For the listed fabric maker, empowering women is not just a moral imperative, it makes good business sense.
Teejay Lanka PLC’s (Teejay) Samadhi Weerakoon, Senior General Manager – EU Business & Synthetic Development, Corporate Communication & CSR, shares insights into what makes the listed-fabric maker a great place for women aspiring to reach the pinnacle of their careers. “As a forward-thinking enterprise, we wholeheartedly champion the exceptional talent that women bring to the table. Recognizing the immense value of diversity, we have spent the past decade developing the necessary frameworks and processes to cultivate a supportive environment for women in our organization. Our dedication to empowering women and their employability is evident by our deliberate efforts and proactive measures to establish a climate conducive to female success,” Weerakoon avers.
Teejay has identified four key areas critical to this mission, including providing department heads with the opportunity to develop female leadership and setting specific goals for them to achieve by a certain period, with the understanding that simply increasing numbers is not enough. The innovative fabric maker, which operates multiple production facilities in India and Sri Lanka, is committed to creating a supportive culture that fosters the emergence of female talent and promotes work-life balance.
“To further advance this cause, we launched an initiative to increase the number of women in leadership positions. We believe that our efforts in these areas will undoubtedly attract more female talent to our organization,” Weerakoon says in this interview. “As members of the leadership team, we are proud to be at the forefront of these efforts, and we remain steadfast in our commitment to creating a workplace where women can thrive”. Excerpts of the interview are as follows.
In what ways is the Teejay culture enabling women to be the best they can be?
Teejay, a historically male-dominated organization in Sri Lanka’s textile manufacturing industry, recognized the value of diversity as it expanded operations beyond the country. In 2015, Teejay developed a distinct and purposeful roadmap, putting in place frameworks and procedures to recruit more women into various roles, including manufacturing. Teejay ensured that the women had the proper working environment by creating a sexual harassment code and a code of conduct. Flexible hours and necessary support were also provided to address the multiple responsibilities women have in their communities and workplaces.
By fostering a welcoming and encouraging environment, Teejay successfully retained and recruited more female talent. The organization also set robust procedures to address gender-based misconduct and provided training sessions to promote work-life balance and leadership skills. Teejay is actively connecting women with networks that support their growth, eradicating unconscious biases that hinder diversity.
Leadership involvement is critical to Teejay’s efforts, with constant communication and goal-setting in these areas. The organization continually discusses and debates unconscious prejudice at management meetings, striving to bring in more female talent and empower women. Teejay’s dedication to creating a supportive environment for women demonstrates its commitment to diversity and inclusivity.
How is Teejay fostering diversity and inclusion?
Increasingly, organizations worldwide prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) as a crucial aspect of their work environments. But this is no easy feat – it requires implementing appropriate frameworks and processes to achieve this goal. While DE&I is still a relatively new concept, it encompasses a range of issues beyond just female empowerment. It also includes diversity in race, caste, religion, LGBTQ, and disabilities. As a company, we recognize the importance of DE&I, and we are in the process of embracing it. However, we acknowledge that it is a journey we have just started. We are committed to meritocracy and are working to avoid gender discrimination, stereotypes, cultural biases, and rigid, archaic societal expectations. We are currently implementing policies and procedures and developing the necessary infrastructure, particularly to enable the employment of those with disabilities. We aim to create a work environment free from discrimination. We constantly study the best practices of benchmark companies globally to learn from and incorporate them into the company.
How does Teejay create a great employee experience that encourages work-life balance?
As a company that operates manufacturing facilities far from Colombo, Teejay is a trailblazer in promoting flexible working hours for women even before the pandemic. The company believes that work-life balance is vital for all employees, regardless of gender, and has launched several initiatives to achieve this goal. With a high percentage of female representation, Teejay recognizes the importance of fostering a comfortable workplace and has implemented a system of flexible hours that allows women to work from home. This freedom has resulted in a healthy balance between work and life, with Teejay also offering maternity benefits, free meals, and transportation to support our people.
In addition, Teejay encourages its female employees to participate in enjoyable activities and provides counselling services to address untreated or lightly pressured mental challenges. Mental health is paramount, so we offer awareness events and wellness education programs to support it. Teejay has licensed counsellors on call 24/7 to help whenever needed.
Teejay’s commitment to work-life balance, mental health, and overall well-being has created a positive and welcoming environment for its female employees. Our initiatives serve as a model for others to follow, and we continue to explore new ways to promote gender equality and diversity in the workplace.
How has Teejay benefited from tearing down obstacles and creating better opportunities for women?
At Teejay, the representation of women at the leadership level had been a challenge, but we have made significant progress. With a focus on meritocracy and performance-based promotions, the company has attracted more female talent into the workforce. As a result, women lead critical functions such as client management, sales and marketing, communication and CSR, HR, finance, innovation, and legal. Teejay is committed to bringing more women into leadership positions and has set a specific goal to increase their representation by 2025/2026.
Creating an environment where women can contribute fully to the workplace is essential. Teejay recognizes that women bring unique skills and perspectives valuable in negotiations, customer engagement, and overall business growth. To support these contributions, Teejay is working to establish sound frameworks and procedures that promote gender equality and inclusion.
Empowering women is not just a moral imperative: it also makes good business sense. Companies like Teejay can tap into a diverse pool of skills and ideas that can drive innovation and growth by attracting and retaining female talent. As leaders, it is our responsibility to ensure that women have the opportunity to work effectively and freely so that they can contribute fully to our corporate objectives. At Teejay, we are committed to this mission. We also believe that it will help us achieve our long-term goals.