Only one-fifth of all women in top management at the top-selling sports apparel companies are female. This is the result of our SGI analysis on the occasion of International Women’s Day 2022. It’s a different story at ingredient brand Polygiene. Here, 4 of the 6 senior managers are female, and the entire team is also made up of 18 different nationalities. We spoke to CEO Ulrika Björk. She believes the small, everyday steps are so important on the road to greater equality. At the same time, she says, ”I encourage diversity, but it will never come with a cost of performance or for the sake of.”
What should decision-makers do to promote diversity?
Gender equality is part of the United Nations 17 Global Goals to show the importance of empowering girls and woman for a more equal and peaceful world. This is a good example of how you can highlight a problem and create awareness. If a company from the board level believes this is important and decide to pay attention, the management and the rest of the company will follow. A good start is to appoint more women to the boards of directors. That is the first step to break the norms to get creditability and walk the talk.
Where do you see the sports and outdoor industry in ten years with regard to diversity, and why?
I can already see a difference only in the past years since I joined the industry. It’s a phenomenon that is happening across the society in general and in our company Polygiene as well. I believe this is something that will continue even more, moving into the future, which is positive.
It’s always said you can be what you can see. Who is a role model for you?
I never specifically had a female role model. I don’t know if it’s because there have been few women leaders in my work life or that competence, experience, and suitability have nothing to do with gender. I believe in diversity with a mix of gender, age, and nationality in a healthy and inspirational mix. That is how I built the team in Polygiene, where we have more than 18 different nationalities out of 50 people, making us a strong team in a global world. I encourage diversity, but it will never come with a cost of performance or for the sake of. Today we have more women than men in the senior management team, which is the first time it has happened in my career. I have been part of several management teams, and often I have been the only woman.
To what extent do we, ourselves, constantly manifest the status quo? Where do we - who have whatever identity - need to become more sensitive or act differently?
As a female CEO in a listed company, I hope to be a role model myself somehow. On Nasdaq (Sweden), the women in this position have grown by 25 percent the previous year, which is a record; at the same time, we are still only 12% of the total amount of CEOs. Recently I became a mentor for two female students at the Business School of Economics at the University Lund. I am part of a network for female students, where the purpose is to inspire young women in their careers and encourage them to become whatever they want in life. I have four kids myself, and I hope I have inspired my three daughters that they don’t need to choose between career and family. Change starts with people waking up every morning thinking differently from yesterday and acting in a new direction. That is how change is created, bit by bit.
Marketing and communication manifest role models / clichés - but can also break them up / consciously play with them. Can you name an exemplary campaign or a grievance in this regard?
The challenge with marketing is that it tends to capitalize on current affairs or global discussions to place brands into the conversation and drive awareness and hopefully sales. This often means that the message is short-lived with very little substance for single-day events such as International Women’s Day.
As a brand, we believe that every day should be approached in a manner of inclusion, equality and acceptance and that women should not just need one day to be lifted into the light but that ongoing actions will create the needed change towards a world where we don’t need a special day to highlight women.
Thank you, Ulrika, for the interview.
Do you want to know about Sara Molnar’s perspective on that topic? Find the interview of the CEO of Peak Performance here.
