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FieldCore’s Caroline Werunga: “Covid-19 Has Given Birth To New Work Culture” | |
| Staff Writer |
In the Middle East, inclusive and diverse practices are developing. Human resource managers in this emerging sector are receptive to new ideas that can help them challenge the status quo in the field. According to UAE’s Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, age and racial discrimination are also issues for UAE companies. Therefore, it is imperative that DE&I policies in the area take into account the demographics of their workforce in terms of age, gender, and ethnicity. Kearney, a prestigious global management consulting firm, found that companies in the Middle East with a diverse group of leaders saw a sizable increase in revenues from innovation.
In addition, the millennial and Next Generation workers who will be instrumental in the company's future success value working for companies that actively promote diversity and inclusion.
Commenting on these developments, stated, Caroline Werunga, Regional HR director, FieldCore, “DEI (Diversity Equity and Inclusion) is how in our organization, we create spaces where everyone, irrespective of their background, culture, gender, experience or orientation, can thrive and have a sense of belonging. This is not something tangible but rather a culture (collective behaviors and values) that we are intentional about shaping. We drive this in different ways including being deliberate and unequivocal about the behaviors and values that we expect all our team members to embrace. It ultimately shows in how we treat each other.”
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COVID-19 The Game Changer
The rapid evolution of society and technology in the post-covid era has compelled the globe to reevaluate its assumptions about the nature of cultural influence and production. For instance, awards ceremonies have shifted from face-to-face gatherings at which actual prizes are presented to online platforms where the same acknowledgment is still bestowed. This means that the tasks performed by the world's workforce have remained mostly unchanged, while methods of execution have evolved. As the globe continues to embrace the multi-cultural workplace, the how will change to better accommodate employees of various backgrounds.
Stretching the subject further, Caroline commented, “Agree that we do want to drive a consistent culture across the globe when it comes to certain core important aspects e.g. performance driven culture, DEI, Compliance, recognition, etc. However, our organization culture has to be flexible to accommodate country or site nuances that do impact the organization culture.
“As FieldCore, we have remained very flexible when it came to remote work culture. In some parts of the world, where the country practice was a return to work predominantly, this has tended to happen naturally. In other parts, remote working has remained predominant, so we have remained flexible with this as well.
“I think one of the things that the pandemic taught us is adaptability and flexibility. This means we have continued to evolve how we drive culture for the organization whether people are physically at an office or site or working remotely. We continue to create employee experiences that reflect who we are as FieldCore – a company that embraces Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.”
Women Have Become The Key Workforce
The role of women has always been crucial. The need for such an equilibrium in the workplace is becoming increasingly apparent. Research conducted mostly in the West (the United States and Europe) has shown that workplaces that actively promote diversity at all levels see increases in both productivity and employee engagement.
Whether one identifies as a woman or not, one needs to care about the same things that women care about. Equal treatment, respect, acceptance, and a feeling of belonging are all things that women strive for. All employees share a common interest in these areas of the workplace.
“What I see as unique to women is how we ensure that the workplace accommodates unique needs that women may have e.g. ensuring our Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) accommodate women’s needs in terms of how they are designed; ensuring we have basic facilities for women at the workplace e.g. appropriate sanitary facilities, lactation facilities as appropriate,” said Caroline.
“I am proud of many things that FieldCore and the broader General Electric (GE) organization continue to do in the region. What stands out the most for me is the culture. The culture of DEI and Safety is real at FieldCore. There is zero tolerance for discrimination of any kind, and we do practice an open reporting culture that allows anyone to raise their hand. At FieldCore, inclusion is more than just compliance…. It’s the culture. We also have strong messaging about Safety and ensuring everyone goes home safe. We empower our employees to Stop Work if there are unsafe practices at any site,” she added further.
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Adopting The Region's Rich Culture
Profitability and output can both benefit from some variety. Therefore, businesses in the Middle East area should make the most of the region's rich cultural diversity in order to succeed in a market where a sizable minority of residents are not native English speakers.
Human resources experts have expressed their eagerness to make use of the region's linguistic and cultural diversity.
The region’s local economy will languish if we don't promote open contact between people of different ethnic backgrounds.
“Middle East (and Africa) has some of the world’s richest culturally diverse workforce. And is easy to tap into this diversity through attraction and retention strategies. We must be intentional about diversity in the workplace as this will not happen organically if left to individual hiring teams. As human beings, we tend to lean towards our comfort zones / what we know, hence will tend to hire people who are similar to ourselves e.g. educational background, work experience, gender, culture, etc. As an organization, we have to be intentional about how we craft and execute our hiring strategy to have diversity at the heart of it. So it’s clear to all stakeholders what our aspiration is for diversity and more importantly, how to accomplish it. You have to create buy-in with stakeholders, which is our hiring teams right from HR to people leaders,” opined Caroline.
She feels that still region needs to overcome five challenges (listed below) if it wants to promote diversity and inclusion at full throttle.
“First and foremost, fair employment practice policies must be at the heart of all hiring and employment practices. As FieldCore, we drive a spirit and letter approach to how we manage not only our hiring practices but every aspect related to the employment of people.
“This approach means that we not only follow the letter of the law but also embrace the spirit with which the law was written. It’s not about taking advantage of grey areas in the law but rather about thinking about what the intent of the law is and ensuring equitable and fair practices. We are also very intentional whenever possible, in raising the bar to go above the minimum requirements to truly embrace a culture of DEI. We endeavour to not just do the bare minimum as this will not yield desired results in terms of how to differentiate ourselves as an employer of choice,” informed Caroline.
The region is also witnessing a great transformation as more and more regions have started showing a growing interest in gender diversity. Commenting on this development, Caroline elaborated, “These changes will not happen on their own as there is still a lot of bias towards women in general and particularly to women in leadership. Organizations have to articulate their “What”, “Why”, “How”, “When” and “Where” – basically define a strategy on how to achieve more diversity, particularly at the leadership level. What is the investment they are willing to make to achieve this priority? This needs buy-in from senior leaders and buy-in across the organization.”
Caroline is a self-described "home-body" who values time spent indoors with her loved ones above everything else. When the weather is nice, she also likes to take weekend road trips outside of town and do a little bit of hiking, and going to the movies is always a good time. She's making an effort to resume her reading habit, and things are looking up great so far.