As a woman and a leader, I know the importance of building a workplace culture where everyone feels that they can thrive.
At Kyowa Kirin International (KKI), we take pride in our encouraging and inclusive ethos, where all individuals are given the support and inspiration they need to achieve their career goals.
Together with my colleagues, Emilie Bugeat Toussaint, Emmanuèle Claeys and Roswitha Reisinger, here we reflect on our collective experiences as female leaders within KKI.
Value of INSEAD
The right training is vital to gain the skills needed to be a successful leader.
As part of KKI’s commitment to a people-first culture, Emilie and I were fortunate enough to attend a course at the world-leading business school, Institut Européen d’Administration des Affaires (INSEAD).
Spending time alongside 40 amazing female leaders from various industries reminded me just how important peer-to-peer support is when facing the challenges of being a woman in the workplace.
As Emilie reflected: “I went in sceptically but emerged inspired after a fantastic programme where women talked honestly about business in a clear, non-judgemental way.”
My INSEAD experience also goes far beyond the course itself. As essential as the training was, I’m lucky now to have a network of women around the world I can both support and learn from anytime and anywhere.
Enabling women at work
At KKI, we are dedicated to creating a culture where all team members flourish.
Roswitha elaborates: “You can hire a lot of women, but it is the environment that allows them to succeed.” This sums up our approach perfectly.
It is why gender equity is a business priority, with the goal to help more women progress into leadership positions.
Emmanuèle notes that ’KKI’s commitment to empowering each and every employee to take ownership of their careers is astounding.’
As part of our commitment to create a truly inclusive workplace culture, we offer flexibility for women to drive their careers and achieve a healthy work-life balance. Allies who recognise the value of empowering women have been vital in making these changes.
Indeed, there’s no pressure to behave ‘like men’ at work, instead we celebrate the unique skills, traits and perspectives women can bring to leadership.
Today, we are seeing greater diversity across our leadership team. Unusually, but promisingly for the industry, the majority of our General Managers (who are responsible for leading KKI’s country sites) are now female.
Driving inclusion across industry
By providing female leaders with the role models and training they need, underpinned by proactive HR policies, I believe we have a blueprint to drive inclusion across the industry.
Together, we can create the optimal environment for people from all backgrounds, including women, to reach their full potential. It’s on all of us, women or not, to help drive this change.