When Carla Grant Pickens joined IBM over two decades ago, she was a new mum in search of a job in her late 20s. She knew the US multinational technology company had long been at the forefront of promoting diversity and inclusion, which it still values to this day.
"I had a one-year-old son back then and really wanted to go work for a company that values women, mums and diversity, as well as being supportive. A big global company like IBM has a great reputation in those areas," said Mrs Grant Pickens, now IBM's global chief diversity and inclusion officer.
"I wanted to be in a place where I could continue to grow my career and there would be a support network of leaders to help women at all levels," she told the Bangkok Post during her recent visit to Thailand to join a Global Summit for Women.
CORPORATE LEADER
Founded as the Computing-Tabulating-Recording Company, later renamed IBM, the company has had black and female employees since its establishment in 1911. In 1935, the company established an "equal pay for equal work" policy.
Less than 20 years later, IBM chairman Thomas Watson wrote policy letter No.4, the company's first corporate equal opportunity policy, more than a decade before the US Civil Rights Act.
"We have since expanded our non-discrimination policy to include sexual orientation [in 1984], gender identity and expression [in 2002], and genetics [in 2005]," said Mrs Grant Pickens.
Headquartered in New York, IBM was listed by Human Rights Campaign, an American LGBTQ advocacy group, as a "top 10 company for working mothers", a "top 10 company for dads", and a "top place to work for LGBTQ employees".
With an IBM career spanning 23 years, Mrs Grant Pickens said "diversity and inclusion have been core to the company throughout its history".
"We are really the pioneer in the US for diversity and inclusion. We have been very much focused on equal rights for women," she said, adding that women account for 32-34% of the company's 270,000 employees worldwide.
"We have women who really focus on that agenda based on the region and how they want the organisation to engage women at all levels. They are also included in our recruitment efforts on and off campus, and are also actively involved in community initiatives."
At IBM, female representation has been growing year-on-year, said Mrs Grant Pickens.
"We are above the representation level for the hiring of women globally at about 40% or more. We are making progress, which we are excited about. It has been trending up for over three years now around hiring and representation," she said.
"The thing that really makes us unique is accountability. We set a goal for all of our executives globally. We are in the fifth year, so all our executives globally grow women year-on-year. Our managers, executives, leaders and our units are committed to that."
REAL BENEFITS
While diversity is a useful target to pursue on its own merits, Mrs Grant Pickens said it can also drive improvement in the company's performance.
"It is our belief that diversity and inclusion are key to our company's success and will help propel innovation and expand access to opportunity. This will make IBM a better, stronger company," she said.
"The real benefit of diversity and inclusion is we are able to gain greater innovation and creativity from this diverse team's agility, performance and engagement, and this enables both greater business growth and a positive societal impact.
"Our diversity teams are providing us the opportunity to include our voices at the table. We are also seeing many companies' improvement in revenue and profits from diverse and inclusive teams."
Among the tangible benefits to IBM has been the ability to attract talent.
"The feedback from our employees is this is a place where people feel they can be themselves because we are a diverse company. They feel like this is a safe and supportive environment," said Mrs Grant Pickens.
"That attracts talent. You come as you are and you can be who you want to be. We want people to bring their talents to IBM and our clients. We see these as the benefits of diversity."
She said corporations also have an opportunity to lead and inspire.
"Employees expect their leaders to step up to shape a more inclusive, diverse and equitable workforce. We are at an inflection point in creating a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the world we live in," said Mrs Grant Pickens.
"I do think this is work we are all doing together."
Just as companies are doing their part for stronger female representation in their organisations, so are partners, governments, leaders and heads of state focused on representation to ensure it exists within public services, she said.
"I see a lot of commitment to goals from people like myself to improve women's representation globally," said Mrs Grant Pickens.
Asia has a lot of female entrepreneurs and chief executives, with women accounting for a large part of the workforce.
"That is very impressive. There are some improvements, but there is quite a bit of work still to be done, especially at the top," she said. "This is about board representation, executives and management."
LIFE IN ASIA
Mrs Grant Pickens came to Asia in 2012 and stayed in the region until 2015 as talent strategist for IBM in Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines.
"My job was to grow the market here in Asia, specifically in Asean. This is a growing region for us," she said.
Together with her husband and two children, Mrs Grant Pickens was based in Manila for two years as the country's head of human resources.
The Philippines is the only country she has lived in outside the US.
"The Philippines was my home base for three years, but the first year was more of a regional role strategically, focused on talent strategies for Asean countries to grow our footprint with our clients domestically and globally," she said.
"It was really a lovely experience for my family. It changed their lives forever. Asia has become my second home. I miss it tremendously."
With 15,000 employees, Manila was IBM's largest call centre at the time.
"That figure has changed significantly, but we continue to grow in this region where there is lots of young talent and amazing skills, so I look forward to continue to grow here," said Mrs Grant Pickens.
"I appreciate the positive energy I got from people personally in the Philippines, the curiosity that I have for other cultures, but also the curiosity in terms of how I felt welcomed everywhere I went by everyone. Thailand also has that energy."
LOVE OF SPORTS
The Philippines and the US have one thing in common, which makes Mrs Grant Pickens feel like she fits in well both places.
"I do really enjoy basketball. It's my favourite sport. I love college basketball and the NBA," she said. "I'm in a house of all men -- my husband and two boys -- so I can't help it. But I do enjoy it. Basketball is really big in the states, in high school and in college. I went to a large school that has a really great basketball team."
Her favourite team is the Washington Wizards, while "The King" LeBron James is her preferred player.
"Whenever he plays, I'm there," said Mrs Grant Pickens. "I really root for him. He is amazing."
The Miami Heat's coach is Erik Spoelstra, a Filipino American, who has held the post for 15 years.
"We can't help but be a fan because the coach is Filipino," she said. "We are just big fans and basketball is really big in the Philippines."
