case-study

Case Studies

Introduction

  • In 2012, the first session with PepsiCo started with a workshop with Direct Reports (N-1) of the Global CEO Indira Nooyi (from the USA Hq), which then was rolled out for the organization ahead.
  • PepsiCo was one of the few organizations which began the conversation around DEI in India. Today we can truly call PepsiCo as a model organization which other countries can emulate and get inspired from.
  • PepsiCo started their journey with Ask Insights in the year 2012, and has been consistently working with us since the past 12 years, year by year strengthening its commitment towards DEI.
  • As of today we have covered the entire AMENA region for R&D team at PepsiCo, making PepsiCo India a model organization viz-a-viz Diversity Equity and Inclusion, not only in India, but also in the Middle East, Gulf, North Africa, and African continent. Ask Insights teams personally travelled to PepsiCo head offices in India, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and South Africa.
  • PepsiCo team India, was also recognized and honoured with the Harvey C Russel Award by the then global CEO Ms Indira Nooyi, for this initiative which was rolled out globally.
  • PepsiCo India was among the first in Manufacturing Industry to start Gender Intelligence Initiatives in Plant Locations in 2014. Dr. Niru herself visited each and every PepsiCo plants in India, several times, to bring about a cultural and mindset shift.

PepsiCo

Countries Covered for PepsiCo by Ask Insights

  • India
  • UAE
  • Pakistan
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Egypt
  • South Africa
  • USA
  • Europe

Objectives

  • A notably limited women representation, especially in frontline, Sales & Supply Sector.
  • In 2019-20, women represented only 6%, 8% & 7% in Sales, Supply chain & frontline functions
  • Lack of right physical infrastructure & inclusive mindset
  • Rural & remote plant setups making it harder to draw women talent
  • No women role models in leadership roles for many functions.
  • Inclusion challenges for women in Finance, Research, and Development teams

 

Saudi Arabia Egypt UAE:

Challenge in building women pipeline and progression

Leadership Power distance

Women development and fearless communication

Egypt and South Africa:

Racial inequality, Power distance, Gender Inclusion

Challenges in Inter-cultural understanding, Women based Violence

Interventions

  • -Strategically we emphasized on a specific diversity theme every year, parallelly equipping the senior leaders with overarching Inclusive Leadership Competencies.

    -We also understood that challenges of every vertical and business unit was different and undertook a customized approach for every diversity hotspot.

    -Each vertical was understood and customized according to it’s unique challenges: PepsiCo Top Leadership, HR, Sales, Finance, Franchise, Supply chain, Research & Development, and Plants.

We then recommended a DEI Roadmap following our Top-Down model and our signature programs –

      • Gender Intelligence for entire organization over the years (Customized for separate sectors such as finance, sales an R&D)
      • Inter-organizationl Reach Out Program for high potential Women leaders to grow up to the ladder
      • Women Leadership Program conducted as inter-organization engagement with Microsoft, TATA, American Express & Reckitt.
      • Allyship Program in Plants & Frontline.
      • Policy, ERG Support and Sexual Harassment Committee Consultation
      • Assessments and Benchmarking to measure impact and progress

Star Programs for PepsiCo

2012 - 1st Global Leadership session (Dubai) & Gender Intelligence (India)
2013 to 2018 - Roll outs for entire PepsiCo India including plant regions
2018 to 2022 - Reach Out Programs for women in sales
2022 to2023 - entire roll out on Allyship
2024 – Entire roll out for   R & D teams (MESA region)
Wings on Dreams
Dedicated Program For Women in Sales
Reach Out
An Inter-organization Program to unlock potential in Women leaders
Gender Intelligence Workshops
For entire organization over the years (Customized for separate sectors such as finance, sales an R&D)

Key Results

  • Best in Industry Gender Diversity Ratio: PepsiCo is ahead of industry benchmarks with an average gender diversity ratio in FMCG industry as only 27% at mid management levels, where PepsiCo stands at 39%.
  • 3X increase in women representation at senior levels: More than 3X increase in women representation at senior executive levels, by 29.4% (2023) compared to 8.8% (2020). This is a dramatic 20%+ increase.
  • 50% women hiring: Equal women hiring by (50% women and 50% men hired)*
  • 2X increase in women in sales: More than double women representation in Sales across level, cohorts to 16% (2023) compared to 5.7% (2020).
  • 7X increase in women representation in Franchise: In Franchise, currently having a 47% women representation (2023) across level cohorts compared to 7% in 2020.
  • Shift in leadership commitment, employee mindset and policies: A noticeable shift in mindset, as well as leadership commitment and inclusive employee behavior is evidently felt as culture as a result of these workshops and journeys. Ask Insights also partnered with PepsiCo for curating effective policies supporting women such as: gender inclusive parental leave, parent room & support, menstrual leaves, supportive infrastructure, org wide sensitization training programs, women leadership journeys, inclusive leadership and allyship programs, supportive ERGs, inclusion tied with KPIs, inclusive vocabulary, Flexible schedules and work location to name some.
Dr. Niru, Thank you for another excellent session - this mentor - mentee training was a critical step to take our Athena mentoring program forward. As a continuation of our diversity and inclusion journey, the sessions on Gender Sensitization and Mentoring have been an invaluable input to the PepsiCo India finance team. Thank you once again for your support on this critical agenda.
Rajdeep Datta GuptaCFO and Vice President Finance, PepsiCo India Region
Rajdeep Datta Gupta
Dr. Niru has played a stellar role in our D&I journey. The deep and meaningful work that she has done on gender intekkigence and inclusive leadership has created a hung impact in the organization. I really value her partnership and her commitment to make a genuine different to this agenda and more importantly impacting people in different ways
Pavitra SinghCHRO-PepsiCo India Region
Pavitra Singh
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Case study Reckitt

Challenges

  • Lack of Career progression for Women employees
  • Need for Gender-Balanced Workforce
  • Need for conscious efforts to cultivate culture of inclusion
  • Need for LGBTQIA+ Inclusion & hiring

Interventions

Global Program with Top Leaders at Amsterdam Hq(2019)

Inclusive Leadership Session India CEO and Leadership Team at RB Hygiene

Roll Out to entire population of Managers at Global Hub 2024 and ongoing

LGBTQIA+ Sensitization session for all People Managers at Global Hub

6 Months Women Leadership Journey named - PowerFluent

Inclusive Leadership Workshop – For top management

Inter-organizational reachout program – Designed and executed by Ask Insights

Inter-organizational Reach Out Program (5 consecutive years) for high potential Women leaders to grow up to the ladder from Reckitt, PepsiCo, Microsoft, TATA, PwC, and American Express.

Diagnostics and FGDs

Workshop with CEO and top management

Gender Intelligence for Sales

RB Hygiene India

Diagnostics and assessments

Focus Group Discussions

PowerFluent Women Leadership Journeys – 2 consecutive years

Inclusive Leadership and Gender Intelligence for managers and leaders

LGBTQIA+ Sensitizations sessions

A Glimpse of Sessions

Dr. Niru Kumar’s session with Reckitt CEO Laxman Narasimhan and the Leadership team

LGBTQIA+ Sensitization Session

A session from Women Leadership Journey

Key Results

 

  • Gender Pay Equity: Reckitt implemented regular gender pay equity assessments, actively closing any gaps and promoting transparency.
  • Training Modules: Training modules on unconscious bias and diversity are now embedded into our onboarding processes, fostering an inclusive mindset from day one of joining.
  • 3000+ training hours: Have been successful in covering 80% of employees in Inclusion training programs and have touched 3000+ learning hours of leadership training in this year 2023 itself.
  • Great results: Scored 81% in the recommend workplace category of the Glint survey by their women staff at Global Hub, Hyderabad.
  • Celebrations: Have started a series celebrating unique career stories of women at global hub.
  • Recruitment – 47% Gender Diversity: Implementation of gender-inclusive recruitment strategies have resulted in a diverse talent pool, with intentional efforts to bridge historical gaps. Currently their gender diversity is 41% and Hiring Diversity at 47% at Global Hub.
This is an appreciation note to acknowledge the facilitation you and your organization have provided to us in terms of our stated goal to significantly strengthen our diversity and inclusion program in RB Hygiene Home South Asia. What my fellow leaders and I in RB Hygiene Home South Asia really appreciated was the way you took us through the fundamental reasons for diversity and inclusion gaps that may stem in organizations in India and around the world; this included case studies of good practices, a mind opening understanding of how the brains of different sexes are wired differently, the way issues and opportunities manifest themselves in organizations as a result and the potential methods of exploring solutions. Your subject matter expertise was excellent, the method followed was engaging and we ended with some really thoughtful strategies and practical ideas to implement going forward with respect to our diversity and inclusion program. We know this is a journey, not the end state and I thank you for your support in getting us off to what I am sure will be a memorable and inspiring end goal
Narasimhan Eswar(SVP and Managing Director, RB Hygiene & Home, South Asia)
Narasimhan Eswar