Living our values

Unilever enthusiastically embraces the role that we play in building a nation that reflects the South African society, with opportunities for everybody and sustainable outcomes. We also believe that transformation is not about numbers and statistics — it is about the hearts and minds of everyone with whom we interact, hence we call it Creating an Inclusive Culture.

This is about encouraging an environment of inclusion that encourages employees to be successful, with opportunities for everybody. It’s an approach that benefits our people and customers. By valuing our differences, we build on our individual, team and organisational strengths. This makes all the differ- ence in the world. In October 2014, the leadership team, together with the Diversity Steering Committee, introduced the diversity workshops called CIC — Creating an Inclusive Culture. The primary reason being that we understand that our people come from all different walks of life, they have different frames of references, therefore when we say, we will help create an inclusive culture by living our values every day … Respect to each and every individual means something different, depending on their culture. So these workshops seek to raise diversity awareness through unpacking unconscious biases, linking inclusivity to our values and business success, and thereby Unilever remains a game changer in the market.

Ninety percent of our management staff have done the workshops. We started right at the top to emphasise leadership commitment and ownership of this wonderful journey we have embarked on. —