Being a Woman at Croda – International Women’s Day 2020

International Women’s Day is celebrated annually on the 8th March to recognise and celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. The theme this year is #EachForEqual, which is highlighting how everyone has a responsibility for creating a more gender equal world. At Croda, we are marking International Women’s Day by celebrating the work we are doing to support and foster a fair and equal workplace, because when women can thrive, everyone benefits from a healthier, wealthier and more harmonious world.”

What is it like being a woman at Croda?
In terms of culture, Croda works hard on supporting women so that personal lives or gender bias does not stop a career from progressing. From celebrating days like today and providing adequate work facilities for women to feel comfortable in, Croda are striving for a workplace in which women are able to thrive. Our guiding values of ‘Responsible’, ‘Innovative’ and ‘Together’ foster behaviours that generate an inclusive energy in the workplace. It’s great to see such a large number of women in senior leadership positions within the Personal Care team at Croda (including Sector President, Sandra Breene),  providing inspiration and aspiration for women at Croda and across the industry to believe and be able to see that being a woman is no barrier to progression. 

Jennifer Hart, Managing Director at Croda Personal Care says “There are many types of leaders at Croda and gender is just one of the points of variation. In my work at Croda, I always feel that the organisation recognises the value of diversity of thinking and wants to make sure that the people who bring this diversity are able to give their best.”

What are Croda doing to help #EachForEqual?
Looking at wider at commitments our business has made, Croda recently formalised its commitment to balanced recruitment short-lists: always seeking an even split of male and female candidates in the late stages of selecting a new colleague. Recently, we hired two female operators to work at manufacturing sites in the UK in roles that have traditionally been filled by men due to our policy on gender balanced short-listing for recruitment meaning women are more likely to be successful in getting a role that tends to be male dominated. These are steps in the right direction. Last year, we implemented a new global standard for paternity leave, so that globally, we have a minimum standard of 16 weeks’ full pay for maternity or adoption leave for the primary carer and 2 weeks’ for the secondary carer. 

Across our global Research and Technology functions, the gender split is 45% female and 55% male: not yet balanced but closer to balanced than is generally found in the chemical industry. At Croda, we are passionate about truly understanding consumer needs and for us to effectively formulate and innovate for the personal care market, it is important for us to strive for a diverse workforce so that our scientists can bring a broad range of experiences and diversity of thinking into their work. 

To find out more about International Women’s Day and the work they do, click here https://www.internationalwomensday.com/