Doaa bin Thabit, Contributing Editor, Packaging MEA speaks to James Michael Lafferty, CEO of Fine Hygiene Holding, about the company’s accomplishments and goals in empowering women
The number of women entering the packaging industry is increasing, but in our societies, women do not aspire to work to obtain income only, but also aspire to opportunities that satisfy their ambition to develop and grow in addition to the ability to balance between their work and their families, so that they are not forced to choose between both. Corporates that provided a supportive environment to empower women – especially with regard to maternity policies – and which were pioneers in establishing female’s units, reaped more than they expected and were often amazed as women outperformed the male workers in the field of packaging. As the HR rule says, if you look after your employees, they will look after the business.
This is Fine Hygienic Holding’s story with women empowerment, started 10 years ago with the recruitment of women and creating a stimulating and comfortable environment for them and them growth on both the professional and personal levels until they reached leadership positions.
With more than 50 female workers, Fine’s story of empowering women is truly inspiring and based on the fact that if you create an opportunity to empower women, you will be surprised by their talents and abilities, with their constant eagerness to progress and accomplish in various production lines.
Today, we have a bright present and future for empowering women in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, with whom we believe that women will make a difference.
Packaging MEA Doaa bin Thabit (DT): Tell us about the female-dedicated unit in your factory in KSA.
James Michael Lafferty (JML), Fine Hygiene Holding: Fine Hygienic Holding adheres to key ethics pillars across all business verticals. One of the foundations the company was built on was creating a business environment of meritocracy and opportunity. While we have policies specifically developed to benefit women across all of Fine’s facilities, the dedicated female unit represents the efforts and achievements of a few dedicated females working in KSA.
I am proud to say that Fine was among the very first companies in Saudi Arabia to establish a dedicated unit for females, more than 10 years ago, when the Saudi government approved female Saudi labourers. Fine was one of the first companies to challenge the mindset at the time, through hiring ladies to work in its factory. We started the journey by setting up a dedicated area for female workers in accordance with the Saudi law, and we have passed all inspections by the Ministry of Labour, after which we were granted approval to proceed with hiring the laborers. The female labourers started working on two production lines and, following their outstanding results and dedication, Fine decided to increase the number of working females and to move them to a new and larger area, with additional responsibilities and more production lines. We now have more than 50 female workers. It is worth mentioning that the Saudi female workers have proved to demonstrate higher performance with better quality output than Saudi males. They are productive and can compete in the workplace.
DT: How does this make Fine stand out in the sector?
JML: By creating a culture of meritocracy, we step away from prejudice and pigeonholing. At Fine, we truly believe if you look after your employees, they will look after the business. This ethos has inspired many of our internal HR policies for employee wellness and, crucially, for women in the workplace.
DT: What is the best way to attract more women into the packaging industry?
JML: This is best summed up in one word: opportunity. Not just the opportunity to work in the field they want but also opportunity to achieve professional and personal growth. Women do not want to have families at the cost of their dream job. At Fine, we say you can do both and allow staff the tools to succeed personally and professionally.
DT: The number of women entering the packaging industry is increasing, thus paving the way for more female leadership. However, the pace at which the MEA region is reflecting in this area is much slower than the rest of Asia, Far East and the West. What is needed to accelerate this growth?
JML: I believe it is already being accelerated. If we look at Fine as a microcosm for the region, we’ve seen a dramatic increase of women in leadership roles over the past three years through our policies on diversity, meritocracy and opportunity. We also work to ensure the best talent is retained across the boards. The business does not want to put women in a situation where they are forced to choose between career and family. This mentality has been critical when developing maternity policies.
DT: What programmes and policies has Fine introduced to look after its female talents?
JML: By building a more diversified workplace and fostering a culture of opportunity and fairness, female representation in Fine’s leadership roles has grown from zero to nearly 30% over the past three years, and through our best practice and leadership programmes, Fine works on promoting female talents from within to assume executive and managerial roles. We also offer a world-class maternity leave policy which provides 16 weeks at full pay for new mums, and an additional 16 weeks of unpaid leave. All mothers are eligible for flexible working arrangements and a range of benefits including part-time options, workday reduction and breastfeeding breaks. Additionally, all females are provided an additional day of leave per month to ease menstruation discomfort.
DT: What does the future look like for young Saudi Women?
JML: It’s a very bright future indeed. While Fine Hygienic Holding strives for a diversified workforce across our regional facilities, we see other companies doing the same in KSA. Again, it all comes down to opportunity. The talent is out there and, believe me, they are eager and capable. Present an opportunity that promises real growth and I have no doubt we will see women in more leadership roles very soon.