UK – As the world marks International Women’s Day, Kellogg, a leading producer of breakfast cereal products, has announced that it has reached its goal of having 50:50 male and female representation at the manager level and above in the UK.
The member of the LEAD Network (Leading Executives Advancing Diversity) celebrates the achievement which has come three years ahead of the schedule as the goal was initially set for the end of 2025 as The Grocer reports.
According to the company, the journey started by signing the LEAD CEO Pledge in 2019 by Europe president David Lawlor to support its commitment to gender parity and to help drive inclusion in the European retail and consumer goods industry
According to Chris Silcock, Kellogg’s UK MD, the achievement follows Kellogg’s international focus on gender parity coupled with the creation of an environment and a culture where female leaders not only belong but are shaping the future of the business
“We have built a pipeline of initiatives to ensure this isn’t just a moment, but a movement for our business, and the benefits of making this progress are clear to us, ”he added.
Melanie Bowes, Kellogg’s UK HR director applauded the achievement saying that equity, diversity, and inclusion are part of the company culture and purpose, where everyone has a place at the table.
She added that reaching the target ahead of schedule indicates how the team prioritized gender equality in the workplace.
Kellogg’s progress received praise from Allyson Zimmermann, the LEAD Network CEO who described the company as example of what commitment to making gender inequality a thing of the past looks like.
Britania eyes 50% of woman workforce by 2024
Meanwhile, Britannia Industries, India’s largest Bakery Foods Company has announced plans to increase its women workforce to 50 percent from the present 41 percent by 2024.
The announcement was made by Indranil Gupta, the Head of Manufacturing, Owned Factories who clarified that the operation will cut across all manufacturing plants in India.
Grupta was speaking in an interview with journalists where he revealed that the reason behind the move was based on hygiene and discipline attributes of females compared to their male counterparts.
“They are more hygienic, and more suitable for these types of jobs, which is an important requirement in food-making facilities, and disciplined compared to male workers,” he said.
Britannia has 100 year+ of organizational experience with a presence in Biscuits, Breads, cakes, rusks, Dairy, and snacking.
The company has 15 company-owned manufacturing plants and 35 contract and franchisee units across India having a workforce of over one lakh (100,000) people with a 41% female representation.
In addition, Grupa revealed that the company’s Madurai unit which produces 190 tonnes of various food products per day has about 1,400 workers of which 65 percent comprise women.
According to Grupta, having a higher representation of women has benefitted the plant operations by increasing efficiency and productivity while it has also helped in reducing attrition
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