5.4.1.2 ChemiCo

ChemiCo is a multinational incorporated in the Netherlands that is active in the chemical industry. The company is listed on the Dutch stock exchange. The management board is composed of two people, a woman and a man. At the time of the interviews, the supervisory board consisted of eight people, of which three were women. At the time of writing this chapter, the supervisory board was gender balanced: four women and four men. Within ChemiCo’s executive committee, 57 percent is women. In 2020, 29 percent of the company’s total workforce was female, and 21 percent of its executives were women.

ChemiCo has implemented nine interventions. Interviewee respondents indicated that ChemiCo’s interventions are not all enshrined in policy documents but are rather common practice within the organization. An example hereof is the intervention to have a candidate slate comprised of 50 percent women.

Interventions specifically aimed at increasing gender equality for women involve numerical targets, unconscious bias training, and the inclusion of women on candidate slates. ChemiCo has set numerical targets of 30 percent women (and men) in the supervisory board, management board and executive committee. For the executive rank directly below executive committee level a target was set at 25 percent women, which target must be met in 2021, and a target of 30 percent women to be met in 2025. Meeting the target is linked to a bonus scheme. ChemiCo has an unconscious bias training in place for managers and other employees. A candidate slate of 50 percent women and men is required for the selection and promotion procedures for all positions within ChemiCo.

Of the interventions that aim to support (wo)men in the organization and outside of the workplace, ChemiCo has a women’s network and leadership development program. The women’s network organizes events for women, but men can also attend. The women’s network was initiated by ChemiCo’s employees. ChemiCo runs a leadership development program for all executives, with diversity and inclusion as one of its themes.

Interventions with a broader scope include an engagement survey in which questions are asked about inclusion. Exit interviews are also held with senior executives (women and men). ChemiCo does not have a strategic workforce planning model/succession plan model in place but is planning to implement one.

An intervention aimed at enabling an inclusive workplace (gender related and otherwise) is the so-called ‘culture compass’. ChemiCo launched its culture compass with a view to understanding what company culture people in the company aspire to, and to set the cultural values to which the company adheres.