Firmenich Recognized for Diversity and Inclusion

Firmenich has announced it has been recognized for its leadership in Diversity & Inclusion with the Cercle Suisse des Administratrices Grandes Entreprises Award 2022.

Related: Firmenich Net-Zero Emissions Target Approved by SBTi

The Cercle Suisse des Administratrices is an association that promotes diversity and competencies within governance bodies, with its Board of Directors and management in Switzerland. It was created to give more visibility to the many women playing senior roles on management teams and boards of directors.

The judges recognized Firmenich’s inclusive culture, the representation of women across senior leadership roles, the absence of gender pay gaps and its equitable recruitment, training and mentoring programs. Firmenich was selected as a finalist out of 36 companies and received the award during a ceremony held at the Beau-Rivage Palace in Lausanne.

Since 2018, Firmenich has raised women’s representation in leadership roles to 46% and eliminated gender pay gaps. Firmenich has also expanded flexible working opportunities worldwide, made recruitment and promotion practices more diversity-focused, created diversity and inclusion training and mentoring programs, and enhanced equal representation at all levels including critical pathways to senior management. Since 2020, 50% of Firmenich’s Executive Committee are women.

In addition to achieving gender equality, Firmenich is also focused on raising the bar with targeted action beyond gender. This is about embracing the power of inclusion of minority groups, securing effective representation and engagement of people with different abilities, ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds and sexual orientations.

Building on its achievements, Firmenich’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) strategy sets ambitious 2030 people goals, including commitments on human rights, ethnic pay equity, creating 5,000 job opportunities for youth and continuing to raise the representation of differently-abled people in its workforce to 10%.

Mieke Van de Capelle, chief human resources officer, Firmenich, said, “I am very proud that Firmenich received the 2022 Grandes Entreprises Award from Cercle Suisse des Administratrices. This award recognizes our ongoing efforts in embedding equality across our leadership and senior roles worldwide, as well as across the wider organization. We continue to set the standard for excellence as the best place to work in our industry. While I am very proud of this achievement, we recognize this is a journey. Therefore, we are constantly focusing on new frontiers with targeted actions that go beyond gender. By embracing the power of inclusion, we continue to be a leading creative powerhouse.”

Dominique Faesch, présidente du Prix 2022, Cercle Suisse des Administratrices, said, “Firmenich was selected out of 36 companies and the Jury was particularly appreciative of the voluntary and long-standing commitments of this family-owned global company. The progress and results of its diversity and inclusion programs and the policies across all levels of its organization and its Board of Directors, are among the defining elements that were taken into consideration by the Jury.”

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