Gender Equality in Business Discussed at Panel

Gender equality in business and steps needed to ensure it were discussed at the Global Marketing Summit. LEAD Network Turkey, which has been supporting female leaders working in retail and consumer goods sectors for the past 5 years, shared "Inclusivity and Diversity through Best Practices in the Retail Sector" with industry professionals among its members. Murat Koç, General Manager of Barilla Turkey, stated that Barilla Turkey has implemented numerous programs on diversity, inclusivity and equal opportunities since 2013, saying "As a result of these efforts, we increased the representation of our female employees at manager level and above to 44%, and increased the representation in the Executive Board, which was previously 10%, to 41%." In Turkey, the female employment rate rose from 28% to 32.8% over the last 5 years through equality and inclusivity practices. At Global Marketing Summit 2022, organized this year by KREA M.I.C.E with the theme "Marketing 5.0, Sustainable Business," gender equality in business, steps needed to ensure equality and successful global examples were discussed. At the organization, which took place with more than 200 speakers and 90 sessions this year, LEAD Network Turkey, which supports female leaders working in retail and consumer goods sectors and aims to increase the number of senior female executives and contribute to their development, brought together its members at the panel "Inclusivity and Diversity through Best Practices in the Retail Sector." The session was moderated by Ceyda Kaptan, Vice Chair of the LEAD Network Turkey Board and Marketing and Product Director at Tchibo, and featured speakers Murat Koç, General Manager of Barilla Turkey; Gaye Sünerli Narmanlı, Board Member and Head of Sales for P&G Turkey, Caucasus and Central Asia; and Neslihan Nigiz Ulak, Independent Board Member and General Manager of La Lorraine Turkey. [caption id="attachment_146530" align="aligncenter"] Murat Koç, General Manager of Barilla Turkey[/caption]

"Equal pay for equal work"

Stating that they conduct gender awareness programs with a holistic approach, Murat Koç said, "In a sector dominated by men, we aim to be an exemplary and pioneering company in the sector in empowering women by increasing both the number of employees and the number of female employees at manager level and above. In this context, we have collaborated with different platforms to reach our targets and we continue to expand these collaborations." In a world where women earn 20% less than men for the same work, Koç noted that Barilla's Hand in Hand employee resource group, consisting of employees committed to promoting diversity, inclusivity and equal opportunities within the company, works "hand in hand between women and men," and said they aim to remove all barriers that employees face in business in line with diversity and inclusivity principles. Noting that one of the important initiatives implemented in this area is the "Equal pay for equal work" project, Murat Koç said, "As part of the global project, in which Turkey is an important part, we achieved gender pay parity worldwide 2 years ago. As a result of our efforts, we won the 'Catalyst Award,' organized for over 30 years with the mission that 'the rise of women is the rise of everyone.'"  

We aimed to create an appropriate environment for employees who are domestic violence victims to feel safe in their work life

Barilla Turkey General Manager Murat Koç stated that 2 years ago they prepared an 'Inclusive Language Guide' with the aim of creating a diversity and inclusivity culture with stakeholders in addition to Barilla's employees, and continued as follows: "We prepared a booklet to create a positive work environment, transform the language within the company and make it more inclusive. All basic concepts in the gender dimension and the experiences of employees were addressed in a broad scope. We created a booklet that aims for a work environment free of discriminatory and sexist discourse and jokes. We also joined Sabancı University's 'Business Against Domestic Violence' project on the issue of domestic violence, which can create serious obstacles especially for female employees, and worked together to create a policy. With this policy, we aimed to create an appropriate environment at Barilla for employees who are domestic violence victims to feel safe in their work life. We both provide support mechanisms and organize training for all our employees."    

Noting that important practices have been implemented in recent years to achieve gender equality in the number of employees in departments and to increase the number of women in managerial positions, Murat Koç continued as follows:

"Within the scope of our efforts, we increased the ratio of white-collar female employees from 33% to 44%, while the ratio of female employees in manager level and above positions rose from 31% to 41%. We adopt practices aimed at increasing women's participation in work life and increasing their numbers in both promotions and hiring."  

We do not operate processes without at least 1 woman and 1 man

General Manager Murat Koç stated that over the past 3 years, Barilla Turkey has extended its hiring processes in departments with few female employees until female candidates appear on the shortlist, and spoke as follows: "Even if some of our positions remain open for 6-7 months, we do not operate hiring processes without at least 1 woman and 1 man on the shortlist. Within the scope of this practice we conduct, we first focused on increasing the number of female employees in the Supply Chain department. In this department where the ratio of female employees has risen to 50%, we first achieved gender equality at white-collar level. In addition, the ratio of female employees in manager level and above positions in Supply Chain has risen to 25%. As a result of our ongoing efforts with increasing momentum, we aim to set an example in the sector by increasing female employment and especially increasing the number of women in managerial positions."