A Journey of Intentional Actions: What it Takes to be Named the World’s Top Female Friendly Company
Key Takeaways:
- The Hershey Company was named #1 on Forbes’ 2021 list of the “World’s Top Female Friendly Companies.”
- It’s intentional actions like prioritizing gender diversity, pay equity and impacting our communities that led us here. DEI is a business imperative.
- The best is yet to come. Our goals and where we’re headed next to continue making Hershey more diverse and inclusive make us extremely proud.
We’ve all heard that it’s about the journey, not the destination. In this case, that could not be moreprecise.When we learned that Hershey was going toberecognized as #1 onForbes’list ofthe“World’s Top FemaleFriendly Companies,”the energy throughout our organization was palpable.From theExecutive wingin the sweet town of Hershey, PA toour teams around the world,Hershey employeesacross the businesscelebratedwhatthey already felt to be true: thisiconic company is making strides for women.We know it’sthemilestonesalongthis journey that create real change; milestones likepay equity, gender diversity andseeing women in leadership roles—andfor our female and diverse employees,being able to seethat path for themselves.It was these actions that led us to this destination and the continuous impact of those actionsthat truly matter.
Forbes“World’sTop Female Friendly Companies”
At Hershey, we’re anchored in the story told by the data. So, how the was formed is important to us. Hershey and the 299 other multinational corporations on the list were evaluated in multiple, globally administered independent surveys of approximately 85,000 women who provided 750,000 data points in 40 different countries. The ranking is based on three scores: Employee Score (through anonymous online panels), Public Opinion and Leadership Score. What makes this even sweeter is that this was not an award we submitted ourselves or even knew was happening. All this surveying and the recognition itself was completely unknown to us; our inclusion on the list was a welcomed surprise.
Did the rankingmakemany Hershey employeesfeel proud? Itcertainly did. But does this rankingmake Hershey even more equitable? It does not. We know thatit’sintentional steps and actionthat make the difference for employees and our communities.
Intentional Actions Each Day
Formyself and the restof the Human Resources team(and the whole Hershey team!), this journey started years agowith key milestones along the way:
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Asreported inour2020 Sustainability Report, we have 48.1% gender diversity around the world,37.4% of people leaders globally are womenand our Board has 42% gender diversity.
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In 2020, we achieved 1:1 aggregate gender pay equity and in 2021, 1:1 aggregatepeople of color (POC)pay equity for salaried employees in the U.S.
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In2017, we celebrated when Michele Buckbecame ourCEO andagain in 2019 when she was namedChairman of the Board. She is still only one of a handful of women servingasaCEO foraFortune 500 company.
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In 2016, we expanded our maternity leave program to paid parental leave.
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In2019, Kristen Riggs (who started as an intern at Hershey just15years before) waspromoted toChief Growth Officer.
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For the past two years, our teamsin,and thehavecelebrated International Women’s Daythroughcustom packaging on our iconicHershey’s Milk Chocolate Barto celebrate the countless contributions of women around the world.
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Our teams in Latin America and India are led by women with Larissa Diniz as General Manager of Lain Americaand Geetika Mehta as General Manager of India.
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Michele also frequently appears on ‘most powerful women in business’ lists, such as .
Our commitment to gender equity isn’t limited to our workplace.Our business still supports the Milton Hershey School() and it’s 2,100+ students to empower the next generation of leaders. We also know through our Cocoa for Good programthat when women have an income, theyinvest it into education and the well-being of their children and family members.That’s why we invest in non-profitpartnersto providetraining for creating additional income streams such as soap making, snail rearing and vegetable farming.When women are empowered, theylifttheir communities with them.
All ofthese milestones makeus so proud of what we have achieved, but we know we must do more for our people of all underserved groups, including people of color.After themurder of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, weheld listening and co-creation sessions with employees around the company to understand how they were feeling and what they needed from us.
The result wasThe Pathways Project, a 5-year plan to make Hershey more diverse and inclusive.The project includes goalslike achieving pay equity for salaried positions around the world and increasingthe number of women and POC leaders by 2025.We have also focused our efforts to bring in a wider range of talent and perspectives,as well as strengthened our development programs for underrepresented talent.Building a diverse talent pipeline and recognizingand investing inremarkable people is an important part of continuing our growth.
DEIis Critical to the Long-Term Success of our Business
At Hershey, setting the tonefordiversity, equity and inclusionis abusiness prioritythat startsatthe topwithour CEO and Board of Directors (of whom 5 of 12 are female).Many of our largest brands andverticalsare led by women.It’s critical that we invite new perspectives,ideas,and experiences in everything we do to ensure our workforce reflects the diversity ofconsumers around the world.
For more than 127 years, we have done what is right for our people, planet and communities. We know we need tocontinue our commitment to this journey of doing what’s rightso we’re here to celebrate more of these milestones a century from now.This ranking by Forbes is a warm ray ofsunshinetohighlightyears ofhard work and intentional action, but it’sthe bright future we’re creating that makes me themost proud.
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