Since its beginnings in 1942, Sandvik Coromant has operated and thrived under the presumption that the only constant in manufacturing is constant change. This has dictated continuous innovation to stay at the forefront of metal-cutting technology, as well as broader business practices and evolving societal issues.
On International Women’s Day in March, for example, Sandvik Coromant hosted its own event in Brazil to celebrate recent strides made in equality and the company’s ongoing support to give “fair opportunities for everyone to succeed.”
The commitment to equality is reflected in Sandvik Coromant’s leadership team, starting with President Helen Blomqvist, who succeeded Nadine Crauwels in the top job in 2020, and extends throughout the organization. In fact, women account for 43% of Sandvik Coromant’s functional management roles worldwide. This compares with an estimated industry average of 38%, the company says, citing statistics from the Chartered Management Institute.
Human resources plays a key role in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), facilitating new programs and driving change. Manufacturing Engineering (ME) Lead Editor Steve Plumb recently spoke with Carrie Makambi, who joined Sandvik Coromant in early 2019 as part of the company’s HR team for the Americas region, about her 20-plus years of experience in a male-dominated industry and Sandvik Coromant’s ongoing commitment to DEI. Highlights of their conversation, edited for length and clarity, follows.
ME: Why did you join Sandvik Coromant at this point in your career?
Makambi: What drew me to the company is its culture. It’s what I enjoy the most. Being a Swedish company I think influences our culture. There’s a lot of focus on collaboration and, of course, innovation is a key part of our company objectives. There’s a lot of female representation, and there seemed to be a great opportunity for me in joining the company.
What I really like about Coromant, though, is the collaborative nature that lends itself well to the concept of inclusion. As a global company, we’re working with co-workers all over the world. So, right off the bat, there’s this recognition of the power of diversity and different perspectives within Coromant.
ME: How important is it to have a diverse leadership team to promote inclusivity throughout the workplace?
Makambi: It helps show all employees that there are opportunities available to them. This is especially true for female employees, because of our leadership team. But every leader we have can highlight this as being part of a minority group and other differences and abilities that demonstrate there are opportunities available to employees with similar backgrounds.
ME: Aside from being role models, how can leaders and other experienced employees help co-workers succeed?
Makambi: One of the great things about our female leaders is they’re very open to mentoring other employees.(But) we try to have some pretty robust mentoring programs available to all employees, not just females. Every employee gets a chance to build their network within the company.
ME: Is there a formal process?
Makambi: Yes. Having a formal program is important; it helps us capture people who don’t already have a network and are looking for somebody to be their mentor. And it helps us pair them with someone who could be good for their career goals and areas they’re looking to develop.
We just started the mentor program in the sales area, and we’re asking our mentor-mentee pairs to meet at least once a month or more often if they feel like that’s needed. They’re part of the formal program for six months, with HR serving as a liaison.
ME: To what do you attribute the company’s high rate of female functional managers?
Makambi: I honestly think part of it is Coromant’s commitment to employee development—all employees. We make sure that everyone has a development plan identified with their manager. If an employee needs formal training offered within the company, we have various global and local training programs. We really try to ensure that people have the development resources they need to advance their careers.
ME: As a global company, how do you roll out programs worldwide and still try to be sensitive to cultural differences and market-specific requirements?
Makambi: That’s a really great question because it’s always a challenge when you’re trying to roll something out within a large group or a diverse population. I think what Coromant does really well is they help us define the goal and the objective, and they let us come up with the things that are meaningful locally that will help achieve those goals.
So, for instance, if there’s a goal to increase the diversity of our talent pipeline, we’re looking at who’s applying for the jobs and we want to make sure that we’re reaching out and getting diverse candidates into these jobs. We get to figure out what makes the most sense in our market. ... It can be as simple as changing how something is worded.
ME: How do you measure engagement? Do employees contribute to the process and help implement change?
Makambi: We conduct employee surveys and review the results with them every quarter, then put an action plan in place based on their feedback and suggestions. One example comes to mind. During the early days of COVID, when there were restrictions on travel and working at company offices, we saw that people were feeling disconnected from their teams. One of the ways to improve this was having managers schedule a virtual lunch, which the company paid for, to create more social interaction.
Some groups started to do what they called a virtual “fika,” which is Swedish for a coffee break. Others called it a happy hour. It allowed managers and their team to come together virtually and talk about things that weren’t necessarily work related—check-ins with how people are doing and what’s going on with their life. Some of our global teams saw the benefit to such virtual social gatherings and have continued them.
ME: What are some of the changes you’ve seen recently in terms of recruitment, training and other personnel issues?
Makambi: One of the most impactful is that managers understand that when we talk about diversity and inclusion programs, we’re looking at our hiring process. Managers are becoming more open and aware to the fact that there’s not just one background to be a successful employee… (This helps) managers break down what it takes to be successful—what is really essential for someone to bring into a position and opening their mind to people from different types of backgrounds, different types of education or work histories.
ME: How important is Sandvik Coromant’s commitment to DEI during the recruitment process?
Makambi: Students look at our comments on social media about diversity and inclusion. They want to join a company with an inclusive environment, where there’s opportunity for everyone to succeed. Work-life balance is also a huge issue for the latest generation of people coming into the workforce.
ME: And I’m sure that’s even more important with the labor shortage and skills gap?
Makambi: Yes. For employers to have a sustainable workforce, they have to really figure out how to be more flexible. ... This doesn’t mean hiring people who aren’t qualified. But we are identifying what it means to be qualified, and how we can then bring in good candidates and upskill them so they can grow and stay with the company.
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