Unilever Sri Lanka supports global commitment to gender diversity through its Women’s Network

UNILEVER Sri Lanka launched its Women’s Network, in support of Unilever’s global commitment towards building 50% gender diversity and the development of its professional women managers.

Unilever CEO Paul Polman who heads the Diversity Board expressed the importance of building professional career women at management levels.

On 8 March, the day the world celebrated its 100th International Women’s Day, 30 women managers from across all functions joined to launch the first Unilever Sri Lanka Women’s Network, ‘Women Connect’. The theme for the day was ‘Building Professional Career Women in Management.’

The objectives of this network was to build and develop professional career women at Unilever and in the community through community projects and employer branding opportunities and to build recognition and appreciation for the strength and talent of Unilever’s women managers.

The network would also be an opportunity for Unilever managers to come together, engage with each other, and to share and learn through their experiences to support the growth and career of their fellow women managers.

Human Resources Director Sandamali Perera reiterated this objective by stating that the time had come for women to contribute towards the betterment of the organisation and to make their presence felt within it.

“Women play a major role as consumers in the market Unilever competes in and they become key decision makers who also influence major purchase decisions. “They are like tea bags,” she quipped, “You get the best of the tea when the tea bag is put into boiling water.”

She went on to say that women possess immense talent and capabilities are able to bring out their best when faced with daunting challenges.

Customer Service Director Gayani de Alwis said that Sri Lanka held the 16th position in gender equality according to the Global Gender Gap index of 2010. This country is ahead in gender equality over many others as Sri Lanka has been one of the few countries to provide women with equal opportunities.

Currently 31% of senior managers at Unilever Sri Lanka are women and amongst the Unilever South Asian companies, Sri Lanka is the best in gender balance.

In line with the ambitious targets set by the Unilever Global Diversity Board, the newly formed Women’s Network of Unilever Sri Lanka hopes to build on the current platform to support the future development of women managers as key talent, driving the success of Unilever Sri Lanka alongside their colleagues and creating a truly diverse team of professionals.