LUX launches free global training resource to combat workplace sexism

Unilever's LUX has launched the Allies e-learning programme, a free global training resource for companies to rally colleagues to come together and stand against everyday sexism in the workplace. Its mission is to empower women with the strength to express their femininity without the fear of everyday sexist judgments.

The "LUX Allies Against Workplace Sexism” programme is structured as three module pillars – aware, act, and ally. It confronts participants with everyday scenarios in the workplace where women may face casual sexist remarks from colleagues – whether male or female – and simple yet effective actions to call out these belittling comments.

Equipping them with the knowledge and tools through the Allies programme, LUX ultimately seeks to empower and inspire participants to become an ally against everyday sexism and put a stop to it, both at and beyond the workplace.

To drive home this agenda, LUX worked with organisational and behavioural scientist and indigenous rights advocate, Matthew J Yazzie, who specialises in workplace discrimination and launched Allies, an e-learning resource. Yazzie played a pivotal role in creating the content schedule for the modules. In part of the modules, he sheds light on casual sexism being often built into everyday phrases, and how it can sometimes be difficult to notice how some words can hide biased judgements.

The modules uses short-form videos to highlight seemingly casual remarks that disempower individuals based on gender stereotypes and share how simple yet effective actions to call out belittling comments can make a difference.

According to its "Finding Strength in Beauty" 2021 whitepaper, women regularly face up to 17 types of judgements, 70% of which are appearance-related with even 26% worried about being seen as overly successful at work.

Led by Wunderman Thompson, the communications are rooted in real-life insights relevant to the audience in developing and emerging markets that LUX serves. The brand is behind campaigns such as "In Her Shoes" and 'UNSTOPPABLE", which advocated for greater social inclusivity against sexism in the respective countries.

This marks a new chapter for LUX through the creation of an e-training programme to give women and men the tools to call out and stop bad behaviour in the workplace. The course called “LUX Allies Against Workplace Sexism” has been designed with a diversity, equity, and inclusion behaviour change expert to counter sexism in the workplace. Furthermore, it was created specifically for emerging markets where patriarchal values and the traditional mindset about gender roles are entrenched in society, according to the release.

Severine Vauleon, global brand lead at LUX, said beauty can be a powerful source of strength and self-confidence for women. "At the workplace in particular, confidence and self-belief can make a huge difference in a woman's job satisfaction and career trajectory," Vauleon said.

Vauleon added that LUX wants to be an enabler that supports women's confidence and authenticity to thrive, rather than see them self-edit and wither. "As such, we will continue to help women everywhere fight casual sexism especially related to their experience, at home, in the workplace and in wider society," she added. LUX also plans to create "blockbuster ads and tools", as described by Vauleon, o spark conversation around everyday sexism and empower people to stop it.

Anyone can access the Allies programme at no charge via LUX's website and complete the modules to be a certified ally against sexism. Encouragingly, individuals who completed the Allies modules shared that they have become more cognizant of the underlying gendered biases in everyday conversations at the workplace and beyond. This gives people greater confidence to stand their ground and call out such behaviour, especially if they feel supported by a network of allies around them.

Nicolas Tran Dinh, global digital and masterbrand lead at LUX, said: "Women, just like men, want to live in a world where they have equal opportunities to be their best selves. The first step in reducing the pressures of everyday sexism that women face starts with us.”

“We must be more aware of our actions and be allies rather than bystanders to support women to rise above daily judgements. This is how we can build a world where men and women are celebrated equally and why we are providing this training as a free resource for all companies,” Dinh added.

Echoing his comments, Hinoti Joshi, global business director, from Wunderman Thompson, Singapore, who leads LUX communications, adds, "This is the next step in our purpose journey towards our end goal of putting an end to everyday sexism. Wunderman Thompson APAC and Unilever staff will be actively using it as part of our training to help empower and inspire a community of women and allies to speak up and hold their truth for their beliefs."

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out for more information. 

On a similar front, LUX launched a campaign in Greater China to fight sexist labels faced by Chinese women. Done in partnership with creative agency Wunderman Thompson Singapore and Sweetshop, the campaign featured a short video starring Chinese actress Dilraba Dilmurat and is directed toward the "brave new breed of Chinese women", encouraging them to express their beauty. 

LUX has been active in addressing sexism even in the past year. In August 2021, LUX launched a campaign to highlight the impact of casual sexism faced by women in their everyday lives by inviting men to experience it first-hand for themselves. Titled “In Her Shoes”, the campaign was done in collaboration with online platform City Walks to offer men a glimpse of the sexism that women suffer by doing something as simple as taking a walk. It aimed to spark a conversation and turn men into allies by giving men the opportunity to walk in women’s shoes.

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