Estée Lauder: how a female founded company continues to empower

Tell us about the history of the company and Mrs Estée Lauder – what challenges did she experience when establishing a female-led company?

We often speak about Mrs Estée Lauder, the eponymous founder of the company, as having a ‘challenger spirit’.  She was ahead of her time in every way, challenging the traditional female stereotype of that period, creating and running a prestigious and pioneering company while being a wife and raising a family.

The world has changed dramatically since Mrs Estée Lauder started her business in 1946, but its commitment to the beauty of belonging is as relevant and inspiring to women of all generations today as it has ever been.

How has that legacy continued with the advancement of female leadership within the company today?

The company was built on the principles of equality and women’s advancement and launched in the UK in 1960, a source of employment and opportunity ever since. Today, I’m proud to say that 75% of our leadership team and 90% of our workforce in the UK & Ireland are women. I’m also proud that almost 64% of our supply chain employees are female – an impressive figure when you consider that the industry average in the UK is just 13%. Across our organisation, talented and dynamic women are leading from every chair.

The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) UK & Ireland’s 2021 strategy on women’s equity —Opening Doors: Women’s Advancement and Gender Equality — honours our history and sets our sights to the future by strengthening a culture of inclusion and diversity, advocacy, flexibility and engagement. Its aim is to level the playing field for all genders, inside and outside of ELC.

How does ELC position itself to attract the best the job market can offer in terms of female talent?

Women hold 59% of positions at the global vice president level and above, and 44% of board seats. That tells women looking at the company, you can be successful, you can be anything you want at this company because we’ve demonstrated that. Not just this year or last year, but over the whole course of our history.

That’s why we have an ongoing commitment to learning. We offer our employees a leadership development programme designed to help them develop the skills they need to lead, such as communication, resilience and leadership. We also believe the skills gap needs to be addressed and have almost 90 female apprentices enrolled on our ELC Elevates Programme, a 24-month Apprenticeship Programme, focusing on qualifications that support critical areas of the business such as Data Analytics, Digital Marketing, Content Production and Leadership. We also have 18 individuals who have joined us through the UK government’s new Kickstart scheme which sees 16–24-year-olds develop transferable skills for sustained employment. We see the challenges and opportunities ahead and we know that we must work to advance women, wherever they are.

Unconscious bias training is mandatory for all employees across all levels, brands and functions, to help ensure that our employees have a deep understanding of issues surrounding equality and the workplace,

We also believe that providing an array of benefits and support meets the needs of our employees and their families to allow them to be at their best in all aspects of their lives, including 20 weeks of fully paid maternity leave, adoption leave, or shared parental leave and emergency back-up child or elder care.

How is the ELC using its influence to improve the lives and opportunities for women outside the organisation?

As a company, we met our 2020 goal to influence the well-being of 10 million individuals around the world through our programmes and grants focused on health, education and environment. As part of this, we aim is to help women and girls worldwide acquire the necessary life and leadership skills to become healthy and productive adults who can effect lasting change and break the cycle of poverty.

We’ve joined the United Nations Foundation’s Five for 5 Initiative, advancing gender equality and empowering all women and girls, by 2030. As Sara Moss, our Vice Chairman, writes in an opinion piece for IWD today, “Both the challenges and opportunities ahead inspire our work to achieve gender and racial equality that will ensure a sustainable, equitable future for all. We continue to be awed by the strength of women around the world, particularly knowing that women and girls disproportionately bear the negative impacts of global crises, including job loss, unequal caregiving responsibilities, interrupted education and access to health and social services.”

Locally in the UK, we support programmes that prepare girls and young women to find work through education, training and apprenticeships. Last March, we pledged a quarter of a million pounds to help fund Young Women’s Trust's Work It Out programme and The Prince’s Trust’s Women Supporting Women initiative.  We also have social investments in programmes with The National Literacy Trust to support young girls’ literacy and which address gender stereotypes at an early age.

Finally, what advice do you have to businesses challenging themselves to create more opportunities for women?

Our tagline for this year's International Women’s Day speaks not just to the approach that ELC UK & Ireland takes, but the potential that all workplaces have to drive initiatives that promote gender equity. Any business can seize the initiative and start the conversation but should be aware that making noise doesn’t necessarily equate to making progress. Understand your current challenges, set targets for where you want to get, measure and report, and model the change you want to see from the highest levels of leadership.

Like Mrs Lauder, choose to challenge and #Leadthechange.