Coca-Cola, which aspires to be 50% led by women globally by 2030 has employee-driven groups aiming to foster affinity, support, community, and recognition within the workplace, says Irene Tan, Vice President, Human Resources. Currently, Coca-Cola’s 39% of senior leaders are women. Overall, the brand’s 40% of employees are women in India and Southwest Asia. In the Southwest Asia region, all three Country Managers of Nepal, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka are women.
To foster an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute their best
Coca-Cola provides women employees an opportunity to connect and learn from each other and the senior leadership through The SHE Network. Women employees are also encouraged to acquire the skills required to excel in the corporate world through AccelerateHER, an emerging leaders program. The brand also offers a sponsorship program, GROW, that creates advocacy and accountability for women.
“We recognise that achieving these goals requires specific interventions tailored to different segments, such as women and different generations. By addressing the unique needs of each group, we endeavor to foster an environment where everyone feels valued and empowered to contribute their best,” says Irene Tan.
Challenges women face in pursuing leadership roles and ways to address
Having worked in various geographies such as China, Japan, Southeast Asia, and now India, Irene Tan noticed that the challenges women face are quite similar across regions. According to her, balancing professional commitments with family responsibilities is often the toughest to maneuver.
“Women in office face significant challenges pursuing leadership roles, including gender equality, pay parity, and balancing caregiving responsibilities. To help employees overcome these barriers at the workplace, companies must create and make available holistic diversity, equity, and inclusion programmes for them across the board. The chair and board can have a direct impact on the success of the programs by setting goals and driving a collective company agenda.”
She further highlights that Coca-Cola offers soft landing policies for women, counselling across different life and career stages to provide support through their professional journeys. “We also offer flex working hours, Creche Support, etc. to ease out challenges. These programmes can tackle a variety of issues and can ensure female representation to drive larger participation of women across various levels of the organisation.”
Coca-Cola’s HR VP also recommends providing the resources and encouragement to support those with global career aspirations.
Measuring the effectiveness of its diversity and inclusion initiatives
Investing in and empowering women not only directly benefits them but also Coca-cola’s business and its communities.
The Global Women’s Leadership Council (GWLC) supports women in global leadership positions and grows our pipeline of female talent. Composed of senior leaders, the GWLC focuses on two strategic pillars:
‘Break the glass ceiling’ – Executive sponsorship for senior female talent to help them progress towards the most senior roles in the company.
‘Fifty50 leadership’ – Seeking to break down the barriers to female advancement in the talent pipeline to help build the 50% female pipeline deeper in the organisation.
“Regular reviews and audits to assess the impact of our initiatives on employee engagement, retention, and satisfaction. While these metrics and initiatives are important indicators of our progress, we are taking an iterative and holistic approach focused on continuous learning and improvement,” explains Irene Tan adding that Coca-Cola achieved gender parity on the company’s Board of Directors and Executive Leadership Team and are continuing to advance female representation throughout the company.
Ensuring equal access to development programs, mentorship opportunities, and leadership training
Ensuring equal access to development programs, mentorship opportunities, and leadership training for women across different levels and regions within the company are done through initiatives, such as STAR and the Global Women’s Leadership Network (GWLN). These are designed to provide comprehensive support to women at every stage of their career journey. “We also offer development solutions for high-potential employees – KPTL are high-touch cohort-based leadership development program delivered annually.”
“Moreover, we prioritise inclusivity in program design and delivery, ensuring that women from diverse backgrounds have the resources and support they need to succeed. In addition to GROW and AccelerateHER, our Male Allyship program play a critical role in our ambition towards being more gender balanced. This year we’ve launched the Soonicorn Program directed towards building winning capabilities and developing key talent through targeted International assignments. We are together uprooting and transforming our workplace and the society at large.”