For Geraldine Joanes, Human Resources Director at Diageo ANZ, driving Diversity and Inclusion within and outside the company gives her a "huge amount of energy."
In conversation with HRD, Geraldine explains how Diageo Australia's elimination of the pay gap, as well as creating a gender equal executive and senior leadership team, was thanks to sustained, committed work to change the expectations around gender.
“It has been a priority for everyone at Diageo, not just women, and we believe it benefits everyone,” she says. “Culture isn’t what you’re writing on a deck but what people are experiencing around them and the types of leaders they have. It hasn't been easy to eliminate because change doesn't happen quickly."
“You have to be brave and help others to find meaning in the changes to be able to create that momentum," she adds.
Geraldine also touches on Diageo's ambitious maternity and paternity leave policy that offers a global minimum of 26 weeks fully paid maternity leave and sets global minimum standard for fully paid paternity leave.
“We've got three people at the moment who are seconded into more senior roles on our leadership team and that wouldn't have been possible before,” she explains. “But the policy is opening up more career development and cross-functional opportunities to work on things employees might not have tried before.”
"I’m so proud that this is the sort of work I get to do. From an HR perspective, this is the sort of stuff you dream of," she adds.
Read the full article here.
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Disclosure: Where Women Work researches and publishes insightful evidence about how its paid member organizations support women's equality.