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Inclusion means everyone feels listened to, valued, and respected. Hear what efforts have been made by leaders from Tam Jai International, ASSA ABLOY, PolyU, and more.
Bias, stereotypes, and discrimination – these are the obstacles preventing us from building a diverse, equitable, and inclusive world that allows everyone to thrive and shine.
And this sounds especially true in the workplace, where women, more often than not, have to keep combating all these headwinds, both in their professional and personal journeys.
This is why the theme of International Women's Day 2024 is #InspireInclusion.
In the month that reminds all of us to take action to drive gender parity, HRO reaches out to a myriad of leaders to hear their tips and experiences on establishing an inclusive workplace. Leaders we have talked to all reiterate that: inclusion means everyone feels listened to, valued, and respected.
In the first edition of this special feature, see what efforts have been made by leaders from Tam Jai International, ASSA ABLOY, PolyU, and more.
Stay tuned to more articles on #IWD2024 in the coming weeks!
Kathy Kwok, Associate HR Director, APAC, The Hoffman Agency
Inspiring people means showing them what is achievable and creating the conditions for success. Our culture is based on helping each other succeed. Our market leadership is gender-balanced and local, and our team members have diverse professional experience including outside the field of PR.
We also make a point of accommodating individual circumstances such as family care commitments. This creates an environment where everyone feels a valued part of the team and sees that it is possible to advance in their career whatever their background or situation.
Yoko Fung, Head of Account Management, Deliveroo Hong Kong
I’m dedicated to celebrating diversity, especially on female’s strength and resilience. Through open dialogues, I ensure that every voice, especially those of women, is heard.
At Deliveroo, we actively promote unbiased recruitment and all employees go through a mandatory 'unconscious bias' training. Our staff-led 'Gender Equity Employee Resources Group' and the Roo Academy that I created serve as powerful platforms for women’s empowerment in our gender-tolerant, diverse workplace. Through these initiatives, we’re empowering women and inspiring a more inclusive world.
Charlotte Lee, CEO, OMD Asia Pacific
Inclusion is an ethos that permeates every level of OMD APAC and our employee experience is built upon this deeply held commitment. Change requires leading by example and I believe in supporting our employees on issues close to their hearts and to society at large through allyship and unification.
Together with my teams, we are creating a culture where diversity is celebrated, equity is promoted, and every individual feels valued, respected, and empowered to contribute their unique talents and perspectives to the collective success of the organisation. To be successful in this goal, I firmly believe in intentional effort, ongoing commitment, and a willingness to listen, learn, and grow together as a community.
Tina Cheung, Head of People, North Asia, CBRE
At CBRE, we cultivate an inclusive workplace that encourages collaboration, fosters trust and ensures engagement among our people, irrespective of appearance or background.
Inspiring inclusion is an ongoing process. Through initiatives like the annual employee engagement survey to gather valuable feedback, mentoring circles that bring together diverse individuals from different teams and levels to share great knowledge and experiences, as well as appreciation corners, these efforts ensure everyone feels valued and heard, and empowered to thrive.
Erin Cho, Dean of the School of Fashion and Textiles, The Polytechnic University of Hong Kong
Being a woman and an immigrant, I’ve experienced many challenges in the form of language, inter-relational, and cultural differences. I’ve also found that embracing such diversity is the best way to transform an organisation and its people, and eventually society as a whole.
My leadership philosophy focuses on open dialogue, placing great importance on active listening to foster true connections rather than a meaningless consensus. Celebrating self-expression and individuality is key to inspiring a culture of inclusion, particularly in education.
Winnie Wong, Senior Human Resources Manager, Hong Kong, Taiwan & Singapore, ASSA ABLOY Opening Solutions Hong Kong
In ASSA ABLOY, we recognise that everyone brings a unique perspective to work. It is our job to make sure our people feel confident and comfortable expressing it. Not only during the yearly pulse survey, but my door is always also open to everyone.
On top of that, we highly promote internal mobility. As of 2023, our leadership team comes from 28 different countries. I partner with our management team to encourage people to grasp opportunities to move around the business locally and globally, that can help increase our diverse viewpoints. Our talent acquisition team would also constantly reviewing our recruitment processes with us. We specifically look at how to remove bias from the system wherever we can. We set targets and shortlists to attract great people we might not have reached otherwise.
Last but not least, our L&D team and I would ensure the easiness to access learning and development opportunities. From face-to-face and virtual training to live instruction or webinars, blogs and podcasts, we make learning flexible so that everyone can take part.
Derek Wu, Chief People Officer, Tam Jai International Co. Ltd.
Diversity and inclusion often go hand in hand. Recognising the uniqueness of individual experience and perspectives, inclusion is essential for synergising the diversity impact on brand, corporate purpose, and performance as well as empowering employees to thrive through creating positive working environment and allowing everyone at work to contribute and influence to the organisation.
At Tam Jai, inclusion, which has been integrated into the business and workplace, is part of our competitive advantages and a vial component of business success.
Alice Ting, Hong Kong Managing Director, Telstra
I inspire inclusion through leading by example and creating an environment where every individual feels genuinely valued and heard. At the office, I actively cultivate diversity by acknowledging and encouraging a rich blend of cultures and perspectives.
I believe through positive reinforcement and setting clear goals, we can shape a more inclusive workplace for all.
ALSO READ: International Women's Day 2024: It's time to #InspireInclusion
Photos / Provided
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