Employees of Imperial Brands are taking part in a series of online activities today to celebrate International Women’s Day (IWD).
The event aims to highlight the significant benefits of gender balance to society and to the business and the acts people can take as individuals to call out gender bias.
The program of events has been arranged by a group of employees from various parts of the Imperial business and builds on a range of country-specific activities held in recent years.
Attendees will hear presentations and stories from senior female leaders in the business, including Chief People and Culture Officer Alison Clarke, and several external speakers. Among the attendees will be Imperial Brands’ chair, Therese Esperdy, and Imperial Brands’ CEO, Stefan Bomhard, who will make an opening address.
The theme of this year’s International Women’s Day is Choose To Challenge. “This is the culture we want to build at Imperial: a culture of individuals that think for themselves and bring their best game every day because they feel they belong and are included,” said Bomhard in a statement.
“We are building a company with a challenger mindset and that means having a diverse population of employees who are open to change and new ideas.”
Imperial is committed to increasing female representation with senior management roles to 30 percent by 2023. Last year, Imperial conducted a global diversity and inclusion study, and the results will help shape the company’s new culture and ways of working in support of its new strategy.
Philip Morris International (PMI) has launched a year-long research and convening initiative titled “Inclusive Future.” The initiative will explore best practices and established thought leadership to advance the discourse surrounding inclusivity and devise effective and timely ways to promote inclusive cultures.
“Measuring diversity is the easy part. Measuring and understanding inclusivity is far more complex as we discovered through trialing inclusivity measurement efforts at PMI,” says Silke Muenster, chief diversity officer at PMI, in a statement.
“While established frameworks, language and tools exist for measuring inclusivity today, it is clear that they are far from adequate. In the context of a world that shifted radically in 2020, this new initiative will help us to develop compelling ways to further inclusion within the PMI global organization and, we hope, beyond our walls as well.”
The Inclusive Future work will unfold in phases over the next 12 months, starting with a quantitative and qualitative exploration of the state of inclusion today. This facet of the study will feature a year-long research partnership with the Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland, to study how inclusion is currently measured and how this should evolve to drive impact. This will culminate in the publication of the Inclusive Future study results in March 2022.
As part of the initiative launch, Muenster will participate in a virtual event on International Women’s Day hosted by flagship SHE media site BlogHer alongside other female change makers dedicated to advancing economic empowerment for women everywhere. She will also speak on a high-level panel at the Gender Summit on March 10.
Japan Tobacco (JT) has been recognized under the 2021 Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program, also commonly known as the “White 500,” in the large enterprise category for the fifth consecutive year.
The program, conducted by the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Nippon Kenko Kaigi, recognizes the top 500 organizations that view their employees’ health as essential from a business management perspective, implementing various initiatives to support the improvement of their health.
“We are honored to be recognized on the ‘White 500’ yet again,” said Koichi Mori, senior vice president of human resources, in a statement. “JT is committed to ensuring the physical and mental well-being of all our employees, which we believe is essential for our sustainable growth. Even during the Covid-19 pandemic, our commitment remained unchanged. We have been promoting new ways of working, including active utilization of remote work and online meetings and continuing our business operations while taking all necessary health-related measures. We prioritized the health and safety of all of our colleagues, their families and all of the stakeholders.”
JT believes that its inclusion in the “White 500” reinforces its commitment toward continuously adapting its workplace to ensure all colleagues can work comfortably.
British American Tobacco (BAT) is highlighting its goals and achievements around its enhanced environment, social and governance (ESG) ambitions this week. Across its digital channels, the company will share its sustainability story with the outside world.
In 2020, the company announced its new corporate purpose to deliver “A Better Tomorrow” by reducing the health impact of its business, putting sustainability front and center. Since March last year, BAT has launched the industry’s first ever human rights report; was the only tobacco company to be included in the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index, its 19th consecutive year in the index series; was awarded an ‘A’ score for climate change by the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP); and was named as a Diversity Leader by the Financial Times in its inaugural Diversity Leaders report.
The company announced its latest ambitions, including increasing BAT consumers of noncombustible products to 50 million by 2030, achieving carbon neutrality by 2030 and accelerating other existing environmental targets to 2025, and eliminating unnecessary single-use plastic and making all plastic packaging recyclable by 2025.
In December 2020, BAT announced its Covid-19 vaccine candidate had progressed to human trials, further demonstrating its commitment to innovation and science. BAT also announced last week that it is on track in its ambition to increase the number of consumers of noncombustible products, doubling the rate of consumer adoption in the second half of 2020.
Kingsley Wheaton
“One of the core commitments we made in 2020 was to continually track and report on our sustainability progress,” said Kingsley Wheaton, chief marketing officer. “This new BAT ESG week gives us the chance to share our continued progress with the outside world, given our purpose-led ambition to reduce the health impact of our business.”
ESG Week will be followed by the launch on March 9 of BAT’s Annual ESG Report, which will provide details on all the company’s sustainability initiatives and progress.
KT&G received an AA rating in Morgan Stanley Capital International’s (MSCI) environment, social and government (ESG) index evaluation—one level higher than it received last year and the highest score for a Korean company.
Every year, MSCI classifies more than 8,500 listed companies worldwide by industry. The investment information provider evaluates management status related to the environment, social responsibility and corporate governance to assign ratings ranging from AAA to CCC.
Among the 11 tobacco companies evaluated this year, KT&G took first place for responsible marketing and excellent quality management within the “Product Safety and Quality” category.
In the “Governance” category, KT&G received high marks for newly established items such as “business ethics” and “tax transparency.” The company’s board of directors was rated best in the industry in terms of its diversity and expertise.
“The evaluation result this year is meaningful in that KT&G’s ESG management has been recognized worldwide and that the company is now classified into the ESG Leader group,” a KT&G spokesperson said in a statement. “We will continue to strive for the sustainable development of the company based on our advanced governance.”
KT&G was also honored with the “Grand Prize” of the corporate governance evaluation conducted by the Korea Corporate Governance Service in 2019 in recognition of its sustainability management system.
Imperial Brands has been recognized as a global leader for engaging with its suppliers on reducing carbon emissions and tackling climate change.
The business is among a group of fewer than 400 companies to be included on the 2020 Supplier Engagement Leaderboard compiled by environmental nonprofit organization CDP. This is the second successive year that Imperial has been included.
In December, Imperial maintained its position on the CDP’s Climate A List for its actions to cut emissions and mitigate climate risks. Imperial also achieved a score of A- from CDP for minimizing water use.
All companies responding to the annual CDP climate change questionnaire receive a Supplier Engagement Rating (SER) in addition to their climate change score. The SER measures how effectively companies engage their suppliers on climate change through an assessment of governance, targets, scope 3 emissions and value chain engagement.
Stefan Bomhard
“We are pleased to once again be recognized by CDP for our focus on climate and energy, this time for the work we are doing with our suppliers to help minimize their carbon footprint,” said Stefan Bomhard, CEO of Imperial, in a statement. “This reflects further great efforts from employees across the business and their commitment to deliver our ESG agenda.”
“Meaningful corporate climate action means engaging with suppliers to reduce emissions across the value chain,” said Sonya Bhonsle, global head of value chains at CDP. “Despite the challenges from Covid-19, in 2020, nearly 400 companies achieved a place on CDP’s Supplier Engagement Leaderboard. Congratulations to these companies—as Supplier Engagement Leaders, they are driving the transition toward the net-zero sustainable economy.”
Altria Group received a score of 100 on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a prominent benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality. Altria joins the ranks of 767 major U.S. businesses, including Reynolds American Inc., that also earned top marks this year. This is the fourth year in a row Altria has received a score of 100.
“We know that to be successful in our 10-year vision to responsibly lead the transition of adult smokers to a noncombustible future, we need to be a diverse, inclusive and welcoming place to work,” said Billy Gifford, Altria’s CEO, in a statement. “This recognition is a testament to our employees and Mosaic, our LGBTQ employee resource group, who continuously work to ensure that our LGBTQ colleagues are included and have equal opportunity to grow and thrive.”
The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: nondiscrimination policies across business entities; equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families; supporting an inclusive culture; and, corporate social responsibility. Altria’s efforts in meeting all of the CEI’s criteria earned a 100 percent ranking and the designation as one of the Best Places to Work for LGBTQ Equality.
For the second consecutive year, the BAT Group’s U.S. subsidiary Reynolds American Inc. (RAI) and its operating companies scored 100 percent on the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s 2021 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a prominent benchmarking survey and report measuring corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ workplace equality.
Guy Meldrum
“Across every aspect of our business, we boldly embrace diversity as a key pillar of our ethos,” Our organization is rich with talent, and everyone is encouraged to be their authentic selves as we work to build ‘A Better Tomorrow,’” said Guy Meldrum, RAI president and CEO, in a statement.
Companies rated in the CEI include Fortune magazine’s 500 largest publicly traded businesses, American Lawyer magazine’s top 200 revenue-grossing law firms, and hundreds of publicly and privately held mid-sized to large-sized businesses.
The CEI rates companies on detailed criteria falling under four central pillars: non-discrimination policies across business entities; equitable benefits for LGBTQ workers and their families; supporting an inclusive culture; and corporate social responsibility.
“From the previously unimaginable impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to a long overdue reckoning with racial injustice, 2020 was an unprecedented year. Yet, many businesses across the nation stepped up and continued to prioritize and champion LGBTQ equality,” said Alphonso David, Human Rights Campaign president.
“This year has shown us that tools like the CEI are crucial in the work to increase equity and inclusion in the workplace, but also that companies must breathe life into these policies and practices in real and tangible ways.”
In a world where individuality is embraced, employees should feel comfortable bringing their whole selves to work.
How each of us plays a crucial role on the journey to achieving sustainable and inclusive workforce change
By Rene Staebe
Have you ever felt the need to put on a “persona” for work?
In a corporate world where individuality is embraced, it is extraordinary that some of us still feel we can’t bring our whole selves to work.
It makes sense that feeling at ease to be yourself brings out the best in you, and there is plenty of research backing up the theory that happy, motivated employees perform better. So why is it that some of us still feel we can’t be authentic in a professional environment? And how can we shed the stigma that makes us feel the need to put on an act?
For many of us—including women, LGBT+ community members and people of color—the answers to these questions can be traced to our industry’s long history of having a predominantly heterosexual, cisgender, white, male-dominated workforce. Thankfully, businesses now widely acknowledge that there is not only an ethical need to break this mold but also that there are many significant benefits to a diverse workforce wherein different personalities and perspectives bring new ideas to the table. Talent stays longer because they enjoy collaborating with diverse and open-minded colleagues, and the employee population more honestly resembles its consumer base.
There is no doubt that a diverse workforce and an inclusive business culture drive business performance. The greatest challenge is achieving it.
I was recently invited to participate in the 2020 Global Tobacco and Nicotine Forum’s diversity and inclusion panel. Ironically and perhaps amusingly, I was the token “white male” on the panel, albeit representing the LGBT+ PRIDE community. The discussion raised many concerns, the biggest being the slow progress in achieving genuine diversity in the workplace, and several insightful solutions were presented. The resounding conclusion was that we still have a way to go and that employees are key to achieving sustainable change. This echoes my long-held belief that driving positive, sustainable change in any industry requires striking a balance between the corporate-led diversity and inclusion push and employees feeling empowered to be the agents of change.
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Building a place of belonging
Change takes time and is usually uncomfortable. However, if you believe in it and feel you are a part of it, then the journey feels less onerous.
Japan Tobacco International (JTI) is still in the early stages of its change journey, but in the three years that I’ve been with the company, I have witnessed great progress. Our leadership is engaged, and the support I feel across the company has given me a strong sense of purpose and hope.
We have an ambitious diversity and inclusion vice president, Christiane Bisanzio, who with the help of a dynamic team is driving a bold strategy that focuses on five strategic pillars—gender equality, N-WOW (new ways of working, i.e., creating a more modern and flexible working environment), LGBT+ inclusion, well-being and my generation (with a particular focus on millennials). Our corporate mantra “everyone counts,” although not developed specifically to promote diversity and inclusion, resonates widely across the organization and feels highly appropriate.
It is worth pointing out that I personally have always had the privilege of feeling comfortable being my true self at work. Prior to joining JTI, I worked at Procter & Gamble where inclusion is a part of the company DNA. So, when I adopted a new corporate culture, I carried this well-established and ingrained self-confidence with me. However, I have always been aware that not everyone has had such a positive experience and many still face barriers today.
I recognize now how the presence of role models is a powerful element of inclusion. Having peers around you that you can relate to makes it so much easier to be authentic. Consequently, this has become one of my “personal raison d’etre.” As one of the loud and proud queer voices at JTI, if I can help just one person feel more confident to be their true self in the workplace, then my efforts will have been worthwhile.
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Employee-led change
None of us can make change happen singlehandedly. Achieving successful and sustainable changes requires advocacy and an environment in which people feel safe and empowered to speak up and know they’ll be heard.
At JTI, we are still collectively figuring out the best approach to diversity and inclusion and shifting our corporate culture, and in some cases, we still have to explain the value and benefits of an effective agenda. Every initiative that resonates with employees and helps shift the status quo is exciting progress, which makes my role as a vocal champion even more relevant and important. JTI genuinely is an energizing place to be right now.
We’ve had particular success at encouraging dialogue through employee resource groups (ERGs), most of which are being driven from our headquarters in Geneva. These voluntary, employee-led forums bring underrepresented communities together to support one another, raise concerns and share ideas for driving awareness and inclusiveness. JTI leadership has actively embraced them, recognizing their value to meet and hear the voices of underrepresented employee groups and as a useful sounding board when developing policies and corporate strategy. Our CEO Eddy Pirard has joined us at a PRIDE virtual happy hour, and our Corporate Affairs and Communications Senior Vice President Suzanne Wise has been reluctant to take off her JTI PRIDE t-shirt.
Thanks to this empathetic leadership and a loyal and growing team of allies, colleagues are more comfortable speaking up and sharing their stories than they were previously. The mounting enthusiasm for ERGs such as PRIDE is contagious. I am hopeful we’ll see conversations about LGBT+ and other diversity and inclusion topics, such as gender, race and generation diversity, germinate as employees feel empowered to speak up about diversity topics that resonate with them in their market.
With the bottom-up push from employees gaining strength, we are ripe to embrace a corporate-led pull from the top of the company. Leadership-endorsed policy changes are already giving us the momentum and motivation to make genuine and sustainable progress in our five key diversity and inclusion pillars.
I’ve always said, great minds don’t always think alike. At JTI, we are taking the first steps to disrupting a long-worn uniformity, and we are doing so by ensuring employees play a key part in the conversation.
There is no doubt that greater representation of previously unseen groups, and a more open and inclusive culture where everyone feels comfortable being themselves, will better prepare us for the future—a future where our employee base truly reflects the world in which we are operating.
Rene Staebe is a corporate communications manager at JTI.
Indonesia commits to eliminating all forms of child labor by 2022.
By Stefanie Rossel
Child labor affected an estimated 152 million children globally in 2018. It’s also present in Indonesia, which in 2002 committed to eliminating all forms of child labor by 2022 to fulfill global development pledges. Over the past four decades, the island state has developed from one of the world’s poorest countries into a low-to-middle income nation with a poverty rate in the single digits. Progress has also been made in the elimination of child labor. According to the United Nations, the number of child workers declined from more than 4 million in 2009 to 2.9 million in 2018. Today, 7.4 percent of Indonesian children are working, mostly in agriculture. Perhaps unsurprisingly, considering the size of the tobacco sector in Indonesia, an estimated 60 percent of them labor in the tobacco sector.
In a recent report, the U.S. Department of Labor (DoL) attested Indonesia had made “moderate advancement” in 2019 in its efforts to eradicate the worst forms of child labor, which include commercial sexual exploitation and performing dangerous tasks in plantation agriculture. In addition to publishing a report with the most recent data on child labor, Indonesia’s government had increased its labor inspectorate funding from $10.2 million in 2018 to $16.7 million in 2019, with specific funds allocated to enforcing child labor regulations, according to the DoL. The country’s Ministry of Manpower, however, still lacked the financial and staff resources to fully enforce child labor laws throughout the country, the DoL study found, and there was no information available on the number of investigations conducted, violations found, prosecutions initiated and convictions secured.
Although Indonesia has ratified the key international conventions concerning child labor, 3.7 percent of the country’s 10-year-olds to 14-year-olds are working, the DoL report said. The majority (61.6 percent) work in agriculture where they fulfill tasks such as harvesting kernels for palm oil or applying fertilizer to tobacco. Many of them work long hours in extreme heat, a condition also considered hazardous for children. The minimum age for work in Indonesia is 15 years and that for hazardous work is 18.
Several institutions have been established to enforce child labor laws. The Ministry of Manpower, for example, provides legal information to employers and works with law enforcement officials to investigate and address instances of child labor. The Ministry of Women Empowerment and Child Protection coordinates the provision of social services to children, including those involved in child labor. Labor inspectors are regularly trained; they are authorized to conduct unannounced inspections and assess penalties. To coordinate its efforts down to the local level, the government has established regional action committees and task forces at provincial and district levels. A National Plan of Action (NPA) provides a framework for the elimination of child labor, whereas a roadmap toward a child labor-free Indonesia in 2022 supports implementation of the NPA for the elimination of the worst forms of child labor. Social programs provide block grants for schools and cash transfer programs.
Difficult mission
Karina Jabulatova
Despite increased efforts, eradicating child labor within the next two years will be a tall order, in part due to the country’s demographic and geographical particularities. With 267 million people, Indonesia is the world’s fourth most populous country. Its 17,508 islands make it the largest archipelago in the world. Half of the population lives in Java. Agriculture employs roughly one-third of the workforce.
The country is also the world’s second-largest cigarette market, after China, and ranks fifth among global top tobacco producers. Six million Indonesians are involved in the tobacco industry. Smoking prevalence is high, standing at 29 percent among people aged 15 and older. Indonesia also struggles with significant child smoking. In 2018, the Health Ministry reported 0.7 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 were smokers.
“There are many challenges, the most recent one being the Covid-19 pandemic. We are supporting the government in the implementation of child labor-free policies, and maintaining this positive relationship with the government is always a priority for us,” says Karima Jambulatova, executive director of the Eliminating Child Labor in Tobacco-Growing (ECLT) Foundation, which is present in the country as a founding member of the Partnership for Action Against Child Labor (PAACLA) and its Kesempatan project.
The latter project was initiated in 2019 in five districts in East Java Province and West Nusa Tenggara Province—Indonesia’s largest tobacco planting areas—to reduce the prevalence of child labor in the agriculture sector. At the subnational level, the program advocates child-friendly villages through engagement with local institutions, information dissemination for members of the village community, including farmers and farm workers, and activities for children. The PAACLA partnership works toward eliminating all forms of child labor by 2025 in line with the UN Sustainable Development Goals and is coordinated by the government. According to the ECLT, this cross-sector initiative promotes shared accountability and strong commitments necessary to mitigate the risk of child labor and promote sustainable change.
Stephanie Garde
To support the government’s efforts, ECLT closely cooperates with various stakeholders and helps by providing models and best practices. “Our project in Indonesia focuses on prevention of child labor, on protecting children’s needs and rights and on increased commitment in the villages,” says Stephanie Garde, ECLT’s program manager. “The child-friendly village approach modeled from the namesake government program and implemented by the project includes activity centers where children get support doing their homework or do sports and other educational activities instead of hanging around the fields.”
Child labor in Indonesia usually occurs in informal settings, whereas laws and conventions are better placed to cover formal employment, Jambulatova explains. “The problem with child labor on smallholder farms, where income-generating crops like tobacco are grown alongside food crops, is that the whole family often goes to work to meet their needs,” she says. “Obviously, there is no employment contract between children and their parents. ECLT’s programs are designed to not simply remove children from child labor in one supply chain but to adopt a more systemic response focusing on cross-sector collaboration and multistakeholder engagement, which support government efforts to make sure no child is left behind.”
When talking about child labor, it is necessary to understand its nature. “The causes of child labor are far-reaching and complex, including poverty and lack of access to quality education and infrastructure,” says Jambulatova. “As with anything that affects the way people live, these issues become part of cultural practices as well, meaning that encouraging change also requires investment in awareness-raising to shift mindsets. To bring long-lasting change for children and their families, we need to understand the root causes of child labor and how they relate to each other in a wider system.”
A question of awareness
Eradicating child lavor is made more challenging due to farmers’ heavy dependence on the tobacco. There is less government support available to diversify their incomes with complementary crops than in other countries. What’s more, most farmers in Indonesia also don’t own the land they cultivate. During the harvesting season, it is common that neighbors come with their children and help.
Elimination of child labor is further complicated by the structure of the Indonesian tobacco market. While leading multinational manufacturers and leaf merchants are members of the ECLT and PAACLA and have committed themselves to keep their farms free of child labor, some of the domestic companies still have work to do. Moreover, a large number of “free” tobacco farmers sell their tobacco to traders and middlemen, which makes tracing within supply chains more difficult. Many small-scale farmers prefer selling their tobacco to these middlemen as they can sometimes offer higher prices than those fixed at the beginning of a season through contract farming.
ECLT member companies represent only approximately 35 percent of the tobacco sector in Indonesia. There is, however, progress among domestic manufacturers. “Some national companies are moving to vertical integration, with suppliers to these companies also opening up to this,” says Jambulatova. “PAACLA presents a unique opportunity for national companies to form a part of a partnership for the elimination of child labor specifically in Indonesia to step up to the challenge and close the gaps for sustainable change.”
As in many countries, tobacco in Indonesia is grown only during a short period of the year. During the remaining months, the farmers cultivate other crops, such as rice. “This is why we can’t limit our support to farmers to the tobacco supply chain only,” says Jambulatova. “It’s not a supply chain issue but an agricultural issue. Until there are collaboration and investment to address root causes and fight child labor across crops, we risk simply pushing children out of tobacco fields and into another crop down the road or during another season.
“The fact that this is a global issue across regions and industries shows that no one actor can solve this alone. Our long-term strategic vision is to engage across crops and levels building commitments and coordination that support economic growth for thriving farming communities free of child labor. We invite the government, companies and other industries to renew and deepen commitments so that we can reach this necessary goal as fast as the UN Sustainable Development Goals demand.”
Stefanie Rossel is Tobacco Reporter’s editorial contributor. An experienced trade journalist, she combines sharp reporting skills with in-depth knowledge of the tobacco and vapor industries. Prior to joining Tobacco Reporter, Stefanie was editor-in-chief at Tobacco Journal International, where she worked for a decade. Fluent in English, German and French, Stefanie covers tobacco news around the world. She is based in Germany.
Japan Tobacco (JT) has been recognized under the 2021 Certified Health & Productivity Management Outstanding Organizations Recognition Program, also commonly known as the “White 500,” in the large enterprise category for the fifth consecutive year.
KT&G received an AA rating in Morgan Stanley Capital International’s (MSCI) environment, social and government (ESG) index evaluation—one level higher than it received last year and the highest score for a Korean company.
