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Everyone has a seat at the table at Kellogg.

And in Kellogg Europe, that table looks more balanced each day now that the team has reached its Better Days® Promise goal of having 50% female representation at the manager level and above.

A founding member of the Leading Executives Advancing Diversity (LEAD) Network, Kellogg Europe signed a pledge in 2019 to reach 50/50 representation by 2025. Turns out the team only needed until December 2022 to make it happen.

Tammy Winnie is Kellogg Europe’s Vice President of Human Resources. Below, she offers a deeper look at the team’s journey to the milestone and where their focus lies today.

To learn more about how Kellogg’s ED&I commitments and our approach in the workplace and marketplace, visit our latest progress at the Better Days Promise ED&I page.

Why do you think your organization was able to achieve its gender parity goal so early?

TW: We made deliberate choices. After signing the LEAD commitment in 2019, the team immediately began to lay the framework. The focus was on hiring, retention, advancement and development. For example, we created an accelerated leader program for women. We also introduced support programs and policies for menopause and fertility.

And our Business Employee Resource Groups (BERGs) have played a huge role. We introduced our 50/50 BERG after signing the pledge and they’ve really done a lot to help people get involved and influence the conversation – and not just women, but men who want to be allies.

I’m also excited that we’re keeping our momentum through things like an exciting new Employee Brand/Employee Value Proposition, continued focus on new or expanded policies for domestic abuse and leave programs for new parents, and a new program called the Leadership Lab that starts with a module on Belonging.

People analytics play a significant role in your efforts. How are you using them?

TW: The HR function uses a people analytics tool called AMIGO to track key metrics like representation, hiring, turnover and promotions. It allows us to both look at metrics at the region level and dig deeper into the organization, giving us real time visibility to have high quality discussions.

The original gender parity goal was based on manager level and above. But we also look at our metrics by director level and above, and vice president and above. We’re not yet at 50:50 for these levels, so that is one of our areas of focus going forward. We have several proof points already, including reaching gender parity on our European Leadership Team and our leadership teams in France and Spain, for example. It is very much our goal to get to 50/50 throughout the organization, across functions and levels and our teams use people analytics to inform our choices and monitor our progress.

Another piece we track is pay equity. In Europe, we’re a little over 99% in pay equity in what women are paid versus non-male counterparts in similar roles. That’s not common in other industries. We’re really proud of that.

And, of course, we also use our Global Opinion Survey and other employee feedback to ensure we’re creating a truly inclusive culture, not just for women for but everyone.

What would be your advice for a company that’s looking to boost gender parity among its roles and levels?

TW: First, you have to set a clear goal with strong commitment from the top down, from senior leadership. Then you have to make very intentional choices and decisions, informed by data, in the way you hire, retain, develop and engage employees. Finally, you need to involve employees who are passionate about achieving gender parity to provide feedback and assistance and build momentum across the organization. They all helped get us here and we believe they will help us keep going on our journey to achieve gender parity across all levels and functions in Kellogg Europe