Women play a vital role in shaping the future of the drinks industry and by celebrating their achievements, we help to inspire not only our own team, but also the wider sector.
Raising awareness that the world of whisky is inclusive of women in every role and at every level, encourages further investment industry-wide into the next generation of female talent.
We’re proud to have always had a strong female influence at The Glenmorangie Company, with women being integral in shaping our business.
Even in its earliest days, Ann Matheson managed Glenmorangie Distillery for 25 years following her husband, its founder, William Matheson’s death in 1862.
Diversity is something we’ve continued to champion throughout the years. Right now, 40% of our business is made up of women, which is reflected across the business, be it the membership of our executive team, or our apprenticeship programme, where we actively encourage women to apply to join our production team.
While we’re proud of the strides we’ve made, I know that change doesn’t happen overnight.
Having worked in HR for over 25 years, I understand that it’s important for companies to strive to meet the needs of their evolving workforce.
Since joining the company in 2019, I am endlessly inspired by the HR team who work to improve the experience of every person who works with us. We call that our ‘People Promise’ and it underpins all that we do as we strive to become the best employer in Scotland.
From recruitment to career development, through to retirement, we weave wellbeing, inclusion, reward and recognition throughout our employee’s career journey. We are constantly developing and adjusting our offering to reflect the changing world we live in and support all our employees – no matter their stage of life.
All our employees are treated with equity. We know that we all have different backgrounds, and we don't all start from the start from the same place in life, so we strive to find ways to celebrate and embrace this.
It has now been two years since we increased employee paid parental leave. Parents receive 26 weeks at full pay, followed by 15 weeks at 50% pay; with everyone having the right to the same length of paid family leave of up to 52 weeks regardless of their gender, length of service or their route to parenthood. This step change has resulted in us receiving heart-warming feedback from our team members who have been able to take this precious time with their children.
Furthermore, we are a menopause-committed employer, running education sessions to support team members at that stage of life, and help those with family members and colleagues going through the menopause to understand what they may be experiencing.
In addition to our mental health and wellbeing initiatives, we also offer professional support to all our employees.
This includes a first-class benefits package alongside mentoring and coaching programmes through the company, the wider Louis Vuitton Moët Hennessy (LVMH) group, as well as our participation in EllesVMH.
Launched by LVMH in 2007, EllesVMH supports the professional development of women at all levels across the organisation. This programme includes a series of events featuring different topics including career stories, unconscious bias, breaking the glass ceiling and networking skills. This week, female colleagues from Glenmorangie are attending a networking event in London with colleagues across the LVMH group, and I look forward to hearing how much they gain from the experience.
Excellence is something we constantly strive for and the feedback we get from our employees is that we are moving in the right direction. We were awarded Investors in People platinum status in 2021, which is great recognition of our efforts to date.
For me, it is essential to always focus on the human element of human resources.
When approaching problems with practical solutions, we must be fair, act with integrity, listen and be open. We must be progressive and know when it is time to flex and change our approach. For the year ahead, it is our goal to be an exemplar within the industry.
We will continue to develop our offer of support to employees, while encouraging diversity within our workforce through our recruitment and career development programmes.
Maria Rooney is the HR director at The Glenmorangie Company
