British American Tobacco - British American Tobacco

BAT has marked International Women's Day with a focus on our individual responsibility to build a gender equal world.

The theme of International Women’s Day (IWD) – a global initiative that happens annually on 8 March – is #EachforEqual. It calls on people to value different perspectives, challenge stereotypes, recognise unconscious bias and broaden perceptions to ensure we create a gender-equal world.

We have participated in the IWD campaign to raise awareness among our people around gender diversity, share our progress, celebrate women’s achievements, launch new initiatives and make new commitments.

Last week, IWD was marked by our people around the world. At our head office in London, we held an event featuring a panel discussion and talks from senior female leaders at BAT, including Hae In Kim – Director, Talent and Culture; Simi Dubb – Group Head of Talent Development and D&I; and Dr. Lisa Smith – MD, Ventures.

They shared their personal stories, bringing to life their experiences throughout the years of professional growth. Some of their tips included: strive to be the best in what you do while staying true to yourself; celebrate each other’s contributions and achievements; connect and support the women around us; and call out and signpost the positive behaviours that help to foster inclusivity and diversity.

Simi Dubb said: “Diversity and inclusion is critical to our organisational growth. Valuing different perspectives requires us to examine our individual actions, behaviours and mindsets and how this impacts on our ability to make others feel valued and make informed business decisions.”

Increasing the level of senior female representation in our business is a long-standing priority for BAT and we’ve come a long way in driving gender diversity across the company. We more than doubled the representation of women in our senior management roles from 11% in 2012 to 23% in 2019. Last year also saw increased female representation on our Management Board with two new female members.

Our commitment to marking IWD is evident in our second-time recognition by the organisers as one of the best private sector companies in terms of impact and innovation in IWD celebrations. We were also recognised as a diversity leader in 2019 by the UK’s Financial Times in its inaugural Diversity Leaders report.