Nestlé Philippines, in celebration of International Women’s Day, joins the global call to #BreakTheBias, as it highlights its significant progress in enhancing gender balance in the workforce and empowering women across the entire value chain.
With people as the driving force of its mission to be a force for good, Nestlé intensifies its commitment to employees through enablement practices and systems that deliberately make individual empowerment a corporate priority of Nestlé.
“Pursuing and safeguarding gender equality and inclusivity, and the development and empowerment of women, are of great importance to Nestlé Philippines because it raises the quality of our organization. We are proud of the progress we are making in unlocking the capabilities and talents of women towards enhanced growth and productivity,” said Nestlé Philippines human resources director Mitzie Antonio.
It has been six years since Nestlé launched its global program Gender Acceleration Plan that aims to increase by 30 percent the number of women leaders in the top 200 senior executive positions. Under the program, the company is implementing policies and measures that prevent gender bias and create opportunities for a diverse workplace.
“At Nestlé Philippines, we continue to invest in efforts that empower our women employees and leaders in the workplace. Key initiatives have been employed to ensure we create an enabling environment for them to thrive in,” Antonio said.
She said gender balance and the mindset of inclusivity are both embedded in the company’s policies and programs.
The firm celebrated a milestone when it achieved 50-50 gender ratio in its senior leadership and critical positions in 2021, from over 5,000 employees. This has been part of the company’s program of enforcing gender balance in developing and appointing successors to key posts in the organization for the long term.
Nestlé Philippines conducts an annual equal pay exercise, a proactive measure ensuring that internal pay equity is maintained and is within the pay gap industry threshold.
The company also ensures that employees are trained annually on unconscious bias and sexual harassment prevention. Coaching and mentoring are two of the flagship programs that the company has strengthened over the years to support women leaders as they pursue their career development plans.
A soft-skills training initiative for women on the production lines or shopfloor has been completed in partnership with the Employer’s Confederation of the Philippines and the International Labor Organization.
With its continued commitment to create a gender-inclusive workplace, Nestlé PH recently won recognition in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index 2022 for the fourth consecutive year, advancing gender equality in the workplace.
It also emerged as a winner in the Asia Corporate Excellence and Sustainability Awards 2021 as One of the Top Workplaces in Asia and first-runner-up in the Gender Inclusive Workplace Category 2021 of the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles.
In 2022, Nestlé Philippines continues to advance the role of women in the workplace with its sustained commitment to achieve gender balance in key positions and functions, enhanced company policies and increased organizational awareness via mandatory training to foster diversity and inclusion.
