German company Henkel operates worldwide, including in Latin America. It has been a cultural learning experience that proves change can take many forms.
- By Joseph Warren
Despite the lengthy discussions in corporate board rooms on managing change, the reality is that adapting in today’s world requires flexibility, adaptability and a willingness to recognize that change is defined differently from culture to culture. When German company Henkel – a leader in laundry and home care, beauty care and adhesive technologies – further extended its presence in Latin America, it found out that working in countries with strong cultural, economic and social issues can present challenges to elevating talented women into higher level positions.
“In Latin America, female employees are quite common, but they often don’t move up the ranks because of family pressures, a hierarchal social structure and economics,” explains Kirsten Sánchez Marín, Henkel’s Head of Global Diversity and Inclusion. Besides her decades of experience working and a degree in international management, she is qualified to understand the complexities of working within multiple cultures because she is a native German, married to a Mexican gentleman, and has been working many years in Latin America. In fact, Sánchez Marín represents the talented women multinationals have increasingly turned to for help in successfully doing business in other cultures.
In Latin America, there is a complex set of factors that makes it especially challenging to improve the situation of women. Generally speaking, the South American cultures are driven by strong family bonds, a history of a male-dominated hierarchal system that emerged during the colonial period, and unstable economic and political situations that endured for a century. Multinationals entering these markets must adapt to the historic and economic conditions and understand that they must address the specific needs of women, if they are serious about tapping into the talent pool.
Not a Matter of “Rights” … an Issue of Culture
One of the perspectives that Western and European companies struggle to understand is that Latin America does not consider this an issue of “women’s rights.” Sánchez Marín explains, “They have the same rights already in the form of legal rights and general acceptance. It is the social pressure that prevents the women from advancing.” Women are largely expected to care for their children and family, making it difficult for them to assume more responsibilities that may require travel, long hours and especially job rotations. It is quite uncommon that men take over the role of upbringing children or follow their wives to a foreign country for job reasons. Family ties are still very strong in Latin America, besides the husband it is also the parents influencing the job decisions and mobility.
Complicating the situation further is the male-dominated business culture. Local businesses have a traditional structure of one person at the top and a senior management group steering the business and making decisions without input from the rest of the workforce. One of the appeals of multinationals for Latin American women is their more democratic and participative leadership styles and structures that give women a voice.
Another main concern is safety. Most multinational offices are located in big cities where safety is less of a concern, but their production companies are outside the cities. Women must find a safe way to travel to and from work in early morning hours or after nightfall, and this can be especially challenging if dependent on public transportation.
Clearly, the issues are interrelated and complex. Quotas are not the answer according to Sánchez Marín, an opinion supported by other diversity managers familiar with the culture. As Sánchez Marín so succinctly states, “You can put quotas in place, but if the company management is not supportive of women in business, and the social and cultural structure limit opportunities, quotas will not work. It takes leadership action to change the way people think and act.”
Henkel has supported diversity by instituting policies, procedures and programs that directly address the multiple barriers to advancing women up the ranks. For example, the company supports work-life flexibility by allowing nontraditional work schedules on an employee-needed basis. One employee for example starts work at 5 a.m. at home, leaves at 7 a.m. for personal reasons, and comes to the office between 9 and 10 a.m. to work until 3 or 4 p.m. That is one possible working model, while others choose to start work at 6 or 10 a.m. to avoid the morning rush hours.
Other steps Henkel has taken to address employee concerns include allowing people to work from home one day a week or allowing them to leave the office early to avoid traffic and resume working at home in the evening hours. For employees working outside the city, Henkel may run shuttle services to and from the city. Though part-time work schedules are available, Sánchez Marín explains that “Most Latin American women work to move up the socio-economic ladder. To work less would mean a salary reduction and thus a reduction in the social and financial status of the family. The women in families reaching a certain economic status in that case rather tend not to work at all instead of reducing working hours.”
Create a Vision and Provide the Path
Henkel realizes that the impetus for change will rely on senior and mid-level managers having a need and passion for diversity, so that they contribute to progress and do not become internal barriers. A diversity-culture with flexible working arrangements is a question of leadership – people manager play a very important role. To attract top talent, Henkel mentors young women in the early stages of university studies to show through communication and role modeling that opportunities do exist.
The role modeling is supplemented with a clear career development path. This occurs in the early stages of their careers so that the young women understand that Henkel is truly committed to helping them succeed, move up the ranks and achieve goals. This can be thought of as a two-step process: help women develop a vision and then provide a clearly defined success path that can make the vision become reality. Once on board, Henkel encourages young Latin American women to travel abroad and experience intercultural exchanges to gain a broader cultural and social perspective.
“In Latin America, the hurdles for women interested in getting into management are not the result of being women,” Sánchez Marín explains. “The hurdles are created by a combination of different dimensions that include culture and society. No group should be stigmatized for trying to develop and advance.” It is important to stay away from talking about barriers on a single dimension because the issues are multidimensional. Tearing down the barriers will require an overall, integrated approach similar to the one Henkel has put in place.