Profile
"How long have I been doing diversity? All my life!" says Rhodora Palomar-Fresnedi.
Rhodora's life and career are diversity personified. She has lived and worked in Asia, North America and Europe. Her educational background includes a degree in communications, complemented by graduate courses in accounting, finance, linguistics, communications research, and a Masters in Management. She has been a teacher, accountant, financial controller, independent consultant and director of finance and operations for a training firm.
She joined Unilever Philippines in 1994, becoming HR Director after three years. In early 2000 she moved to London to head the London office of Unilever's East Asia Pacific and China business groups. When the office moved to Singapore, Rhodora elected to stay in London and seized the chance to lead a new approach to diversity, becoming the company's first Global Vice President for Diversity. Today, Rhodora is Vice President Communications, Brand and CSR for Asia and Africa.
Improving diversity
In 2001 when Rhodora was appointed Global Vice President for Diversity, the group defined diversity in terms of inclusion, embracing differences, creating possibilities and growing together. She was challenged to set up a global strategy and framework to champion this vision across the business.
Her impact to date is obvious, from the central role of diversity in the new business strategy, to resources such as a 'diversity toolkit' and intranet. Such progress may be partly due to her passion for, and commitment to, diversity. "For me it's personal. I truly believe in it. I think Unilever is one of the very few companies with the potential to make it a real competitive advantage. We have a good foundation: the Code of Business Principles and a belief in diversity. We also have the raw materials: we are a multi-local multinational so in many ways are already diverse, but we are just not leveraging it."
Early on, Rhodora found that Unilever's performance on diversity, such as gender balance, was not reflecting the company's intent. "We had to ask: what are we are doing that is creating barriers to what we want to achieve?" In 2001 the group undertook research on why so few women are in senior management. The feedback was insightful. "Women in Unilever told us, 'It's not about gender. It's about inclusion!' They suggested we needed to take a broader vision, and look at whether the actual ways we do business means that some people either can't, or don't want to contribute at higher levels. It was with this insight that we re-started our journey to diversity."
Rhodora's work started at the top. Unilever's two Chairman and the five other members of the then Executive Committee (ExCo) agreed that in order to effect change within the organisation, they had to ensure they were truly committed as individuals. Together they committed to specific personal achievements, such as mentoring senior women employees. Rhodora credits the freedom and support she received from ExCo and the current Unilever executive (UEX) as the biggest boost to the progress on diversity to date. "Their commitment was there from the start. With a compelling and inspiring vision to go with their commitment, we are on our way."
Clearly the effort has paid off. Today, Unilever has the most diverse Board in its history, with more women and more nationalities than ever before.
Even though diversity is an integral part of succession planning and talent management worldwide, for Rhodora, much remains to be done.
Employee engagement
The current stage of the diversity journey involves engaging all employees. For Rhodora, it's about every Unilever person getting involved. An online diversity toolkit, created in 2003 by a group of Unilever volunteers inspired by the company’s push for diversity, supports this. "The toolkit gives individuals and teams a mechanism to begin their journeys at their own pace," Rhodora says.
As evidence, Rhodora points to the growing interest and progress being made independently by Unilever businesses – like increasing numbers of women's networks. "Unilever people are making it happen themselves. I am here to encourage, support and connect them."
But this is just the beginning. "To succeed further, we shall have to look at everything we say and do through a diversity lens. This means applying a more inclusive approach to all parts of the business: from recruitment and people development; how we operate in meetings; our approach to marketing, advertising and even corporate responsibility - like Dove’s global campaign for real beauty, which promotes beauty in every shape, size and age but has to be communicated and executed sensitively to respect local cultures.
“There are many more examples that demonstrate our belief in diversity. Empowerment of women is reflected not just in our efforts to increase diversity inside the company, but also in our efforts to provide employment to women outside the company, like Project Shakti in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh.”
Global Diversity Board
Rhodora remains involved in diversity as a member of the Global Diversity Board, led by Group Chief Executive, Patrick Cescau. Fittingly, she handled Talent Management and Learning, an assignment she saw as the 'push side' of diversity.
Even in her present job, you can find Rhodora integrating diversity into her work. "For some time I thought: if Unilever is to be the great company that I believe it is meant to be, we have to get diversity right. I want to be a part of that, and that means living it in every job I do. The diversity journey is for the long haul".
