- 3 career progression tips for women are commonly seen to overcome gender-based obstacles
- 6-month maternity leave & breastfeeding room highlighted as tools to support gender equality
This year, the International Women’s Day (IWD 2024) comes with the #InspireInclusion theme to raise public awareness of women’s inclusions and roles in the face of gender-based obstacles and constraints, as well as to celebrate inspiring women’s achievements so as to promote women’s unity, participation and empowerment, forging for a better world.
To mark the occasion, True Corporation hereby shares the inspiring story of its top five iron ladies namely: 1) Sarinra Wongsuppaluk, Chief Human Resources Officer; 2) Yupa Leewongcharoen, Co-Chief Financial Officer; 3) Nattha Pasupat, Head of Mobile Postpaid; 4) On-uma Vattanasuk, Head of Corporate Communications and PR; and 5) Pathiya Todhanakasem, Head of Digital Growth Strategy, True Digital Group.
All these five female executives have played vital roles in True Corporation’s ongoing transformation into a telco-tech company. Working for True Corporation, they have now been driving the transformation via corporate culture, financial / investment readiness, marketing for growth, communications for changes, and the development of new growth mechanisms on digital battlefields.
These women’s rise to the top of the big corporation is by no means rosy. Before they became their company’s key players and supported it through its crises, they themselves had braved through several storms. Many obstacles on their way are related to gender inequality. Associated with traditional ideas are often sexual harassments, gender-based constraints, biases, and stereotypes, and many more.
True Corporation’s top five female executives have three things in common, which are crucial to their successful career. Being well-trusted executives who are in charge of key missions, these iron ladies share the following values:
- Ambition and Commitment: They believe that women can have the best of both worlds – career and family life. There is no need to choose just one for as long as they have clear goals and plan well to ensure they can fulfill their duties perfectly in both realms.
- Discipline: Although physical attributes and social norms often require women to work harder, discipline has brought these female executives to success. They have beaten all the odds.
- Sharing: While Thailand’s gender equality has improved significantly, so many females have still been unable to access education and funding on the basis of sex. Most these women have lived in remote areas and lacked role models. Recognizing this fact, the top five female executives at True Corporation have always spared some time to share their knowledge with underprivileged girls / women in support of their empowerment.
Structurally speaking, a survey by Britain’s social enterprise Career after Babies revealed many gender-based constraints. Covering 848 new mothers, the 2022 survey found that:
- 85% of women decided to leave their jobs in the first three years of their child, and 19% specifically mentioned that they handed in resignation because of their employers’ inflexibility.
- The number of female managers dropped by 32% after having children, and the number of admin roles increased by 44% reflecting that women were being forced into lesser-skilled roles.
The World Health Organization and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have recommended exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life on grounds that such practice supports children’s brain development and physical growth. A survey by the Mahidol University’s National Institute for Child and Family Development, so far, found that less than 20% of Thai children had been breastfed for as long as six months mainly because most mothers needed to go back to work and lack support from relevant organizations.
Sarinra Wongsuppaluk, Chief Human Resources Officer of True Corporation Public Company Limited, said aware of the family institution’s importance, gender differences, women’s limitations at work, and women’s roles in organizational and social development, True Corporation has formulated policies and prepared facilities that support female staff’s need to fulfill their motherly duties. To promote gender equality and women’s contributions to social and economic development, True Corporation has allowed:
- Female employees to take maternity leave for up to six months with pay;
- Male employees to take paternity leave 7 days a year;
- Employees and their family members to access fitness centers’ services for free; and
- Female employees to use “Breastfeeding Room” if their children are still in early childhood. Prepared in a separate zone based on hygienic principles, this room includes a fridge to properly store breast milk.
Moreover, True Corporation has the policy to ensure that at least 30% of its board members are female. The company also requires women’s participation in its projects.
“At True Corporation, we understand the multidimensional needs of employees including those who have been mothers. To be both mothers and employees, they have heavy burdens. We therefore have prepared supportive policies and facilities with the aim to minimize gender-based obstacles. We, after all, believe in the potential of all our members who are contributing to not just our transformation into a telco-tech company but also national development,” Sarinra said.
Stay tuned to True Blog throughout the month for colorful life stories of True Corporation’s five iron ladies. What obstacles have they beaten, what decisions have they made, and what life philosophy have they embraced to shine at the top of their corporation.
