STRIVING FOR BALANCE WITHIN AND BEYOND OUR FOUR WALLS

The first International Women’s Day was back in 1911. Almost 110 years on and we’ve made incredible progress in recognising and celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.

But it still feels like we have some way go.

According to the most recent CEW survey, only 2 out of 25 CEO appointments went to women in 2019. And if you crunch the numbers again, at this rate, gender equality among Australia's top chief executive ranks could be 80 years away.

With results like this in 2019, we need to do more than simply strive for balance, we need to be fighting the good fight for equality as business leaders, as men and women, and as organisations who are in a unique position to change the conversation, by going further faster. And we know we can do it!

As I reflect on the progress that’s been made during my own career, I’m incredibly motivated by what we’ve already achieved. In the last 20 years, the number of female leaders globally has doubled, and the significant social, economic, cultural and political contributions of women are more readily recognised and rewarded around the world.

While it’s important to recognise how far we’ve come, we still have a long way to go.

Achieving greater gender balance across the organisation and within leadership positions has been a key priority for Kellogg - not only because we know that diversity, gender or otherwise, drives business results. It drives creativity, debate and challenges the status quo.  It’s also representative of the consumer we serve – all of this can only lead to a thriving economy and thriving businesses.

And more than anything, it is the right thing to do.

As it stands today, I’m extremely proud of the progress that Kellogg’s Australia and New Zealand has made over the last decade in striving for equality. Currently, 45% of our senior positions are held by women and we recently appointed our first female Plant Director to run our Botany manufacturing plant - this was a milestone moment in our plant’s 100-year history. 

This commitment to strive for equality in our business was recently recognised through the WGEA citation as an Employer of Choice for Gender Equality (EOCGE), another milestone moment for our business.

This citation is the culmination of a lot of passion and commitment by the local and global team to develop and implement programmes and policies that were crafted with a deep understanding of how women experience the workplace, and then create the conditions required for women to develop and grow.

So how are we doing it?  

We recognise that women are the most likely to require extended periods off to have children and flexibility when they come back to work. Over the past couple of years, we have mainstreamed our flexible working policy to help women return to the workforce, so they don’t feel as though they need to choose between a career and a family. Leaning into flex working empowers our employees to work flexibly from home or adjust their work hours to accommodate all lifestyles.

We’ve also been on a journey the last 18 months strengthening our policies around parental leave and domestic violence. Our domestic violence policy offers 10 days paid family and domestic leave, EAP services as well as contact details for a range of external support services, and we work closely with employees to take advantage of flex working to best meet their situation.

The recently updated, parental leave policy has been extended to include 12 weeks pay for primary carer and four weeks for secondary carers; six months paid superannuation; and reflective of our commitment to stay connected with our employees paid ‘Keep in touch’ days’.

Outside of our employee programs, our brands are truly living and breathing gender equality and I’m super proud to see how we continue to build on this year after year.  

Earlier this year, Special K signed another three-year sponsorship deal with AFLW, extending our inaugural sponsorship. Nutri-Grain has signed Olympic BMX rider, Caroline Buchanan, who joins our other ambassadors like Iron women Georgia Miller to inspire young women to live life at full strength, with courage and determination. Nutri-Grain’s approach is reflected in the Nutri-Grain Iron man and women series’ equal prize money.

Sultana Bran sponsors Hockey One, a brand that shares our values of diversity, inclusion and equality. Gender equality is central to the Hockey One League, with equal male and female teams, equally billed on game day, and importantly, equal pay – all reasons why this partnership was the right fit for Kellogg.

On a personal note, this year, marks my 16th year at Kellogg’s. It goes without saying that I’m incredibly proud to work for a company that share many of the same values and whose founder, W. K. Kellogg, was a pioneer in employing women in the workplace. This has been and continues to be a priority for Kellogg’s worldwide and something that I feel particularly passionate about.

As a female leader, I get a lot of satisfaction out of participating and going to forums where I can hear and learn from others, and better understand how we can do more, faster, to close the gap. At Kellogg we are always striving to do better - why?

Because it’s the right thing to do, and I’m committed to continue to do more at Kellogg and driving the conversation in our industry to close the gender gap.