CHOOSE TO CHALLENGE! | Mondelez Philippines celebrates International Women’s Day

The words “Diversity” and “Inclusion” are being used a lot these days, during this era of awareness and taking a stand in issues that matter. But what do these words really mean? For snacks company Mondelez Philippines, diversity and inclusion are meant to bring people together in a world that seems more divided than ever. It means recognizing diversity and being open to many views and ideas in developing a bias-free workplace. It also means empowering women to ascend to leadership roles—something the company never fails to highlight every year during the celebration of International Women’s Day.

The global celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) falls on March 8 every year. It aims to celebrate various achievements of women. It also issues a call to action for gender parity and equality. This year’s theme for the celebration is “Choose to Challenge,” which aims to encourage everyone to challenge traditional gender practices that need to be updated to adhere to the changing times and to hopefully spur action. For Mondelez Philippines, celebrating IWD has become a yearly milestone, but the goal of creating gender equality in its workplace takes place all year round.

“We greatly value the talents of women. We seek to empower our colleagues to become leaders and create a work environment that allows them to fulfill their chosen roles at work and at home,” shares Shiela Pangilinan, People Lead of Mondelez Philippines. “As a snacks company, we empower people to snack right. This is through the right snack, for the right moment, and made the right way. This IWD, the ‘right way’ is even more important for us. We live up to this purpose by, among others, building a more diverse, inclusive and equitable world, socially and economically.”

Pangilinan continues, “We believe in women in leadership. We want to elevate more women to senior level roles – to date 59% of our senior leaders in the Philippines are women. We believe that having gender equality in our leadership creates a richer perspective and links to higher performance as an organization. For the women in our team, we have a full slate of programs to support them, grow their talents and empower them to achieve their goals at work and at home.”

To support women’s careers, among Mondelez Philippines’ programs include a mentoring program for senior leaders.  It’s an avenue to reach out to the most senior women in the team to inspire, dialogue with, and motivate. Finding connections in this peer group will hopefully help strengthen the power of women even more. The company also ensures that for all job openings the slate of candidates is balanced; it should always include women and applicants from different backgrounds.

“As a woman leader, Mondelez Philippines has provided me career opportunities, development and training, some of which are made specifically for women. I was given a chance to do a regional role even if I was based in the Philippines. In terms of training and development, in Southeast Asia we have this program called Women’s Mentoring Circle, whose main objective is to accelerate the development of women. Aside from that, it’s also a venue where women can create inspiration, share stories and just support and connect with each other,” shared Marianne Ocfemia, Senior Manager for Accounting and External Reporting for the Company’s South East Asia business unit.

For women’s home life, a Flexible Working Policy helps to make time for both work and personal commitments throughout the day. “During the pandemic this policy has been most useful in helping women to attend to their altered daily schedules, either as a mom, as a daughter, or a wife. They can run errands or help their kids with schoolwork in the day and balance these together with their work functions,” shares Pangilinan. The policy is implemented across the South East Asian offices of the Company and sets realistic expectations for when meetings should be held – from 9:00am to 6:00 p.m. only, not to expect immediate responses on after 6:00 p.m. requests, and to take back time during the day for unavoidable late-night work occurrences.

“This year we also started a remote working policy for newlywed employees with spouses who work overseas to allow them to reconnect with their loved ones while balancing the demands of their work,” ends Pangilinan.

For Sales Operations and Communications Head Jessamine Penaflor, this flexible work arrangement was a true blessing during her pregnancy.

“Even prior to the pandemic, we have work from home options depending on your role and your arrangement with your manager. I for one had a delicate pregnancy, and I really am grateful to the company for understanding being given flexible working arrangements during that time,” she shared. “It really allows moms like me to fulfill both work and at home duties.”

For Mondelez Philippines, this is the right way: Building a winning growth culture, by investing in diverse talent and agile capabilities.