UPS South APAC president on male allyship and being agile

Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) is often talked about these days, with companies pledging to do more on this front. However, while 81% of the 1,152,346 respondents surveyed by employee experience platform Culture Amp during the first half of the year said they believe that DEI initiatives are beneficial to their organisations, only 34% of respondents said they have enough resources to support their DEI initiatives.

Also, while 63% of companies reported hosting events and DEI-related discussions, only 50% of surveyed companies reported having a DEI mission statement, and only 49% have a strategic diversity plan in place. More specific to DEI is gender equality and while there are more women in leadership positions these days, it is also important for them to have male allies that throw their weight behind the DEI agenda.

Billie Tan (pictured), South Asia Pacific president at UPS, told MARKETING-INTERACTIVE that reforming and maintaining a diverse culture as well as creating true gender parity requires participation from both men and women. She added:

Communication and transparency are key in how male leaders can show their support and commitment to ensuring equal opportunities for everyone in the company.

"Getting everyone to participate in different initiatives, educating the importance of an inclusive culture to a community and an organisation are some of the things the team are doing and will continue to do," she said. Having been the diversity and inclusion ambassador for APAC since 2017, Tan believes it is her role to ensure everyone upholds the same values in making UPS a place where anyone and everyone can have opportunities to grow in their career with no fear of judgement.

It is a known fact that logistics and freight transportation is a traditionally male-dominated industry. As such, allyship is even more important. "My personal experience confirmed that allyship is so important, especially in a specific gender-dominated workplace. By practising allyship, you promote a culture of inclusivity. An inclusive culture is required to drive the full potential of every employee," she said.

Currently, six out of 13 members on UPS' board of directors are females, including CEO Carol Tomé. The APAC region is also helmed by president Michelle Ho. Moving forward, UPS aims to have 28% of full-time management positions globally held by women by 2022. In fact, the APAC team has already surpassed that goal, with 45% of management positions held by women.

Tan has always strived to walk the talk when it comes to DEI. She was in fact one of the early founders of UPS's Women's Leadership Development business resource group in Asia Pacific. She also continues to be an active sponsor for various business resource groups, including the Asian Business Resource Group in Atlanta, which recognises and celebrates Asian and Pacific Islander heritage.

(Read also: #ExplainIt: Let's talk allyship this IWD [Video])

DEI is not only about having more female leaders but also individuals of different ethnicity and backgrounds. According to UPS, 31% of UPS's board members are ethnically diverse and 46% are women. More specifically, in Malaysia, women make up 33% of its total workforce and one-third of all women work in management positions. In operations, where men predominate, 23% of all women at UPS occupy a management role.

"Personally, I make a conscious effort to support up-and-coming female leaders at UPS for example by being an ally in a meeting, or always making it part of my agenda to meet with our country teams whenever I visit," Tan said.

Throughout her career with UPS, Tan has worked in Malaysia, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Atlanta. From her experiences, she believes that learning to be agile is a key ability as the work environment transforms. "Yesterday's solutions do not answer tomorrow's difficulties. Being agile is all about shifting gears when the situation calls for it and adapting to the demands of your workplace, clients, or industry trends," she said.

This was especially noticeable during the pandemic period, when most businesses went online and demand and supply for the eCommerce boom were significantly different from previous years, Tan added.

One way UPS quickly pivoted during the pandemic was by creating a variety of mixed media content via the "Be Unstoppable" strategy to target SMEs to empower and encourage them with opportunities to drive their business forward. At the same time, it also tailoring its marketing efforts to address the specific needs of customers in the various regions instead of adopting a one-size-fits-all model in a fragmented market such as APAC. Tan, however, did not share specifics about the differences in marketing across the various APAC countries.

Aside from agility, Tan said reliability is imperative since that is how trust is built. According to her, that is an area that does not change no matter where in the world one is. "That said, when you operate in 220 countries and territories worldwide, it’s important to companies that operate across multiple regions to recognise that cultural differences does influence customer preferences and buying behaviour," she said.

Moving forward, Tan's vision for UPS is to focus on innovative, customer-first solutions in high-growth areas such as healthcare, SMEs, international trade, and eCommerce. For the south APAC region, it will also focus efforts on ESG initiatives as well as DEI.

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Separately, UPS is doubling down on its digital transformation journey by bringing on board Bala Subramanian as chief digital and technology officer earlier this year. He is responsible for supercharging digital transformation across every aspect of the UPS business.

CEO Tomé said during the second quarter earnings call in July that the company is moving from digital literacy to digital fluency. "And to help us get there, we are investing in our people and have created training to equip them with new skills," Tomé said.

According to her, the entire leadership team has completed the digital fluency training and it is moving quickly to train the next two levels of leadership. "[Being innovation-driven] is about the future of UPS and driving more productivity from the assets we are. The changes we've already made have significantly increased the agility of our network and are driving productivity improvements," Tomé explained.

In fact, the company is also building a new digital platform that it can scale, with more details to be shared in the coming quarters. "Innovation-driven will also help us reach carbon neutrality by 2050," she said.