JOHN KEELLS HOLDINGS | LMD

Q: What’s your evaluation of Sri Lanka’s journey concerning feminine empowerment?

Ishara Naufal: Sri Lanka has made progress on gender equality; nonetheless, societal norms that perpetuate gender stereotypes trigger ladies to be underrepresented and discriminated in opposition to.

Societal expectations – resembling ladies being main caregivers, biases that stop females from coming into non-traditional industries and even the shortage of efficient reporting mechanisms on harassment – hinder Sri Lanka from progressing in its ladies empowerment journey.

At John Keells, by means of our Variety, Fairness and Inclusion initiatives below the ONE JKH model, we tackle unconscious bias by means of structured discussions and consciousness classes, recruit ladies for non-traditional roles, present employer supported childcare, conduct ladies centric coaching and mentoring programmes, and set gender parity targets.

Additional, by means of the John Keells Basis, with undertaking WAVE (Working In opposition to Violence by means of Schooling), we actively work in direction of addressing gender-based violence.

Q: How do you view the company local weather from the attitude of girls in enterprise?
Nalika Abeysuriya: Whereas there are inspirational ladies in management in Sri Lanka’s company sphere, there are sectors like vacation spot administration and tourism the place feminine participation is low.

In tourism, work hours are lengthy and sometimes unpredictable; and there’s a adverse notion in direction of ladies working in inns or conducting excursions. Additionally, if you work prolonged hours, even essentially the most pushed ladies may discover it difficult to place in time for private growth or networking, on condition that they’re anticipated to steadiness their household commitments.

Help from tourism associated alliances and companies, to advertise agile working and employer supported childcare, is vital to retaining ladies and supporting them to succeed in management positions. Whereas loads of work is being accomplished, I really feel the enterprise local weather must be extra conducive to supporting females with expertise and drive.

Anushka Weeraratne: The enterprise local weather has improved however there’s definitely much more to be accomplished. If we take into account the transportation sector, there’s low feminine participation. Nevertheless, once I take a look at this section at present, in comparison with once I began 18 years in the past, I discover that there’s extra encouragement and concentrate on recruiting and retaining ladies.

At John Keells, now we have ladies at supervisory ranges dealing with port operations and girls forklift operators working in our warehouses; and now we have partnered with the College of Moratuwa to supply annual internships to undergraduates.

We’ve been making a aware effort to offer alternatives for each genders, and now see traction of an increasing number of ladies taking on the problem of coming into the marine and airline sectors, along with logistics, which was not the case previously.

Inside the native context too, now we have launched into many initiatives: the ‘HeforShe Awards,’ business our bodies like Ladies in Logistics and Transport (WiLAT) that pair senior ladies within the business with these coming into the workforce, and universities finishing up mentoring programmes to strengthen the pipeline of females being on-boarded.

Q: In Sri Lanka, what challenges for ladies in enterprise want extra focus, in your opinion?

Asha Perera: One of many first initiatives below ONE JKH was to conduct a group-wide survey to grasp points which can be perceived as challenges for feminine profession development from the eyes of each ladies and men.

The survey additionally requested ladies what motivates and evokes them in direction of constructing profitable careers. These insights have been used to handle the precise challenges by implementing help mechanisms for ladies at completely different levels of their lives and careers.

After I began my profession, there have been no structured insurance policies and processes on agile work preparations as such. Nevertheless, John Keells has at all times had an open communication tradition the place we might discuss freely with our seniors. This helped me handle my work productively when my son was younger.

With the organisation being bigger and extra various at present, our range, equality and inclusion initiatives help younger professionals, regardless of gender, to realize a greater work-life steadiness.

Union Assurance has been a trendsetter in having the primary feminine CEO within the insurance coverage sector in 2003, and it continues to have ladies in management positions. Virtually 50 % of our workforce includes females, and now we have many success tales that validate our strategy to addressing key challenges for ladies in enterprise.

Q: How ought to we groom the subsequent technology of feminine professionals?

Nisansala Paranayapa: For anybody to determine herself as knowledgeable, having the suitable perspective – moreover the prerequisite tutorial or skilled {qualifications} – is essential.

Grooming anybody, regardless of their gender, turns into a lot simpler after they have the suitable perspective to be adaptable, agile, and prepared to unlearn and be taught.

Mentors and sponsors of females should encourage them to determine their potential – and help them to harness expertise by means of their distinctive strengths and attributes – and information them in direction of alternatives whereas making related openings out there for them to self-explore. And their onerous work should be recognised.

I firmly consider in and promote the grooming of younger ladies to be assured to voice their opinions with conviction – particularly after they convey modern concepts to the desk. They need to have the ability to talk successfully and current their concepts, and keep focussed on their targets.

In a dynamic organisation like ours, younger professionals have the chance to be taught from robust, assertive ladies in management, perceive their capabilities and see the respect they’ve earned within the company sector. This additionally performs an important function in motivating and provoking younger ladies to shatter the glass ceiling.

Nilusha Fernando: You will need to be intentional about stretched targets and growth alternatives when grooming the subsequent technology of feminine professionals. Formally pairing aspiring feminine professionals with mentors in a structured method the place progress is monitored can also be key.

At John Keells, there’s a robust concentrate on ladies centric coaching, mentoring and training. I’ve had many feminine function fashions who impressed and not directly groomed me, contributing to my development. All enterprise leaders, regardless of their gender, ought to take possession and be accountable as function fashions to younger professionals – particularly younger ladies.

Q: Through which methods are firms selling feminine management?

Nilusha Fernando: In retail, most resolution making is completed by feminine customers – so it makes enterprise sense to have ladies in our resolution making groups. Throughout Keells shops, 49 % of our groups includes ladies, together with outlet managers and even in non-traditional roles resembling meat counter supervisors.

This didn’t occur in a single day. Within the current previous, at retailer stage, we’ve pursued an unbiased hiring coverage the place we tore down gender stereotyping and recruited ladies into nontraditional operational roles, giving them the talents required to succeed in supervisory and management positions.

Throughout John Keells, by means of our ONE JKH initiatives, we’re constructing a robust pipeline of girls leaders, not solely by means of mentorship and board stage coaching however by way of information analytics, to grasp the gender breakdown of every stage and job perform for extra knowledgeable succession planning.

Q: Do you consider that ladies are being supported to maximise their potential?

Ishara Naufal: With the launch of the ONE JKH initiative in 2020, all our range, fairness and inclusion initiatives have been consolidated. These actions concentrate on levelling the meritocracy taking part in area in direction of additionally being a real equal alternative employer.

By way of consciousness classes on addressing unconscious bias – along with our agile working preparations, childcare services and mentoring initiatives – loads of help is obtainable to ladies to succeed in their true potential.

With these initiatives coming to fruition, I’m proud to see ladies participation improve at Cinnamon throughout operations, engineering and upkeep roles.

Nalika Abeysuriya: Whereas having equal entry to growth prospects, and a caring and supportive tradition, there’s an onus on every of us to hunt alternatives, be part of mentoring programmes, develop ourselves repeatedly, push boundaries and emerge from our consolation zones to succeed in our highest potential.

On this journey, I consider it’s all about managing the difficult conditions that unfold earlier than us by confidently taking management.

Phone 2306000
E mail jkh@keells.com
Web site www.keells.com