Author: Frans van Houten 

Today, on International Women’s Day, I’d like to share how we at Philips are stepping up to improve our inclusiveness.

We believe our workforce should reflect the societies in which we operate and the customers we serve. We should be inclusive of all people, ideas and new ways of thinking, recognizing that enhanced innovation, performance and employee satisfaction derives from a fully inclusive environment. We are committed to embracing diversity in the broadest sense and determined to offer transparency, fairness and integrity in our processes and ways of working.

I’m convinced that inclusion requires moreintentional actions; a mindset and workplace where every employee’s ideas, knowledge, perspectives, experiences and styles are valued for their uniqueness. And where we should challenge our own unconscious bias and build diverse teams.

We are not yet as diverse as we want to be. This is especially true of gender diversity. Around 36% of our organization are women; with representation reducing to just below 20% at senior leadership level. We’ve made significant progress in the last five years but we are not moving nearly fast enough.

That’s why, today, I am making a commitment, both personally, and on behalf of Philips, to add my signature and commitment to the Catalyst CEO Champions for Change movement. In line with over 50 other CEOs who have done the same.

We commit to the near term goal of 25% women in senior leadership positions by 2020 – and beyond 30% thereafter – by the following means:

·       By continuing to strengthen our diversity and inclusion practices across our organization;

·       Improving the pipeline of women of diverse backgrounds;

·       Empowering women with a strong support system;

·       Identifying and working to reduce structural barriers and unconscious bias;

·       Continuing to build an inclusive workplace culture;

·       Reporting publicly and in partnership with Catalyst our diversity data, and collaborating with other organizations to share learnings.

I believe this approach will help us continuously improve, accelerate change and drive a vibrant, innovative culture in our company. This is very much a leadership challenge and the Philips Executive Committee is as committed as I am to addressing this issue.

At heart, Philips is an innovation company: we are determined to be a company of ‘All Talents’ to fulfill our terrific potential and deliver on our goal to improve the lives of three billion people a year by 2025.

Together, we will make a difference.

Inspired to join our diverse workforce and drive our inclusive culture? Visit our AI-powered careers site: https://www.careers.philips.com/global/

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