacey Kennedy, President South & Southeast Asia, Philip Morris International (PMI)

How to make progress on equality and improve gender balance in the workplace? This is a question we asked ourselves some years ago at PMI when we realized that to transform our company, we would need inclusion of diverse creativity, leadership and strategic thinking to accomplish our vision of a smoke-free world. It’s a journey, and it began with two principles: 1) We confirm the basics of creating a workplace based on equality; and (2) We involve men to do that, because men are part of the solution, not the problem. This helps to assure everyone gets what I like to call a “fair share.”

My grandparents were sharecroppers during the great depression in the U.S. They literally farmed the land for a share of the crop. It was a fair system, allowing them to save and buy land. When it came to dispersal, both land and equity were divided equally between their sons and daughters, because they all worked the land. A fair share for fair work – this principle has been important to me as I’ve advanced in my career and is of particular resonance today at PMI.

As the recent report from the World Economic Forum states, it will take 202 years to close the gender pay gap. This is made up of two separate issues: One is unequal pay for equal work. The other is the difference between the aggregate average pay for women and men. The latter may be in part caused by unequal pay for equal work, but the bigger contributor is the underrepresentation of women in higher paid industries, functions and senior roles.

There are no silver bullets to achieving gender balance. Progressing gender equality and increasing gender balance is influenced by numerous interconnected and complex factors: psychological bias towards ‘masculine archetypes’ of leadership, cultural gender norms and societal expectations around child care, ways of working, access to networks, sponsors and education, and visibility of role models in non-gender traditional roles. But, we have to start somewhere. We decided that starting with an equal pay certification was the right first step. We decided to undergo the process to become globally EQUAL-SALARY certified by independent, not-for-profit EQUAL-SALARY Foundation. This practical tool for confirming the basics validates that we pay women and men equally for equal work everywhere we operate. And the process to become EQUAL-SALARY certified actually helped us to bring awareness and transparency on many of these more complex topics – in areas of recruitment, promotion and retention- and once identified, action plans to improve were put in place.

PMI has always had a strong commitment to equality, fairness and respect in the workplace. And as we transform our business to become a science and technology leader in innovative, electronic-based smoke-free products, we’re geared toward improving our gender balance and increasing diversity as a strategic priority. Numerous studies show that gender balanced, diverse teams, supported by an inclusive environment, outperform homogenous teams. These sorts of organizations will also be more competitive in attracting the best talent from the widest pool. So, remembering that women are half the talent pool is an important reason for prioritizing gender balance as a first priority. Apart from it being the right thing to do, the business benefits of diversity resonate at PMI now more than ever as we strive to deliver on our smoke-free vision. Getting EQUAL-SALARY certified is just one step in the process. Arguably the bigger challenge and more important outcome for our company, and others like us, is about attaining more and equal representation of women in senior positions. The complex challenges I mentioned previously must be tackled in the next phase of our journey, if we are improve our gender balance and impact our business transformation.

That’s why on International Women’s Day this year, we flipped the script at PMI by organizing a conference to engage our male colleagues around everyone having their “fair share.” Many men were surprised to learn of the many unconscious biases that women face and simple practices that impact on women’s inclusion in more senior roles were identified: (i) Instead of making assumptions during talent reviews about a woman’s career aspirations or her ability to move for a higher position – just ask her. Direct and open conversations are key to advancing female talents. (ii) Be aware of the practice of talking over women in decision-making, and instead give a “fair share” of air time and listen to their voices and ideas. That assumes women are present in those meetings to begin with. So how do we get more women into those meetings? The answer is simple: invite them. Every important meeting to discuss ideas and take decisions should include a gender-balanced group.

That’s something we’ve been doing in our management meetings in South and Southeast Asia, where I am the only woman on the management team. We recently started inviting women (on a rotating basis) who report to a member of the management team. I’m delighted to see that this is not only bringing more diversity of thought to our discussions – it’s also providing enriching development opportunities for our female talents.

At PMI, we’ve set ourselves the goal to increase the representation of women in management roles to at least 40% by 2022. With men holding 65% of all management roles at PMI today, and as one of only two women in our senior leadership team, I know there’s still more work to do. I’m incredibly proud to be a part of a Company and culture where both men and women realize that this is a business imperative. And we’re all really proud of our global EQUAL-SALARY certification, which is just the beginning, with much more to come.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Philip Morris International .