Reinforcing DEI in the workplace - Triple win for employees, company, and community

Through incorporating diversity, equity, and inclusion in their strategies, corporations around the world are fostering DEI in the workplace to engage and retain their talents. The question remains, however, as to how a company can go beyond DEI-washing and put its vision into action through human resource allocation, employee engagement, on-the-job training, and job promotion systems.

Headquartered in the UK, Reckitt Benckiser (Reckitt) employs approximately 40,000 employees worldwide for its brands spanning the categories of hygiene, health, and nutrition, including household names such as Dettol, Durex, Move Free, Strepsils, and Vanish. As a human-centric multinational company, Reckitt is committed to enabling its diverse pool of talents to unleash their potential and keep the finger on the market’s pulse while simultaneously integrating various local cultures and languages into its multicultural workplace.

An emphasis on equity and inclusion: female leadership accounts for two-thirds of senior management

Reckitt’s Hong Kong and Taiwan team comprises talents from mainland China, the UK, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Not only has the company already reached its 2030 target of a 50:50 gender ratio at the management level, women leaders currently account for two-thirds of the company’s senior management. 

To the employees, Reckitt’s DEI endeavours did not go unnoticed: In the latest employee engagement survey, more than 80% of respondents from the Hong Kong office agreed that the company offers equal career development opportunities. Boudewijn Feith, General Manager of Reckitt Hong Kong and Taiwan, said, “Having a gender-balanced and culturally diverse team is conducive to innovation and fruitful collaboration, which is a triple-win solution to the employees, company, and community.”

Meanwhile, an inclusive workplace can effectively liberate employees to unleash their potential. According to Tras Wong, Head of HR of Reckitt Hong Kong and Taiwan, all Reckitt employees are required to participate in the inclusive culture e-training to enhance their DEI awareness, “We hope that our leaders can uproot and eradicate unconscious biases in the daily work routines, and be able to ensure gender diversity in the recruitment and promotion of talents so that they can better facilitate employee development.”

Additionally, Reckitt hosts various leadership programmes to empower its female employees. The three-day Accelerate Programme, for example, offers a safe space for female employees from different Asian offices to share the challenges they face in the workplace. Participants can also access expert advice on work-life balance, time management, and self-expression. This year, Reckitt launched the five-month MULAN Programme to convene female representatives from Greater China to mentor each other on building self-confidence and redefining identities through training, volunteering, and TED Talks.

Prioritising employee wellbeing with family-friendly policies

As a new mother, Tras witnessed first-hand the company’s priority of employee wellbeing through various life stages, “Mothers experience significant stress physically and mentally in the post-natal period, especially since it takes a while to wean your baby off night feeds. At Reckitt, female employees are entitled to up to 26 weeks of paid maternity leave, far exceeding the 14-week statutory maternity leave. This human-centric and compassionate company policy allows new mothers more time to adapt to changes.”

Also noteworthy is the 20-day paternity leave offered to male employees as well as LGBTQ+ and adoptive families. Reckitt employees can use paternity leave in different phases until the baby reaches one year old to ensure they can witness the precious moments of the growth of their newborn. While on maternity leave, Reckitt employees can voluntarily participate in the Stay in Touch Programme, designed to ease their transition back to work and reduce anxiety by keeping them updated on the latest happenings in the workplace. Meanwhile, the allowance of remote working two days a week reduces commute time and enables employees to maintain a better work-life balance.

Employee empowerment through overseas transfer

With branches in over 60 countries, Reckitt supports its employees’ pursuit of career development overseas. Thuy Hoang, Head of Trade Marketing of Reckitt Hong Kong, is precisely a beneficiary of this policy. Harbouring a dream of working overseas while working in Reckitt’s Vietnam office, Thuy’s application for an overseas transfer was widely supported by her supervisors and her team.

Alongside her successful job transfer to Hong Kong, Thuy’s family also relocated to the city at the same time early last year. To ensure the family’s seamless integration into the new environment, Reckitt hired professional consultants to provide the family with cultural training and make arrangements for accommodation, schooling, and language classes. Reckitt’s Work from Anywhere policy also allows Thuy to work on her seasonal family visits to Vietnam. “I’m extremely grateful to my company for this invaluable opportunity and corresponding support. After all, relocation with the whole family was not easy,” said Thuy, who added that her amiable colleagues at the Hong Kong office are a testament to Reckitt’s diverse, inclusive, and equitable corporate culture, which has been instrumental to her integration into the team, adaptation to a new workplace, and growing confidence in her career development in Hong Kong for the long term.

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