Toyota (GB) is supporting International Women’s Day (IWD) today – 8 March – with a call for companies to do more to ensure women can build successful careers in the automotive industry.
The theme of this year’s IWD is ‘embracing equity’, reflected in a short film released today which features Toyota (GB) President and Managing Director Agustín Martín describing the difference between equity and equality, and how equality isn’t enough. He explains Toyota’s commitment to giving women the best opportunities to build successful and fulfilling careers with the company. The film can be viewed here: Toyota (GB) IWD 2023 message.
Martín commented:
“The future of our industry is exciting. However, we must create a truly inclusive environment to accelerate potential and harness curiosity and creativity to deliver exceptional customer service. We believe that by working collectively we can ensure women are aware of the great career opportunities we have to offer, and we’ll place equity at the centre of all our efforts to achieve this.”
In addition to the new film, Rachel Shepherd, Toyota (GB)’s General Manager, People and Workplace Experience, was among the guest speakers in a virtual forum hosted by Automotive 30% Club founder Julia Muir, on the subject of equity in the auto industry.
Toyota (GB) was a founding member of the Automotive 30% Club and its campaign to achieve a better gender balance in the industry. This event was the first in a series of Toyota-supported Inspiring Conversation forums that will run throughout 2023.
During the event, which was attended by more than 60 women from across the auto industry, Shepherd, a winner in the club’s Inspiring Automotive Women Awards last year, gave several examples of how Toyota (GB) is pursuing equity for women, such as refining its recruitment adverts to attract more women to apply for roles in the company.
She commented:
“By changing the language we use in our job adverts and enhancing the role descriptions, we’ve removed a barrier for women. This has actually made our jobs more attractive overall, which has benefited all applicants. We also now track our data to find out who we are attracting to our vacancies. This means, for example, that we can adjust the job title and where we advertise our roles, if we find women aren’t applying.”
She added:
“We need inclusive equitable workplaces, or we could miss out on amazing ideas and the best talent. For employees to be their best, as an industry we need to create the right environment for them to give us their best.”
