Half of Executives Are Women, Welcoming Returns and Rehires... "As Long as You Have Skills" [K Population Strategy]

by Park Joonyi

by Kong Byeongseon

Published 30 Jan.2024 13:00(KST)

Updated 01 Feb.2024 10:30(KST)

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(28) BAT Rossmann Supporting Women's Career Development
Global Branch Executives Gather to Share Common Concerns
Korea P&G's Efforts to Ensure Community Diversity

Editor's NoteThe key to solving South Korea's population problem lies within companies. A workplace culture that evaluates employees based on their work regardless of gender, along with family-friendly policies, is crucial to addressing the K-population issue. While low birth rates result from complex factors, it is important to ensure that workplace burdens do not become obstacles that make people hesitate to have children. Asia Economy visited companies leading family-friendly policies to identify the factors that helped these systems stabilize, and plans to explore multifaceted solutions with companies facing practical challenges. Through this, we aim to encourage change starting from companies and analyze the government's role in enabling this. We listen closely to voices emphasizing that company culture and atmosphere that reduce psychological burdens, rather than just financial support, are key, and present alternatives from various perspectives.

Choi Eun-ji, Marketing Director of BAT Rothmans, is sharing opinions with employees on the 18th at the BAT Rothmans conference room in Jung-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

"At this company, I have never worried about career breaks."

On the afternoon of the 18th at 1 PM, a marketing team meeting was in full swing at the BAT Rothmans headquarters located in Jung-gu, Seoul. Eunji Choi, Marketing Director at BAT Rothmans (37, female), and her team were engaged in a heated discussion to reach conclusions. Having worked at BAT Group for about nine years, Director Choi said, "At BAT Rothmans, gender, rank, marital status, or having children do not affect achieving results or building a career." She added, "On the contrary, there is a welcoming atmosphere for childbirth and childcare."

Director Choi joined BAT's Japan branch 14 years ago and worked there for six years. After working at other companies, she rejoined the Korean branch three years ago. She said, "There are very few companies that genuinely consider your career as much as BAT does," explaining her reason for returning. While individuals must manage their own careers, how much the company can provide full support is the most important factor, she explained.

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Half of Executives Are Women, Welcoming Returns and Rehires... "As Long as You Have Skills" [K Population Strategy]

Fear of career breaks and promotion discrimination are concerns many working women have experienced, but the atmosphere in foreign companies is quite different. This reflects the global trend that companies must have 'gender diversity' as a fundamental requirement.

With 50% of executives and 40% of managers being women, BAT Rothmans is the Korean branch of BAT Group, known for tobacco products like Dunhill and Glo. Despite the industry’s male-dominated reputation, it is a representative female-friendly company.

BAT Rothmans operates various programs to support women's career development. 'Women in BAT' is a female community run across the entire group, where female employees worldwide meet once a year both online and offline to share career experiences and receive various training and mentoring. The Korean branch launched the female leadership program 'Athena' in 2012, expanding its scope and purpose since 2017 to include diversity concepts beyond just women. Additionally, through the 'Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics)' program, they operate a separate network for women in science and technology fields to support their careers.

They also have a system supporting leadership training for female employees twice a year through 'Women in Leadership,' both online and offline. The program includes one-on-one leadership coaching, presentation skills, career management, team leadership, and other practical skills. The key is not just providing education but ensuring it is applied within teams. Director Choi also mentioned benefiting from this system.

"Before starting the program, my supervisor, the external expert running the program, and I had a three-way meeting. The coach asked my supervisor how they viewed me and then checked with me if that matched my perspective. It felt like couples therapy, as they tried to incorporate each person's viewpoint into leadership development as much as possible."

Furthermore, leadership training is conducted via video conferences with employees from branches in Asia, Europe, and Africa. Based on various leadership topics, participants listen to lectures, then split into groups for mentoring and discussions. Director Choi said she appreciated not only the lectures but also networking with female executives from different countries. She found great strength in hearing that women executives worldwide face similar challenges. She said, "One executive shared how she overcame similar problems," adding, "It was comforting not only to get concrete, practical advice but also to know there are role models within the group I can look up to."

100% Return of 'Career-Break Women' and Overseas Assignments

Geonhee Kim, Public Relations Director of the External Cooperation Headquarters (40, female), left her previous company and took three years off for childcare before joining BAT Rothmans last year. She introduced herself as a typical example of a 'career-break woman.' Kim recalled, "When my unemployment benefits ended, I felt awkward using only my husband's income. Although I had worked in PR for over ten years, returning after a three-year break felt daunting." "Then BAT Rothmans contacted me, and I joined. They provided an environment where I could work freely as long as I had the skills." Whether you have children or have taken leave, opportunities are offered based solely on ability and experience.

The system guarantees the ability to return anytime. BAT Rothmans' representative family-friendly policy is the '100% Return Guarantee.' This policy ensures no disadvantages in team assignments or promotions when returning from maternity or parental leave. Joohee Jung, Deputy Head of HR, explained, "Ensuring no penalties upon return from parental leave is, in a way, natural. Everyone should have a position waiting for them when they come back after taking personal time off, and the company-wide perception is that there should be no disadvantage because of that."

As a global company, overseas assignment opportunities are not rare, and the company policy confirms equal opportunities for everyone. Among the 13 Korean branch employees currently on overseas assignments, more than half?seven?are women. The stereotype that overseas assignments are mainly for male employees has long disappeared.

For female employees at BAT Rothmans, the concern is no longer 'Can we grow?' but 'How can we grow?' Director Choi said, "The shared concern in internal programs was 'How can I leverage my own style to deliver the best performance?'" She added, "They focus intensively on what performance I should deliver in my position, how to develop my capabilities within that, and how to balance work and life."

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Visually impaired YouTuber 'Wonshot Hansol' (real name Kim Hansol) participated in the 'WeSeeEqual Summit' held by Korea P&G last May, aimed at promoting diversity and inclusion. Photo by Korea P&G

Korea P&G is also a company that champions 'diversity' and 'inclusion.' Since 2019, Korea P&G has maintained a female ratio of over 50% across all levels, including executives. Welfare systems supporting work-family balance back the work efficiency of female talent. Eligible employees can take paid leave for childbirth longer than the legally mandated 60 days?up to 108 days. Even unmarried cohabiting partners who can assist with childcare are eligible for paid leave. Sujin Kim, Deputy Head of HR at Korea P&G, said, "Supporting work-family balance to secure gender diversity within the organization benefits long-term and macro-level business performance. Gender diversity is essential to understanding diverse consumer demands."

Korea P&G extends its interest beyond internal female employees to the outside world. Since 2019, P&G has held the 'WeSeeEqual Summit' to discuss social issues related to discrimination based on gender and disability. Additionally, by 2025, P&G plans to invest a total of $300 million (approximately 402.2 billion KRW) in women-led businesses across Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Africa, and support women in STEM fields experiencing career breaks. Korea P&G also plans to more than double investments in domestic companies founded or led by women by 2025. In May last year, Korea P&G hosted an event themed 'Being Myself,' inviting people from diverse backgrounds to share their growth stories. Visually impaired YouTuber 'OneShot Hansol' (real name Hansol Kim) participated, sharing challenges faced by the visually impaired and how she overcame them.

Deputy Head Kim said, "Korea P&G will fulfill its role as a corporate citizen by promoting equality, inclusion, and supporting marginalized communities. We will discover and nurture talented individuals with capabilities and potential through merit-based hiring and promotion."