Embracing an Equitable Workplace: A Note from our Regional CEO

Every year, International Women's Day presents an opportunity for organizations to reflect on the progress made in the pursuit of gender equality – as well as the steps needed to ensure that all employees are empowered and able to fully participate in the workplace.

This is where the integral ‘E’ in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) comes in.

While equity is often used interchangeably with equality, it is a distinct pillar to closing the gender gap. It is the process of ensuring fairness through strategies and measures that compensate for historical and social disadvantages that prevent women and men from operating on a level playing field.

So how does this translate into the workplace?

Equity benefits everyone by balancing expectations and empowering individuals to reach their full potential. On an organizational level, research shows that workplaces that excel in DE&I drive better outcomes for businesses, including better employee engagement, talent retention and higher financial achievements.

At Samsung, we measure equity by fair treatment, access and advancement for each person in our organization. The global scale of our organization makes it even more important to ensure these practices are effective across our regional and global offices. This means taking into consideration the broader socio-economic and cultural contexts that shape and inform our lives at work and outside of it.

While the values of DE&I have been implemented across all levels of our organization, genuine inclusion of such nuances is an ongoing process that we continue to iterate every year as an organization. Our Employee Resource Groups play a key role in providing our diverse workforce with a platform to share their experiences, voice their concerns and find community within our organization. They provide an avenue for deeper conversations generated by our ongoing initiatives that train employees to recognize systemic issues like unconscious bias and microaggressions in the workplace.

As an organization, we have also made commitments towards fair career progression, and steadily achieved more balanced gender representation in our leadership and broader working teams. Around the world, we continue to roll out policies that support parents, enable people with disabilities, equip women with STEM skills and more, while our numerous cross-border collaboration projects are helping transform perceived barriers of race and culture within our subsidiaries into opportunities for innovation.

Ultimately, while policies and commitments are critical, honoring the role of equity in gender balance begins at the individual level. As this month of commemoration ends, I encourage leaders and employees at Samsung, in our industry and beyond to cultivate genuine empathy and curiosity for the experience of our fellow co-workers. Let us foster change by being the change, and embrace an equitable workplace for all.

Sangho Jo

President & CEO

Samsung Southeast Asia & Oceania (SEAO)