Consumer Foods Sector – John Keells Group

Q: How do you view this year’s International Women’s Day theme – ‘Inspire Inclusion’?

A: In the Consumer Food Sector (CFS), creating an inclusive workplace starts with strong leadership where we have around 25 percent female representation at the top management level. Our group’s leadership has taken the ONE JKH ‘Champions of Change’ pledge, reinforcing their commitment to ensuring inclusivity, challenging stereotypes and a zero tolerance for discrimination in the organisation. This pledge includes their commitment to inspire others when speaking at forums and other platforms, on the value of working towards achieving gender parity and the business case for diversity, equity and inclusivity (DE&I). When we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world. And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there’s a sense of belonging, relevance and empowerment.

Samindhi Unamboowe
Manager Planning & Strategy
Frozen Confectionery, Ceylon Cold Stores

Q: SMEs are emerging again after being hit by the economic crisis… So how should Sri Lanka support female entrepreneurs?

A: Empowering women creates positive impacts on families, society and the country. Across the group, we implement sustainable initiatives focussed on women’s empowerment, spanning education and livelihood development. At Ceylon Cold Stores, programmes in our value chain are aimed at this. Through Gunadamin, Elephant House has established the first female-led plastic collection centre, creating over 200 job opportunities. Additionally, our Dinannee programme employs women in ice cream selling operations, fostering self-employment and enhancing sales channels. These efforts not only empower women but also acknowledge their contributions to the economy.

Dilshani Edirisinghe
Head of Marketing – Beverages, Ceylon Cold Stores
Assistant Vice President – John Keells Group

Q: How has your organisation adopted new working norms to encourage more women to join the workforce?

A: The group’s CFS has embraced agile working, enabling increased productivity by minimising commute times and reducing stress while fostering a healthier work-life balance at the office level. At factories, introducing work on a roster basis, providing transport and enhancing sanitary facilities are some initiatives adopted to encourage female participation.  This enhances the quality of work, providing a sense of fulfilment, particularly for women who often juggle multiple responsibilities. Flexible working also promotes greater focus, mitigating potential distractions that could otherwise impact output quality. This integration seamlessly aligns with the cultural ethos and is strengthened through the group level formal policy supporting it.

Chrishmali Fernando
Manager Planning & Strategy
Beverages, Ceylon Cold Stores

Q: While Sri Lanka celebrates female leadership in corporates, there’s room to grow… So how can local organisations ensure that boardrooms and ‘C-suites’ have equitable representation of men and women?

A: Women remain significantly underrepresented in C-suite positions with a limited presence in operational, and profit and loss (P&L), responsibilities. Most businesses have women in administrative or support roles rather than operational leadership. Addressing this requires targeted measures such as leadership training, mentoring and sponsoring, and flexible work arrangements. Increasing female representation in operational and P&L roles is crucial. At the CFS, women hold 25 percent of top management positions and 50 percent at the board level. Leveraging initiatives through ONE JKH, we aim to enhance female leadership representation. These efforts underscore our commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Nelindra Fernando
Executive Director/Executive Vice President/Chief Financial Officer
Consumer Foods Sector, John Keells Holdings

Q: What can organisations do to address the loss of women employees at mid-career?

A: Providing support for women in the workforce who are in caregiver positions will help reduce the leak in the female leadership pipeline mid-career. The group’s introduction of an equal 100 days of parental leave in 2022 is one such initiative where men in the group can also take 100 days within the first 200 days of the birth or adoption of a child. This not only recognises the role of both parents in early childhood development but also provides support to partners in the workforce outside the group by creating an environment that aids more mothers to return to work while also eliminating discrimination associated with recruiting women due to potential instances of maternity leave.

Chamila Jayasooriya
Manager Human Resources
Keells Food Products

Q: How do you measure the success of gender diversity and inclusion initiatives in your organisation?

A: The long-term DE&I initiatives of the CFS of the group are aligned with the focus areas of ONE JKH – one of which is increasing female participation in the workforce and value chains. Transparency of the impact of these initiatives is important so that we strive to ensure an inclusive work culture and stakeholder confidence. For example, the CFS has set annual goals to support the group’s goal to reach 40 percent women by 2025/26 through interventions such as employer supported childcare, encouraging women into nontraditional roles and unbiased recruitment. These initiatives are driven by cross-functional teams and periodic reporting is ensured to the leadership – while progress and initiatives are communicated through annual reports and other platforms.

Iromica Jayasuriya
Head – Consumer & Market Insights
Consumer Foods Sector, John Keells Holdings

Q: How does the organisation support women’s participation in nontraditional roles?

A: The sales function in the CFS is considered to be nontraditional for women due to factors such as long-distance travel; longer working hours; and in the Sri Lankan context, a negative perception. Despite difficulties in recruiting females into male dominated industries through awareness sessions on unconscious bias and ‘de-stigmatisation’ of gendered roles, the sector has made strides in recruiting and retaining females. We are proud that they’ve even been recognised at the Sri Lanka Institute of Marketing (SLIM) National Sales Awards by winning gold under the ‘front-liners’ category two years consecutively. This is a testament to the business case for diversity when true meritocracy is at play.

Ishani Kulathunga
Head of Modern Trade
Consumer Foods Sector, John Keells Holdings

Q: What steps has the organisation taken to eliminate gender pay gaps and ensure equal compensation?

A: The group is a true meritocracy, and the CFS deploys its compensation and benefits policy based on the related yardsticks – based on performance management policies, which highlight an individual’s performance, to reach collective goals against any gender-based considerations, and the existing collective agreements on similar pay for every employee irrespective of gender. Any gender stereotypes or biases in the organisation are addressed not only through ONE JKH interventions but also our code of conduct and zero tolerance for discrimination.

Nisansala Paranayapa
Senior Vice President/Head of Human Resources
Consumer Foods Sector, John Keells Holdings

Q: How does your organisation promote mentorship and sponsorship programmes to support the career advancement of women?

A: The CFS has a multifaceted approach to mentoring and supporting career advancements of women. This includes fostering a supportive workplace culture, demonstrating leadership commitment, offering resources and practising inclusion. A primary objective is the structured women-centric programmes – focussed on education, engagement and networking opportunities for women employees. The organisation has sought to implement goals for women’s career advancements and encourage them to take on nontraditional roles. Additionally, the CFS ensures that cross-functional tier-based mentoring takes place during the career promotion process on a needs basis.

Isuru Perera
Senior Manager Learning & Development
Consumer Foods Sector, John Keells Holdings

Q: What is your vision for businesswomen in Sri Lanka in 2024 and beyond?

A: A woman’s role in business is shaped not only by her individual strength but also factors such as workplace empowerment and work-life balance. The CFS has empowered women in multiple ways including equal parental leave, allowing physical and mental relief though the group’s SanNap programme, and promoting flexible work patterns. In future, corporates must continue to consider the empowerment businesswomen require in terms of family commitments while families will also need to support the commitments of professional life. Corporates can also support challenging negative societal norms that prevent women from contributing to the economy.

Indika Silva
Manager Quality Assurance
Ceylon Cold Stores

Q: What does or will it take to achieve inclusivity in Sri Lanka?

A: Gender equality is crucial for both social progress and economic growth. This has become a focus point among corporations to promote inclusivity. Businesses understand that targeting women as employees, entrepreneurs, consumers and leaders can enhance competitiveness and profitability. While we prioritise inclusivity at the CFS through the long-term initiatives of ONE JKH, we also encourage female participation through our value chain. By advocating for gender inclusivity, we aim to drive positive change and recognise it as a necessity for success.

Archchana Vekneswaran
Senior Manager – Financial Planning & Analysis
Ceylon Cold Stores

Q: Are workplaces in Sri Lanka doing enough to inspire inclusion – especially when it comes to women?

A: Corporations can inspire female inclusion by implementing policies that ensure equal opportunities and pay equity, offering diversity training, establishing mentorship programmes and providing flexible work arrangements. I’m proud to be a part of an organisation that has several initiatives that ensure inclusivity for women in our sector. Employer supported childcare is one such initiative under ONE JKH that helps women in the sector with young children to continue to be in the workforce.

Thushani Wijewickrama
Assistant Vice President/Head of Tax
Consumer Foods and Retail Sector, John Keells Holdings