QA with Claudia Jañez, President and General Manager of DuPont Mexico - Viewpoint - careers advice blog Viewpoint careers advice blog

QA with Claudia Jañez, President and General Manager of DuPont Mexico - Viewpoint - careers advice blog In this interview, Claudia Jañez, President and General Manager of DuPont Mexico, shares her experience of gender diversity in the workplace, her progression into a leadership role and provides insight into our survey results. In January 2015, Claudia Jañez took over as President and General Manager of DuPont Mexico, Central America and the Caribbean, in addition to continuing her work as Legal and Government Affairs Director for the same geographic region, a position she has held since 2011. As well these roles, she is the Secretary of the Management Council for all legal entities of DuPont in Mexico and represents DuPont in various associations and groups, such as the American Chamber of Commerce. During 2015, Claudia was named as one of the most Powerful Business Woman in the country by Expansion and Forbes Mexico magazines. With over 11 years of experience at the company, she has had a long career in legal, corporate and government affairs for multinational companies, such as Ford, Credit Mexico, PepsiCo Bebidas and General Electric. Claudia earned her law degree from La Salle University, graduating with honours. She also specialised in Commercial and Financial Law at the Panamerican University. Claudia holds a diploma in Mediation from Harvard Law School and a master’s degree in Business Administration (MEDEX) from the Panamerican Institute of Senior Company Management (IPADE). 1. Tell us about your progression into your leadership role I’ve been in a leadership role for almost 20 years. My primary motivation for these roles has been to help people improve their careers. I’m convinced that companies are made by people. An organisation can have the best products and processes, but if it doesn’t have the right people, it will fail. My entire professional career has been spent working in American companies. I’ve held different types of leadership roles and I enjoy being a leader, not only because I can improve the company but also because I’m able to help people progress. I focus on being open and having direct contact with the people I work with. We are currently going through some big changes, so the challenge as a country is to keep people focused. I began my career as a lawyer and I also have an MBA in business. My legal background has helped me in many different aspects of leadership. I’ve always been in roles that are very challenging and I feel my early studies in law and business created a strong foundation to build on in these new roles. 2. Did you always aspire to reach a leadership role in your career? I think I’ve always been a leader in some way or another, since an early age. When you’re growing up you display specific attitudes in tune with leadership. I first became part of a leadership team with I was working for Ford. I was only 27 and was heading up a large legal department. I felt I was young to have this position and it was a challenge but something I really enjoyed. 3. In Mexico 63% of women feel they have the opportunity in their current role to sufficiently promote themselves and communicate their ambitions, compared to 80% of men. Does this surprise you? It’s good to hear that in Mexico we’re doing better than the global percentages. However I don’t think that success should be associated with managerial positions. Nowadays you can consider yourself successful regardless of whether you are in a managerial position or not. Companies are becoming more flat in terms of structure, which means people are more self-managerial. I think that success is linked with what you want in life. It is not just about positions or about managing people. If you are doing something you love and that you are passionate about, then you are successful. For women there are many aspects of our lives that make us feel successful, not just professionally. For me I have a son and so my role as General Manager is important but not the only part of my life that makes me feel accomplished. 4. Our survey doesn’t cover the science sector but what is your experience of gender diversity in this industry? DuPont was established over two centuries ago. I think that since its very beginnings the most important aspect of the company was its people and the science itself. Our former CEO, Ellen Kullman was the first woman to lead DuPont (she retired last October). In my case I’m the first women to run DuPont in Mexico. The fact that I’m also working in the science and technology sector, an industry where there are very few women, is helping gender diversity in this sector and in many others. I am really happy to help other women grow within the DuPont and improve their skills! 5. Our survey revealed that globally 12% of women feel that to be successful they would need to reach an MD/CEO position. Compared to 18% of men. Does this surprise you? As I mentioned before I don’t think success is strictly related to job titles, it is more about the role you want work to play in your life. I think men are more focused on their professional career and gauge career success against success in their personal life. Also to be offered the opportunity to lead a company you need previous leadership experience. If more men are in leadership roles this suggests there is a similar gap further down the pipeline, between men and women in lower positions as well as in leadership roles. 6. In your opinion is there a difference between how men and women plan to progress in their careers? Do you think that there are any differences within the science sector? I think that organisations are now more open about career opportunities, especially when working in global companies where you have more scope to build your own career plan. At DuPont we have a career development plan where you can define the tasks in your role and build ahead five to eight years. Being able to plan where you want to be and what you want to be doing is really helpful for young people. I do believe that men and women plan their careers differently but this is not a bad thing. Most significantly women have children, which is the key differentiating factor around how women plan their careers. It is important for women to have a plan; to stay focused and look ahead. Women need to know what they want their careers to be. Working in a global company in Mexico helps when planning your career. The processes we have here are the same as in England, Switzerland, and China etc. We are not as dependant on local culture. We have strong processes in place and a strong corporate culture in terms of diversity. Locally gender diversity is improving in Mexico but we still have a long way to go. Manufacturing is one of the biggest sectors, it is very male dominated but we are on track to bring more women into this sector. We are progressing. 7. Have you encountered any gender specific challenges or obstacles in your career? Since the beginning of my career I have never considered myself different. I started working when I was studying at law school and I have never thought that being a woman made me different. I recognised that I had to work a bit harder to prove I was focused on my career. Now, 20 years later, it is much easier because I am in a leadership position and I do not have to prove I am competent, this has been formalised in my role. I think gender obstacles are a matter of attitude. If you work hard and are willing to make the effort, you will develop and progress. It can be tiring and it’s not easy but it is worth it. 8. Globally, 44% of respondents said that their organisation did not have formal gender policies in place and 28% weren’t sure. Are you surprised by this? Do you think this is the same in Mexico? I imagine the percentages would be even lower in Mexico. I’ve been lucky enough to have always worked for global American companies where there are set diversity policies in place. I think that the new generation of workers (Millennial) are changing the status quo. They have different priorities i.e. a work/life balance is important. Millennials view their careers differently too; they don’t see themselves as men or women. At DuPont we are very open and have diversity policies in place which is designed to ensure fairness for all regardless of gender or religion etc. One of our four core values is respect for people, which means that diversity is part of our culture. I couldn’t lead a company if I didn’t think it was diverse and anti-discriminatory. I believe you need diversity for better results, better opinions. 9. Globally, 45% of women do not think they have the same career opportunities as men. What do you think about this? This is certainly a general thought across the world. I believe we need to change our mind-set. There are many organisations globally and in Mexico that offers the same opportunities to men and women. In structured companies you have levels and salaries, so if you are at an entry level for example you will be on the same salary as your male counterparts. 10. Globally respondents (both male and female) believe that the following initiatives will have the biggest impact on gender diversity in the workplace: flexible working practices and education across the organisation to change workplace culture. What do you think about this? What initiatives exist in your company? I do agree. I think the best initiatives are those that impact people’s work/life balance, especially as Millennials value this above other aspects of work such as pay. At DuPont in Mexico we have flexi time. Our Headquarters are in Mexico City but we have employees based all over Mexico, so it is important that people have the option to work from home â€" whether you are male or female. I think it is harder to be a leader now than maybe 10 or 20 years ago. Leaders are expected to guide, educate and be close to their employees. We are expected to implement processes and policies in the right way and create a culture that allows people to self-develop. Companies are not only expected to deliver results but they are expected to improve people’s lives. 11. Globally, 64% of respondents, both male and female, think there is equal pay between genders. This is the same percentage compared to last year. Does this surprise you? It doesn’t surprise me and I think it depends which sector you are working in i.e. a public or private sector, a large or small company. In DuPont I can almost assure you that there is equal pay between genders. It is important to take the whole compensation package into account, not just basic salary. When there are no formal compensation policies, people can negotiate or employers will be able to make certain decisions based on gender. In a global company these policies exist and employees have the right to understand why their compensation package is what it is and why someone might be getting paid more than you. 12. The gender pay gap is a hot topic at the moment. In the UK there are plans to bring forward rules to make firms with more than 250 workers reveal whether they pay men more than women. What impact do you think this will have on gender diversity in the workplace? I think this would be great and I’d be eager to know the results. Transparency would be an advantage but what is going to happen once this policy is implemented? What is the next step? It’s not just about revealing the information but about what you do with this information. Companies will need to explain what new initiatives will be implemented to reduce the pay gap, if it exists. But I definitely think that we need to implement more actions globally to ensure there is equal pay between genders. 13. Do you have any advice for female professionals who are in, or are looking to work in, a management or leadership role? Firstly, I think that it is important that we keep our feminism and remember that we are women; this is not a bad thing! We should keep our emotions in place as these are characteristics that differentiate us and help define us. We will always be different and should embrace it, take advantage of our differences. It is also essential that you are very clear on what you want in life and what makes you happy. If being a manager makes you happy then great, if being a full-time mother makes you happy then that’s great too.   I believe that happiness and satisfaction is the key to success, no matter what that entails. If you are able to understand what you want in life this will make you a better professional. Finally, be very flexible and do not take situations too personally, otherwise it will have a negative effect on your outlook and performance. If you enjoyed this QA then you might also be interested in our  recently released Global Gender Diversity Report 2016, which you can access via  Slideshare below: Hays Global Gender Diversity Report 2016 from Hays //