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| Procter & Gamble Philippines (P&G)
Our company’s legal team was invited to join the task force to draft important modifications of the Special Regime for Multinational Companies (known in Spanish as SEM), which, after approval by the National Assembly of Panama, represented a successful exercise showcasing how positive results can be achieved when private and public sectors jointly work towards a common goal. Modifications of this law strengthens SEM companies’ compliance with OECD guidelines and offers alternatives of permanent residency to the SEM employees.
For Costa Rica, we view positively the recent output by Congress approving several important laws required by OECD, such as the strengthening of competition authorities law and the criminal responsibility of legal entities law.
P&G recently acquired a consumers’ health unit of a company in the Pharmaceutical Industry, at a global level. The focus of most of the members in our legal team for the coming months will be to achieve a smooth integration of all new employees and strategic partners within our company’s culture. The team will also focus on understanding a new industry into P&G’s portfolio in way the legal advice given to our internal clients remains effective and compliant.
Leverage in technology to drive simplification in the storage of our legal documentation, also working with other function to help develop service providers’ agreements from an E-platform.
For in-house counsel soft skills such as teamwork, flexibility, straight talk or assertiveness. Along with business acumen, sharply developed soft skills are needed by In-house counsel when advising their internal clients.
‘He is hormonal.’ ‘He is so intense.’ ‘He got the promotion because the company needed to balance the bands.’ ‘He was not up for the challenge, next time we cannot afford to hire a man for that role.’ These are just some of the comments women face every day and men do not. Over the last year I have been fortunate enough to be asked to represent P&G and speak on the company’s efforts on diversity and inclusion, and those are my opening remarks. Why? Because they are powerful statements, if someone in the audience is not engaged, I believe hearing those words will make them sit up straight and pay attention and will probably make the audience think and feel a little uncomfortable, and question where they stand on this issue.
Externally, because we have many products that are targeted towards women, because women are most of the company’s consumers and make most of the purchasing decisions. This has led to the realization that the company has the privilege and responsibility to lead the conversation on this issue and help generate change. Look at our advertising campaigns: Always #likeagirl (I love it, have seen the ads I don’t know how many times by now and I still get chills, and maybe a tear creeps up…), Ariel #sharetheload, and Gillette #thebestmencanbe, they tackle tough subjects and have generated debates that lead to changes. Internally it is also important for the company to be a leader in gender equity. The numbers on female representation at P&G Costa Rica, as a whole, are very good (50.3% total population and 47% in management positions), For functions related to science, technology, mathematics and engineering careers we are proactively working with the government and the academia on improving those numbers, not only within our walls, but across the industry. Over the last 20 years, as the site matured the needs of its population changed, and here is where the big difference between equality and equity surfaces. Very quickly, equality is treating everyone the same, equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful. One of these strategies has been the implementation of flexibility options in the workplace. These are usually the result of a company’s realization that female employees, at different stages, could need alternate work schemes to continue their careers. This was the case some 15 years ago when the first flexibility options were put into place in P&G Costa Rica. Today, female and male employees enjoy different flexibility options that help their work-life balance or work-life integration, however you might want to view it. An interesting point that might sometimes be overlooked is the effect on the male population that work for a company that is invested in equity. As men we have to push the agenda forward: diversity, inclusion and integration. We need to understand what our colleagues need, embrace the differences each of us bring to the table. We cannot just ask from our female colleagues what they need, for them to tell us what they want or what they are seeking. We need to work together and get to the right answers together. We, as men, need to be stakeholders in getting to the correct solutions, because if we ‘own’ them we will really work on attaining change. So why is this an issue that I am passionate about? Remember how I said I always showed a picture of my daughter when I’m doing a presentation on gender equity? Well, it’s not because of her. It is also not because of my sister, mother or partner. My fear is that if men don’t have that someone in their lives then they will not see equality and equity as important. We have to realize that it’s just part of doing the right thing – plain and simple it’s the correct thing to do – and that is how I am raising up my boys.
