Most Recent News
Check out the latest news for what's happening in the packaging and processing industry for women, including tips, career advice, what to look out for and more.
Check out the latest news for what's happening in the packaging and processing industry for women, including tips, career advice, what to look out for and more.
Montserrat Cerf appointed president of Latin American Chapter
Mexico City, May 4 of 2023 — PMMI, The Association of Packaging and Processing Technologies, announces the creation of the Latin American Chapter of the Packaging & Processing Women's Leadership Network (PPWLN) with the mission of empowering and promoting women across the Latin American industrial landscape, and boosting the skills to close the current gender equality gaps.
Montserrat Cerf, a founding member of the North American PPWLN with more than 20 years of experience in the field of packaging and processing, has been appointed president of the Latin American Chapter of the PPWLN. Cerf is director of International Sales for Polypack Inc., a global manufacturer of end-of-line and shrink-wrap machinery with a solid presence in Mexico and Latin America, and a PMMI member.
“The vision for this Latin American Chapter of the PPWLN is to empower and promote women throughout the traditionally male-dominated industry of packaging and processing, particularly in positions of responsibility and leadership,” said Cerf. “We wish to contribute to advance the careers of all women who decide to enter this fascinating industry which today, perhaps, is the one offering the greatest opportunities.”
The Latin American Chapter of the PPWLN will have a leading role in the conference program during EXPO PACK Guadalajara, the largest and most comprehensive packaging and processing trade show in Latin America this year. A dedicated PPWLN EXPO PACK Keynote session titled Challenges and Perspectives for Women’s Leadership in The Packaging and Processing Industry – Voices of Latin American Women Leaders, will take place the second day of the show, June 14th at 9:00 a.m.
The panel gathers several female sector leaders from the region. It will be focused on the recent PMMI intelligence report, “Connect, Share, Inspire: Voices of Women Leaders in Packaging and Processing,” and will host a deep and inspiring conversation about five essential tools so that women across different generations and disciplines may successfully face and advance their careers in the packaging, processing, and manufacturing industry.
Celia Navarrete, director of EXPO PACK and of the Latin American Chapter of PPWLN, stressed the importance of structuring such a work team in the region. “This is an excellent initiative to promote women across the region and to bring into light the enormous opportunities for innovation we find in this industry and, especially, to boost and lay the groundwork that will allow us to successfully progress in our professional and personal domains,” Navarrete said.
In turn, Cerf underlined the positive impacts that the new chapter’s work will have on the region. “Young women must take advantage of all the opportunities present in the packaging and processing industry, as well as those that PPWLN and the Latin American Chapter offer through a variety of programs, initiatives, conferences, and events.” And she concluded, “We are working to consolidate this network and to create learning and relationship-building spaces, where the success of so many professional women who are leading the industry today can be recognized.”
Cerf holds a master’s degree in economics with emphasis on international trade, and from the start focused her career on international markets. She is a founder and active member of the Executive Council of the PPWLN in the United States and has built a solid and vast experience in the packaging industry.
“We are thrilled to see the work we began with the PPWLN in 2016 expand into Latin America,” said Lisa Propati, VP & general manager, Weiler Labeling Systems, and co-chair of PPWLN North America. “Together, our growing networks are poised to make a positive impact as we support women in the packaging and processing industries.”
EXPO PACK Guadalajara 2023 will take place June 13-15 in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico. For more information and registration for EXPO PACK Guadalajara, please visit expopackguadalajara.com.mx.
Herndon, Va.; January 5, 2023 – The PMMI Foundation and the Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN) awarded $5,000 in an educational scholarship to a deserving female student this past year. PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, supports packaging education at U.S. colleges, universities, and technical schools through the PMMI Foundation.
Katherine Bodenschatz from the University of Cincinnati was awarded the 2022 PPWLN scholarship. As an Industrial Design major, Bodenschatz has proven to be a future leader in the packaging and processing industry.
The application for the PPWLN Spring 2023 scholarship is now available, with a deadline of March 31st, 2023. View this scholarship and more at PMMI Foundation.
The PPWLN scholarship supports women interested in the packaging and processing industry with the $5,000 award going to a female student pursuing a career in the industry. Applying students must have a 3.0 GPA or higher, demonstrate leadership qualities, and have a career plan in the engineering, packaging, processing, mechatronics, or related field.
Each year, the PMMI Foundation provides over $200,000 in academic scholarships to students studying packaging, food processing, engineering, and mechatronics at over 50 PMMI Education Partner programs throughout the U.S. and Canada.
“The PMMI Foundation scholarships are an investment in the future of our industry. We are very proud to support the next generation of leaders and recognize young women pursuing our industry,” says Kate Fiorianti, director, workforce development, PMMI. “These scholarships reflect the students’ dedication to their studies and future career as well as the quality of the programs at PMMI Partner Schools. This is a bright opportunity that opens doors for tomorrow’s workforce, today.”
Since its inception in 1998, the PMMI Foundation has given more than $2.6 million to help ensure the future of the industry remains strong. In 2022 alone, through academic scholarships, travel assistance to industry tradeshows, and donation support, the PMMI Foundation impacted nearly 6,000 students.
For more information on the PMMI Foundation, visit pmmi.org/foundation.
Herndon, Va.; November 1, 2022 - To help women identify opportunities, recognize obstacles, and navigate a career in manufacturing, the Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN), and OpX Leadership Network, teamed up to deliver the new digital work product: Connect, Share, Inspire: Voices of Women in Packaging and Processing.
The annual Institute of Packaging Professionals (IoPP) 2022 Salary Survey results, a portion of which is included in the new work product, reveal a continued gender wage gap, pointing out the need to help women succeed in manufacturing careers. The Voices of Women in Packaging and Processing, produced by PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, highlights five core skills needed for success: business acumen, negotiation, communication, emotional intelligence, and networking. Also included are insights from subject-matter experts and perspectives from five influential women leaders in the industry.
“There is so much opportunity for women in the manufacturing and packaging space, yet so many obstacles still to overcome,” says Stephanie Neil, editor-in-chief of OEM magazine. “Whether it’s fighting for pay parity or a promotion, it’s important for women to leverage some basic skillsets that will help them maneuver this male-dominated industry. The collaboration between PPWLN and the OpX Leadership Network is a first step in a larger effort underway to attract more women to this field while giving them the tools to succeed.”
“As a manufacturing professional with 20 plus years of experience, I’ve sometimes felt that I didn’t have control over my career path,” says Lisa Rathburn, vice president of engineering for T. Marzetti, who is also an executive council member of both the OpX Leadership Network and PPWLN. “I wanted to contribute to this project because I understand how difficult the road can be. Having information and an accessible network of like-minded people can make a big difference in an individual’s overall experience.”
The collaborative work of PPWLN, which serves to recruit, retain, and advance women’s careers in packaging and processing, and the OpX Leadership Network, combines cross-functional knowledge and information with a single goal in mind – to show how instrumental people are to the manufacturing and packaging process, and how meaningful this journey is for the women who are here today—and who have yet to come aboard.
The Connect, Share, Inspire: Voices of Women in Packaging and Processing work product, as well as other industry solutions, are available for free download at: https://www.opxleadershipnetwork.org
It’s a significant moment for any professional when they are given the title of CEO for the first time in their career. Well, not given—earned. Rising through the corporate ranks is an achievement that is the culmination of years of preparation, from education to the experiences that ultimately land the individual in the corner office.
But truly nothing can prepare any newly appointed CEO for how to handle “business as usual” during a pandemic. Yet, that’s exactly what Lisa Hunt had to do.
In January of 2021, as the world was still reeling from the chaos created by COVID-19, Hunt took the CEO seat at Plexpack Corp., a Toronto-based maker of flexible bag sealing, vacuum and gas flush sealing equipment, and shrink and bundling systems. Hunt has been at the company for 24 years, working in a variety of areas of the organization including marketing, sales, trade shows, human resources, purchasing, scheduling, IT, inventory management, and even on the production floor managing the fabrication and assembly shops. Her ability to be flexible in situations and understand the dynamics of the room (something that stems from her degrees in psychology and business), eventually elevated her, in 2003, to the executive team with the titles of VP of Operations and COO.
Paul Irvine, who was the CEO of Plexpack since 2000, recognized Hunt’s unique skillset early on, which is why he moved her into different roles throughout the years. And, as a result, Hunt’s cross-functional knowledge directly influenced company growth, Irvine says. So, when Irvine made the decision to step away from his day-to-day duties as CEO while remaining on as owner and chair, he and the shareholders officially passed the company reins to Hunt on January 5, 2021.
“Lisa has demonstrated a deep understanding of the business, as well as an analytic and strategic ability that are foundations for this role,” Irvine said in a statement. “She has also been loyal and dedicated and someone I can rely on at all times. I’m confident her sense of dedication and accountability will continue to drive her to perform in the best interest of the company and its stakeholders.”
Her main mandate moving forward: Growth. And she’s off to a good start.
In her first year as CEO, Hunt has overseen a number of initiatives aimed toward strategic expansion, including launching several product development projects, upgrading the company’s ERP system, expanding Plexpack’s presence in the U.S., and building out two new websites, one for sales and the other for aftermarket customer support.
“I’m looking at different avenues to grow the organization,” Hunt says, noting that technology investments, a focus on the aftermarket side of the business, expanding the global footprint, and people—be it employees, partners, or customers—are at the top of her priority list.
And growth is already happening. While Plexpack is still dealing with pandemic issues as it relates to work policies, the company has seen a 60% increase in output this past year as it worked with end users producing personal protective equipment (PPE) and COVID-19 test kits. The company also spent more time with food processors and food related manufacturers helping them implement new solutions to deal with increasing consumer demands.
“Everyone in the organization is aware of what we are building and where our equipment is installed, so there is a connection to the work being done to the benefit of the end users,” Hunt says. “We are very proud to have been an essential part of the supply chain needs during COVID, knowing that our equipment was used for direct medical purposes to package PPE, COVID-19 kits and to also meet higher demands generated in other segments such as food and supplies.”
Plexpack is able to deliver equipment quickly, because they stock equipment and sub-assemblies in-house in addition to catering to more customized needs via a consultative engineer-to-order service. If a customer needs equipment that Plexpack has in stock, they will get it right away. If it’s not in stock but is a standard piece of equipment, it will take two-to-four weeks to deliver. And a high-end custom order usually takes 20-to-24 weeks.
More and more, manufacturers are demanding shorter lead times for equipment delivery. Plexpack responds to that pressure by working with local suppliers around the world in order to create faster turnaround times. “One thing I’ve learned from the pandemic is that in this market, if you’ve got it, you win the order,” Hunt says.
As a result of the growth over the past year, and in an anticipation of future growth, Plexpack is currently planning an expansion of its existing plant space at the Toronto facility to provide more physical manufacturing and warehousing capacity. Plexpack is also adding to current fabrication capabilities with the installation of a new laser cutter and laser welder to the production department. Further investment in capital equipment is planned for the next fiscal period.
Before getting into where Plexpack is going as a company, it’s good to understand where it’s been. Here’s a brief history:
It is rooted in 1951 as Toronto Plastics (TPL). In 1988, two friends from the University of Toronto School of Engineering, Peter Irvine and Wilf Lewitt, purchased TPL along with a company that makes bag and pouch sealing systems, called Emplex. Together they lead the expansion of both companies, by leveraging their synergies. Where TPL was an injection molding company to local markets, Emplex as an OEM of bag sealing equipment focused on distribution growth across North America and further branched into Latin America and the UK. In 2002, two years after Paul Irvine succeeded his father, the late Peter Irvine, as CEO, the acquisition of Damark Packaging happened, adding shrink wrap and bundling systems to the company portfolio. Emplex Systems Inc., was then renamed Plexpack Corp. to encapsulate both Emplex and Damark brands. From that point, further Plexpack innovations ensued, including (but not limited to) the implementation of lean workflows, automated bagging system, an IP66 washdown machine, and development of the first gas flush and vacuum system for pouch and bag-in-box applications. In 2017, Plexpack introduced a third brand, VacPack, as its line of modified atmosphere vacuum and gas flush packaging systems.
In 2019, Plexpack incorporated in the U.S., and in 2020 it opened a small regional sales office in Southern California.
In January of 2021, under Hunt’s leadership, Plexpack relocated and opened a new, larger capacity office and warehouse in Carson, Calif. to serve customers and partners in the U.S. and western Canada. Jackie Irvine was named Manager of Sales, West and heads this facility which is used as a sales demonstration center for customers and distributors. It also holds some inventory and services as a service hub and provisioning center.
“As a company with a broad customer base across North America, it was an essential step for Plexpack to have exposure and accessibility on both the west and east coasts. Hunt says. “With a Canadian HQ in Toronto and a U.S. based corporation in California, we have set the framework for both locally made equipment while offering more accessible provision of sales consultations, demonstrations, technical service, and simplified transport of equipment to our customers.”
According to Hunt, cross border complexities came to light during COVID-19, specifically as it related to the movement of personnel across borders. Barriers to entry during the pandemic had the potential to disrupt service delivery. However, having the companies in Canada and the U.S. mitigated the problem while providing a foundation for more organic development in the states including hiring employees in sales and service, preparing for further developments in warehousing and new manufacturing capabilities, and supporting distributor and reseller relationships.
Hunt says that it is important to be part of their communities, whether locally, within the industry, or across key markets, and she emphasizes that investment in people is key.
“We have employees who have been with Plexpack for over 35 years. We are proudly a diverse, friendly, and supportive group, and we thrive in an environment of accountability and flexibility. We support education, training, and development, and engage our people as part of the entire team.”
In the past six months, Hunt has doubled the engineering team. And she recently hired a field service technician based in California who she found on a job site for former military personnel.
To that end, beyond reaching out to local universities and colleges to find people in mechatronics programs, Plexpack actively recruits past military personnel. This is mostly due to shortages in engineering and technical talent, but it is also a way to bring a range of personalities onto the team.
According to Hunt, “We try to look beyond direct experience and focus on transferrable and teachable skill sets in people that demonstrate aptitude, motivation, dedication, and interest. This approach has allowed us to bring in great people with diverse perspectives that serve to broaden our own internal culture and business insights.”
To that end, employee diversity is an important part of Plexpack’s principles, especially since the aim of this medium-sized company with an entrepreneurial spirit is to be highly competitive in the global market. Many of the Plexpack employees are multilingual. “All told we have over 25 languages spoken in the plant and office, with a great staff of people who are more than willing to provide aid in translation with customers or other stakeholders,” Hunt says.
Adrian Hermosillo, Plexpack’s sales manager who recently relocated from Mexico to Toronto, agrees that the cultural diversity is a big part of the company’s competitive advantage. “We hire people from different backgrounds and cultures which makes it easy to sell machines all over the world,” Hermosillo says.
In addition, Hunt is dedicated to being a role model for women in manufacturing to help them understand the opportunities in this industry. Bringing awareness, developing and supporting women in STEM is vital, but there are also many opportunities that exist at various levels and in various functions within manufacturing. As an executive council member of PMMI’s Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN), a member of the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) Women in Manufacturing group, as well as a member of the Women Presidents’ Organization (WPO), Hunt is networking out to local technical schools and provincial programs like Skills Ontario, to support the next generation of workers into manufacturing. Hunt is actively participating in a movement that could change what the future workforce looks like. Still, she’s pragmatic about the obstacles that exist for women in manufacturing.
“I’ve spent the majority of my professional life in this traditionally male-dominated industry. The barriers are real, the work is demanding, and the dedication required to succeed is immense. You must have perseverance,” she says. “I spent too many years with a sense of inferiority compared to other leaders of companies in our space. Now, I know I have earned the right to be here and to lead. In industries like ours, women need to own their confidence.”
Under her leadership, gender parity—at least at Plexpack—is becoming a reality. “I am proud to say that Plexpack is on par with gender diversity in the management team, with women in key roles such as VP of Manufacturing Operations, Production Supervisor, Marketing Manager, and West Coast Sales Manager,” Hunt says.
Moving forward there are a few things that Hunt is pursuing. First, adding automation, which is key to modernizing equipment across the company brands.
Second, sustainability, which ranges from using biodegradable films with its systems or reducing the company’s own carbon footprint in production processes. Programs are being built out around corporate social responsibility and how to interact with local, global, and industrial communities.
Third, aftermarket services. The “great resignation” brought on by the pandemic impacts customers’ ability to retain maintenance staffs, so they are looking for more technical support from OEMs. The company’s new support website, branded as Plexpack Certain Assist, includes FAQs, an interactive chat, troubleshooting articles, how-to videos for common questions, answers for preventative and general operational maintenance, as well as many ways to reach the Plexpack team. Aftermarket service could also mean delivering machine-as-a-service (MaaS) models, remote management, or other proactive ways to optimize the Plexpack equipment or the entire line, Hunt says.
Expansion is also happening in industry segments.
“An advantage we have is that our machines are modular,” Hermosillo says. “You can buy something now and scale it to something else in the future. We are focusing the next year or so on specializing in industries we want to grow, such as cannabis or coffee. So there will be sales people dedicated to different niches.”
Just a year into her CEO role, Hunt plans to continue her own education and personal development. “I have always believed that, continued involvement in networking across industry segments is essential in leadership development as it brings a richness to one’s perspectives. I have also learned in this short timeframe the importance of self-care, allowing time for reflection, and not biting off more than you can chew. The real challenge is selecting and focusing on those key outcomes to avoid being overwhelmed and gain real traction.”
From a leadership perspective, Hunt admits that she has a very different style than Irvine. “Paul is a very demonstrative, charismatic leader with strong sales-focus. It has been to my great benefit to have had Paul as my mentor all these years.” Hunt says. “I am highly customer and service focused but tend to approach things from an introspective and analytical angle, where I see my role largely to facilitate and guide our talent group toward attainment of goals, values, and strategy. Personally, I am a driven, tenacious, roll up your sleeves executive who sets high bars for myself and my team.”
To that end, transparency and communication are crucial to her efforts going forward. “I strive to be a thoughtful, collaborative, and an emotionally intelligent listener. And I know that our people are the key to our success,” she says. “I am honored for the opportunity to lead and look forward to an exciting future.”
PMMI, The Association for Packaging & Processing Technologies, is pleased to announce Elaine Marshall, a Packaging Engineering Technology student at Indiana State University as the recipient of the inaugural Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN) Scholarship. The PPWLN scholarship supports women’s careers in the packaging and processing industry.
To qualify for the $5,000 scholarship, female students must be studying engineering, packaging, processing, mechatronics or related fields, demonstrating leadership qualities and having a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
“PMMI is proud to invest in the future of women’s careers in the packaging and processing industry,” says Tracy Stout, vice president, marketing & communications, PMMI. “PPWLN aims to empower women to grow and succeed as leaders in manufacturing, and the PPWLN scholarship will play a key role in helping us achieve this goal.”
The PPWLN Scholarship is one of several scholarships awarded or administered by the PMMI Foundation each year, providing over $200,000 in funds for students. These scholarships underscore PMMI’s commitment to the future of the packaging and processing industry.
There are many opportunities to contribute to the PMMI Foundation at the upcoming PACK EXPO Las Vegas and co-located Healthcare Packaging EXPO (Sept. 27–29, 2021; Las Vegas Convention Center). Proceeds from the Foundation Golf Tournament and The Amazing Packaging Race contribute directly to PMMI’s scholarship offerings. The PMMI Foundation also accepts donations to support its initiatives. To donate, mail checks to PMMI Education & Training Foundation, P.O. Box 791042, Baltimore, MD 21279-1042.
For more information about the PMMI Foundation, go to pmmi.org/foundation. For details about student activities at PACK EXPO Las Vegas and Healthcare Packaging EXPO, and to register, visit packexpolasvegas.com and hcpelasvegas.com.
Registration open now for free networking breakfast with keynote and panel
A staple at PACK EXPO Las Vegas and Healthcare Packaging EXPO (Sept. 27-29; Las Vegas Convention Center), the Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN) breakfast will feature a conversation with top manufacturing executives about The New World of Work (Tuesday, Sept. 28; 7:15-9:00 a.m.; Room N-247).
Some changes made in the past year are driving long-term transformations in the way work is conducted. Things like increased digitalization and automation on the plant floor, the push for diversity and gender parity, and how to attract the next generation workforce – together are creating a new world of work.
The Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN) breakfast at PACK EXPO Las Vegas will bring together a panel of experts to discuss how to thrive in a fast-changing world. First will be Tracey Noonan, co-founder and CEO of Wicked Good Cupcakes, as the keynote speaker.
Noonan and her daughter turned a small home-based baking business into a multimillion-dollar corporation through creativity, perseverance and an investment from Shark Tank’s Kevin O’Leary. Recently acquired by Hickory Farms, Noonan will reflect on her experience of scaling an e-commerce business, managing a growing workforce and her insights into how the food and beverage industry is evolving.
Noonan will then join Yolanda Malone, vice president of global RD Foods at PepsiCo, and AJ Jorgenson, vice president of strategic engagement at The Manufacturing Institute, for a candid conversation about the new world of work and what it means to the future of manufacturing.
Convened by show organizer PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies, PPWLN serves to recruit, retain and advance women’s careers in packaging and processing through online and in-person events, information-sharing and networking.
For more information about PPWLN and to register for the breakfast sponsored by Emerson, ID Technology, Morrison Container Handling Solutions, Plexpack, Septimatech Group Inc. and SMC, visit pmmi.org/womens-leadership-networks/events.
Registration for the show, which includes access to both PACK EXPO Las Vegas and Healthcare Packaging EXPO, is $30 through Sept. 3, after which the price increases to $130. For more information and to register online, visit packexpolasvegas.com. Visit the show website for the most up to date information on the PACK Ready health and safety plan and everything PMMI is doing to prepare for a successful event.
COVID-19 and the impact on women in the manufacturing workforce.
The events of 2020 have turned workplaces upside down – and women, in particular, have been negatively impacted. As a result of these dynamics, more than one in four women are contemplating what many would have considered unthinkable just six months ago: downshifting their careers or leaving the workforce completely, according to the Women in the Workplace 2020 study published by McKinsey & Company.
What does this mean for manufacturing?
As highlighted by The Manufacturing Institute’s STEP Ahead Award winners, women have had a tremendous impact in helping manufacturers make gains in every facet of manufacturing, from sustainability to implementing cross-functional teams. Women have been instrumental in developing cost-saving technologies, leading the way on the adoption of Industry 4.0, mentoring young talent, implementing diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies, to name just a few.
These contributions come despite the number of women in manufacturing continuing to lag behind men. In manufacturing, DEI is often focused on women because the industry has historically been male-dominated. Fewer than one in three manufacturing professionals are women today, despite representing nearly half of the overall workforce in the United States, according to the 2021 Manufacturing Talent study from Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute (MI).
In addition, a separate DEI study by Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute notes that women are underrepresented in manufacturing and are 1.8 times more likely to leave the industry than men, in part due to circumstances of the pandemic. Still it could also be about how work is organized in manufacturing – noting that the lack of work-life balance and flexible work arrangements have been a top reason that many women give for leaving the industry.
The rising number of women decision-makers attending PACK EXPO trade shows underscores the growing importance of women in the packaging and processing workforce. In 2017, over 6,100 women registered to attend PACK EXPO Las Vegas – and over 500 participated in the Packaging and Processing Women’s Network (PPWLN) Breakfast that year. In 2019, the number of women attendees grew to over 7,300, with more than 700 in attendance at the women’s breakfast.
To this end, the possibility of losing so many senior-level women is alarming. The financial consequences could be significant, the McKinsey study points out. Research shows that companies with women well represented at top positions are 50 percent more likely to outperform their peers.
PMMI’s Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN) is excited to announce new members of its Executive Council. These members, representing all facets of packaging and processing, will bring a new perspective and fresh insights to PPWLN. The network continues its work recruiting, retaining and advancing women’s careers in the industry.
The new PPWLN Executive Council members serving four-year terms are:
The following founding PPWLN Executive Council Members generously offered to extend their terms:
Save the date for PPWLN’s next networking breakfast, bringing together women at all levels of the packaging and processing industry, during PACK EXPO Las Vegas and Healthcare Packaging EXPO (Sept. 27-29; Las Vegas Convention Center). Taking place Tuesday, Sept. 28, the PPWLN breakfast will feature a panel of executives who will speak on “The New World of Work” and its impact on women in manufacturing. Stay tuned for details at pmmi.org/womens-leadership-network/events.
To learn more about PPWLN, visit pmmi.org/ppwln.
Hunt’s career with Plexpack has spanned 23 years, contributing as a key member of the leadership and executive team since 2003. From marketing and sales to production and operations, Hunt has influenced growth within the company and developed a comprehensive cross functional knowledge of the organization and the market. Her previous roles as VP Operations and COO have positioned her well as a strategic and passionate leader.
Announcing Hunt’s appointment, Plexpack Chairman, Paul Irvine said, “Lisa has demonstrated a deep understanding of the business, as well as an analytic and strategic ability that are foundations for this role. She has also been loyal and dedicated and someone I can rely on at all times. I am confident her sense of dedication and accountability will continue to drive her to perform in the best interest of the company and its stakeholders.”
Reflecting on her appointment, Hunt said, “I am honored to have been selected to lead this company – it is with the greatest of gratitude to my predecessor and mentor that I am motivated to build upon the strategic, innovative and customer centric focus he has set before us.
I am enthusiastic to continue the momentum in growth of all the Plexpack brands - Emplex, Damark and Vacpack. Our particular blend of culture, diversity and competitive spirit makes for an exceptional advantage when combined with the strength of our product and service offerings, a focus on product development and ingenuity, and our exemplary team.”
Hunt volunteers her time to multiple associations and board memberships, including; The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies (PMMI) Business Intelligence Committee; OEM Magazine Editorial Advisory Committee; and as current Board Director and past Vice Chair of the Lakeridge Health Foundation.
With a focus on supporting the development of manufacturing workforces, particularly with regards to the recruitment and advancement of women and diversity, Hunt is also an Executive Council Member on the Packaging and Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN, PMMI); member of the Women in Manufacturing Committee with the Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters Association (WIM, CME); and is a member of the Women’s Executive Network (WXN).
For years, female executives have come away from women-only leadership programs empowered to do—and ask for—more, valuing the opportunity to examine their strengths and shortcomings in the psychological safety of their peers and to use the experience as a springboard for personal development.
But organizations are leaving unexamined the most powerful lessons these programs offer.
The oft-overlooked benefit of women-only leadership programs is that they hold up a mirror to the organization. When women scrutinize their own leadership traits and experiences, they reveal important information about the day-to-day environment in which they operate. If a company is receptive, the content of the sessions can help gauge how well the organization promotes effective leadership behavior and can offer a portal into where the company succeeds, as well as where it fails to foster an environment in which everyone can bring their best self to work. In short, companies can use such programs not only to improve the skills of the participants but also to assess—and ultimately improve—the workplace itself.
We’ve come to these conclusions through a decade’s worth of experience in a particular women’s leadership program—McKinsey’s Remarkable Women Program, which has helped develop female leaders from Warsaw to Washington, DC, to Singapore to Stockholm. Remarkable Women sessions generally include participants from multiple organizations, but many companies send more than one woman, and we believe that the lessons we’ve learned are equally relevant for organizations running their own in-house programs.
In this article, we describe what hundreds of program sessions and 150 interviews with participants have taught us. Not only do women and men experience work differently; not only is it the system—rather than women—that needs fixing; but there are three critical actions organizations need to take: they must broaden their leadership models, stimulate dissent, and encourage more effective introspection across the board.
Broadening the leadership model
Most women we interviewed said their organization defined leadership clearly and that it was the traditional, stereotypically masculine style exemplified by the majority of their senior-most male and some female colleagues that was considered the benchmark. In many companies, the commonly held perception was that nothing else counted. A smaller number said that their organization voiced an appreciation of other leadership characteristics, such as listening and collaboration, but negated that message by promoting primarily on the basis of more traditional types of leadership behavior, such as authoritative decision making, control, and corrective action.
These dynamics are problematic for organizations, not just for women. McKinsey research into the leadership behaviors that are most effective for addressing future challenges concludes that the traditional behaviors of control, corrective action, and individualistic decision making are the least critical for future success. Much more important are intellectual stimulation (which men and women apply in equal measure), and five other traits (inspiration, participative decision making, setting expectations and rewards, people development, and role modeling) applied more frequently by women (exhibit).
The narrowness of many companies’ leadership models was evident in the experiences of multiple program participants. Consider the following examples:
As these examples suggest, many organizations inadvertently embrace a narrow set of traditional leadership traits. Progress toward a more relevant definition of leadership is possible when senior leaders devote themselves to it—but the number of priorities competing for limited management time and attention make true commitment a scarce commodity. Crucially, it also requires an often-uncomfortable mind-set shift from top leaders and particularly from frontline managers, who may lack the emotional intelligence or willingness to truly engage. In our experience, the odds of progress increase when both groups engage with women’s leadership programs as they are taking place or by asking participants after the program has finished what they learned about their work environment. Those conversations can be invaluable for highlighting antiquated leadership traits that the company may overemphasize, clarifying and strengthening the organization’s values, and identifying ways to promote a broad range of leadership traits.
When our three military members told their institution that it had been conveying a narrow view of leadership, senior officers realized the importance of their less traditional leadership traits. As part of an effort to foster skills such as listening and relationship building in all ranks and disciplines, including combat, the military decided to incorporate them into training for new colonels and generals. It also launched an internal women’s leadership program. Meanwhile, the three women were promoted and five years later still serve in the military, encouraging others, men and women alike, to lead differently.
Encouraging dissent
Another disconnect we have observed is between the frequency with which women in leadership programs cite problem areas (such as unfair talent reviews, ineffective sponsorship programs, and casual, omnipresent biases), and the low levels of awareness that their organizations seem to have about such issues. How can this be, particularly when many of these challenges would be advantageous and relatively cheap to fix?
Our experience has made abundantly clear to us that women are hesitant, or even unwilling, to point out to their employer the barriers they face at work.
For example, when the 25 most senior women at one Eurasian financial-services company gathered for a women-only leadership program, each one mentioned the strained relationship between herself and her sponsor. One woman went further into detail, speaking of the tension between the cultural unacceptability of dining alone with an older male sponsor and her wish to take part in the company’s initiative. The rest, all of whom had been paired with more senior male sponsors, acknowledged that they had been shying away from the initiative for similar reasons. But none of them had been willing to raise the issue with their employer.
Beverly, a corporate lawyer, also had reason for reticence. In her first performance evaluation after maternity leave, she was penalized for having too few client billable hours, even though her clients had been handed to two colleagues in her absence. Fearing that she would be seen as unreasonably sensitive if she pointed this out, Beverly accepted the status quo as set out by her boss.
Several issues keep women from raising concerns. They are aware that they face a double standard, and they want to avoid being unfairly characterized as weak or as complainers. They also know that not all employers will react positively and that they could face pushback or punishment.
Even the most enlightened employers can become better at recognizing the barriers and trade-offs that women face in reporting problems. Reassuring employees that they won’t be penalized for speaking up is just a start. Leaders also must demonstrate, through visible actions, that women’s views will be respected and appropriately acted upon, while deeply ingraining in the corporate culture a sense that everyone must contribute, in large ways and small, to building a more inclusive system.
By listening to women more closely, organizations can build momentum toward getting the best out of everyone. For example, when Beverley discussed her situation with other women in a leadership program, all of them voiced outrage. That validation from peers working at a range of organizations gave Beverly the confidence to raise the issue at work. Her employer was equally outraged and quickly took corrective action, making clear across the organization how parental leave should be handled.
Beverly’s experience is common, and one aspect of it is positive: nearly every woman we interviewed who did speak up encountered a receptive employer willing to take corrective measures and felt that highlighting systemic institutional problems helped the women and men coming up the ranks behind her. The implication for senior executives is clear: embracing the openness encouraged by women’s leadership programs benefits not only the women who participate in them but also the institutions themselves as they become more aware of common problems, including those that leaders may think they have already addressed. The organization also gains a sense of the frequency with which concerns go unvoiced and can encourage an environment in which individuals throughout the organization are comfortable dissenting constructively. This will have a broader effect than simply improving leadership and gender equality; it will enhance communication, whether it’s about building a better widget or how to operate safely.
Making space for more effective reflection
We believe the persistence of problems such as biased leadership models and a reluctance to speak up stems in part from ineffective self-reflection by individuals, leaders, and organizations. Women don’t call out the issue in those terms during leadership-development programs. But it is telling that it often takes stepping outside their own companies for participants in these programs to be able to engage in extended reflection and challenging, cooperative discussion.
There are clearly large “introspection gaps” in companies, despite the apparent increase in self-reflection brought on by #MeToo and the growing criticism of business’s contribution to everything from climate change to income inequality.
We’d suggest these gaps are in part a function of the breakneck pace and competitive intensity that is so common in today’s large companies: people don’t discuss the need for more self-reflection, because they are moving so fast that they miss the chance. Becoming a more self-reflective organization is also a messier endeavor for senior executives than most of their other initiatives are. Instead of launching a program, receiving periodic updates, and assessing results to decide whether to continue or abandon it, true introspection requires a mind-set shift. For traditional command-and-control leaders, it may be difficult to change their own and others’ long-held assumptions. Meanwhile, encouraging people to stand up for what they believe—even if doing so feels scary or causes the team discomfort or delay—takes patience, emotional intelligence, listening skills, and empathy.
While there are no easy answers, the experiences of participants in women’s leadership programs, and of organizations that embrace the insights they generate, suggest some hallmarks of truly reflective leaders and organizations.
Reflective organizations are able to transform themselves into truly inclusive workplaces, taking full advantage of the significant benefits of diverse teams operating at their best. Women-only leadership programs help them get there. Those organizations and their leaders view these programs as far more than “self-help” for women. They see them as windows into overlooked parts of the company, providing a clearer view of the pitfalls and challenges that employees face. Stronger female leaders emerge from these leadership programs—and so do stronger companies.
In 2018, women who were full-time wage and salary workers had median usual weekly earnings that were 81% of the earnings of male full-time wage and salary workers, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. So here we are in 2020, and women in corporate America still face a gender wage gap, making 79 cents for every dollar men make.
In an effort to understand what’s going on, McKinsey Global Institute and LeanIn.Org set out on an exhaustive research project that began five years ago with updates each year. Over the years, close to 600 companies have participated in the study and more than a quarter of a million people were surveyed on work experiences. This past year, the Women in the Workplace 2019 report is based on information from 329 organizations. The research includes a survey of more than 68,500 employees to understand day-to-day work experiences.
Here’s what they found: Progress is being made, specifically for women in leadership positions. In the C-suite, representation of women has increased from 17% to 21% since 2015. Still, women—and particularly women of color—are underrepresented at every level. And, it is not the “glass ceiling” that is preventing women from rising through the ranks, rather, it is the “broken rung” effect.
According to the report: “Conventional wisdom says that women hit a glass ceiling as they advance that prevents them from reaching senior leadership positions. In reality, the biggest obstacle that women face is the first step up to manager, or the broken rung. The broken rung results in more women getting stuck at the entry level and fewer women becoming managers. As a result, there are significantly fewer women to advance to higher levels. To get to gender parity across the entire pipeline, companies must fix the broken rung.”
People may say it’s a two-way street and that women are looking for more work/life balance and therefore are satisfied with lower-level jobs. But the data points to a very different conclusion.
“Despite conventional wisdom, women are staying in the workforce at the same rate as men,” said LeanIn.Org president Rachel Thomas during a “Secrets of Wealthy Women” Wall Street Journal podcast. “Despite conventional wisdom, 10 years ago, 20 years ago, research would have said that women did not negotiate as often as men, that they didn’t ask for promotions as often as men. And yet, we see year over year that is not the case. The story the data tells is that women are leaning in and doing their part. So what we found is that it really is a story about what companies need to do better.”
Companies need to focus on culture and treat diversity and inclusion as a business imperative, putting best practices in place that eliminates bias from hiring and promotions. According to McKinsey, “inclusiveness is fundamental to enhancing gender parity and overall diversity, and results in financial and organizational performance.”
But women face yet another obstacle—or perhaps an opportunity—in automation.
Careers in the age of automation
A McKinsey companion report called “The Future of Women at Work: Transitions in the Age of Automation,” says that creative approaches are needed to help women seize new opportunities in automation or women could fall further behind in the work world.
Facing a skills gap, the industry is encouraging more women to enter into manufacturing to fill science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) roles. However, globally, women account for only 35% of STEM students, according to the report. “A review of recently created occupations in the U.S. suggests that up to 60% of entirely new jobs such as roboticists and machine-learning specialists are in male-dominated fields.”
But if women can reskill as a way to meet the current STEM-based job demands, it could result in higher-paying careers. “Looking ahead to 2030, our scenario suggests that gender wage disparity may lessen slightly in certain mature economies if women are able to gain the necessary skills and successfully navigate transitions between occupations,” the report said.
It is now up to manufacturers to encourage and enable women to make these job transitions by supporting skill-building efforts, embracing more flexibility and mobility in these new roles, and providing an avenue for women to participate in the creation of technology as the industry begins to work in new ways to embrace the next-generation workforce.
Ellen Ochoa, the first female Hispanic astronaut, was the keynote speaker at the Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network breakfast.
It was record attendance with about 700 people attending the Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN) breakfast at PACK EXPO Las Vegas. The theme of the meeting was “Exploring New Territory,” which was more than just a metaphor for the keynote speaker Dr. Ellen Ochoa, the first Hispanic woman to go into space.
Ochoa, who was on four space missions, was the only woman on three of the flights. But, she said, because of the intense training she underwent with her male colleagues, she was never treated any different. “We were all thought of as individuals,” she noted.
But, it wasn’t always like that. She was the top math student in high school, yet no one ever spoke to her about the field of science. Even in college, an electrical engineering professor tried to steer her away from the profession noting it was “very difficult coursework.” But it was a professor in the physics department who was very interested in her background in math and calculus—the language of physics—who opened up a door, which eventually led to the opportunity of a lifetime to pursue a career that could literally change the world.
Ochoa joined NASA in 1988 as a research engineer at Ames Research Center and moved to Johnson Space Center in 1990 when she was selected as an astronaut. Her first mission in 1993 was on the space shuttle Discovery, and after another space lab mission and two trips to the International Space Station (ISS), she settled back down on earth, taking the job as the 11th director of the Johnson Space Center (JSC). She also happened to be JSC’s second female director.
During her tenure at JSC, where 35% of the workforce are women, Ochoa helped to spearhead an innovation and inclusion program, where they tried to take specific actions every year to engage everyone in the organization, giving a wide variety of people the opportunity for greater experiences. Currently, there are nine employee resource groups at JSC, with one called Women Excelling in Life and Leadership (WELL).
“We need everybody’s ideas and brain power,” Ochoa said. “For an organization to be the best it can be people need to feel valued, they need to feel respected, and if they speak up they need to know that their contributions will be recognized. I feel so fortunate to have had the opportunity to work for an organization that understands that, and to be part of a team in the great adventure of space exploration.”
View original posting from Packaging World.
Last year, Mettler Toledo Product Inspection announced the completed consolidation of its three North American businesses—located in Tampa, Fla., Ithaca, NY, and Aurora, Ill.—into a 270,000 sq. ft., state-of-the-art facility in Lutz, Fla. It was a three-year journey for the company, which makes inspection systems for the food and pharma industries, and it culminated with not only a new building, but also new leadership.
An industry pioneer and an emerging leader share experiences and advice for how to usher in a new era with more women in manufacturing.
It’s always interesting to hear from different generations of women who work in manufacturing, as we can’t help but wonder, how much has changed over the years? Well, according to research from the Society of Women Engineers (SWE), not much has changed when it comes to the numbers.
Nancy Wilson
CEO, Morrison Container Handling Solutions
As CEO of Morrison Container Handling Solutions in Glenwood, Nancy Wilson has created a national sales force, expanded operations to a second manufacturing facility in Glenwood, and doubled the company’s workforce, resulting in more than 70 percent sales growth since 2012.
Over the past year, Wilson has invested in IT to drive internal process efficiencies and has implemented VR and AR technologies that enable remote factory acceptance tests and in-field diagnostics. Wilson chairs the Association for Packaging & Processing Technologies Education Committee and is a member of the Calumet Manufacturing Industry Sector Partnership.
She serves on the Purdue University Northwest chancellor’s board of advisers. In 2012, the university named a mechatronics laboratory for Wilson and her husband, Nick, to recognize their contributions to the university’s mechatronics engineering technology program.
When Mary Barra was appointed General Motors Corp. CEO in 2013 shards of the proverbial glass ceiling fell on the automotive industry and cracked open the window to advancement for women in an industry dominated by men.
Six years later, Ginger Butz and Florence Acuna are prime examples of how much Barra’s appointment helped change the auto industry’s otherwise turgid culture, opening an increasing number of opportunities for women to take on leadership positions.
Ginger Butz is Director, Lifecycle Management at Woodridge, Ill.-based automotive supplier Morey Corp. It’s a big job. She’s in charge of their Caterpillar and telematics business segments, explaining “I run the business from the quote process to shipping the product out the door and everything in between.”
Butz has been at Morey for three years and in her position for two, but spent 23 years in the telecommunications business starting from the bottom and working her way up in various departments, soaking up as much knowledge as she could.
From different backgrounds, interests, and educations, these eight women find their passion in packaging and encourage other women to seize the myriad career opportunities presented by the industry.
Packaging is one of the largest industries in the world. Historically, there have been few women involved in leading the businesses that make up our industry.
The Rockefeller Foundation provided a grant for Korn Ferry to design and execute a research project geared to developing action-oriented initiatives to create a sustainable pipeline of female CEOs.
They secured the participation of 57 female CEOs — 41 from Fortune 1000 companies and 16 from large privately held companies and conducted a series of in-depth individual interviews, delving into pivotal experiences in their personal history and career progression, and to measure key personality traits and drivers that had an impact. The goal: to crack the code of these women’s success, in order to help organizations better identify and leverage their highest-potential female leaders and to ensure more women succeed in the future.
Only 6.4% of Fortune 500 companies are run by female CEOs, and while there is incremental progress — there are 32 female CEOs this year, the highest percentage ever, compared with only 21 last year — the rate of change can feel excruciatingly slow.
But what if there were a way to make breakthrough progress by applying research-based tools and strategies to boost these numbers faster? With that objective in mind — and as part of their 100×25 initiative, which is pushing for female CEOs to lead 100 of the Fortune 500 by 2025 — the Rockefeller Foundation provided a grant for Korn Ferry to design and execute a research project geared to developing action-oriented initiatives to create a sustainable pipeline of female CEOs.
We secured the participation of 57 female CEOs — 41 from Fortune 1000 companies and 16 from large privately held companies. We then conducted a series of in-depth individual interviews, delving into pivotal experiences in their personal history and career progression, and using Korn Ferry’s executive online assessment to measure key personality traits and drivers that had an impact. Our goal: to crack the code of these women’s success, in order to help organizations better identify and leverage their highest-potential female leaders and to ensure more women succeed in the future.
Throughout the research, Korn Ferry used our best-in-class CEO benchmark, which comprises typical scores for CEOs (virtually all male) who are in the 99th percentile of work engagement, as a touchstone to highlight similarities and underscore differences for the women in the study.
Following are six insights that emerged from the study, with illustrative quotes from some of the CEOs we interviewed — unattributed to ensure complete candor — that are directly relevant to building a pipeline of female CEOs.
Women could be ready for the CEO role sooner. Prior to landing the top job, female CEOs in the study worked in a slightly higher number of roles, functions, companies, and industries than men leading companies of a comparable size. In essence, the women worked harder and longer to get to the same place. They were four years older, when compared with benchmark data, before becoming CEO and brought more-diverse functional and industry experience to the position. Some women expressed frustration about the delay. As one put it, “There are still too many women in support functions. They have to prove themselves 10 times over before they’re actually given the opportunity, so their development takes longer.” With women apparently expending more energy to achieve the same result, the longer runway gives them fewer years to have an impact in the top job.
Women are driven by achieving business results and making a positive impact. Drive in high-achieving women manifests differently from the top-performing, predominantly male CEO benchmark group, despite their capabilities showing as almost identical on other fronts. While female CEOs were comparably motivated by collaborating with other people, taking on more responsibility, power, and scope, the interviews strongly suggest that status, power, and reward were not enough to attract women to the role. Ambitious women may be hesitant to self-promote, driven more by a sense of purpose and a desire to contribute value and shape culture. More than two-thirds of the CEOs we assessed said they were motivated by a sense of purpose and believed that the company could have a positive impact on its community, its employees, or the world around them. Nearly one-quarter said creating a positive culture was one of their most important accomplishments. One woman echoed the sentiment we heard throughout our interviews: “Sure, the shareholders made a lot of money and we hit all our targets. But what else did you do? What did you do for your communities and for your people?”
Specific traits are essential to women’s success and in short supply. Throughout the study’s assessments of female CEOs, a combination of four traits and competencies emerged as key to their success: courage, risk-taking, resilience, and managing ambiguity. As one woman told us, “When I went down to Atlanta to run that market for the company, the president of the division said, ‘You are going to be fired within a year, because no one has been able to make Atlanta successful.’ I went anyhow.” The key traits and competencies that enabled the success of these women may also serve as a general profile of a modern leader, as they are the most in demand as boards look to develop CEOs of the future. With the ability to successfully navigate ambiguity and complexity, these CEOs were equipped to take on risk and lead in an uncertain, rapidly changing world — exactly what is needed as we develop succession pipelines for our future.
Women harness the power of experts and teams. Female CEOs scored significantly higher, in the 70th percentile, than the benchmark for humility, the 55th. We noted these scores, indicative of a consistent lack of self-promotion and an expressed appreciation for others, throughout the 57 interviews we conducted. In this context high humility reflects an understanding that no one person defines an outcome for an entire organization. Compared with the predominantly male CEO benchmark, the women scored lower on confidence, measured as a function of belief in whether they were in complete control of events and outcomes that define destiny. As one woman told us, “So, you go into a job, but then you have a lot more to learn. When you have that kind of humility people want to help you, and it’s a strength to ask for help, not a weakness.” Our interviews revealed women who readily gave credit to those who contributed to their success. The women’s scores, combined with our interviews, demonstrate the ability to harness the power of others to achieve needed results, and the recognition that no one person defines the future of the company.
Despite their potential, women don’t see themselves as future CEOs. Of the 57 female CEOs we interviewed, five had always wanted to be CEO, and three never wanted to be but took the job out of a sense of responsibility. Two-thirds said they didn’t realize they could be CEO until someone else told them, describing themselves as intensely focused on driving results rather than on their advancement and success. The recognition by a boss or mentor was key to sparking long-term ambition in many of the women. “It wasn’t until that conversation,” one woman recalled, “that I even imagined anything past manager, forget CEO. I really just wanted a good job with a good company. That conversation was a bit of a wake-up call.”
Backgrounds in STEM, business, finance, or economics are a launchpad for female CEOs. Forty percent of the female CEOs started out with some technical expertise in STEM, and close to 20% started with a background in business, finance, or economics. Their backgrounds were comparable to male CEOs and enabled the women to build their credibility in disciplines with clear, definable outcomes. Their results spoke louder than their gender, and, not coincidentally, were in areas that are key to businesses making profits. This served as an advantage, enabling the women to become experts and build credibility in a core business function before pivoting to becoming a leader in that business. None of the women started in HR, a field where women are disproportionately represented.
Based on our research, we suggest several steps companies can take to build and sustain a pipeline of female CEOs:
Identify potential early. Organizations should intervene to identify and develop promising future talent early in their careers, helping women broaden their skills by providing access to operating roles and leadership opportunities, both horizontal and vertical moves, in core business functions. Guidance can be provided one-on-one or through high-potential development programs. The women we interviewed benefited from early mentors but still saw disparities. As one woman put it, “They coach younger women on how to lead people and younger men on how to run a profitable business.”
Illuminate the path to CEO. Along with early identification, we found that affirmation of women’s potential to become CEO was paramount; the large majority of women did not even envision the job as a possibility. In eight cases, women didn’t realize they wanted to be CEO until the position was offered to them. Companies can consciously fill the pipeline for female leaders by designing a process that includes sponsors, mentors, and role models who recognize women’s potential and help them envision a path to becoming CEO.
Ensure sponsors. When women reach the senior executive level, crucial support relationships shift from mentors, who offer encouragement and advice, to sponsors, who take a hands-on role in managing career moves and promoting executives as potential CEOs. Whether that sponsor was a predecessor CEO, another senior executive, board member, or external CEO, the women discussed the indispensable support — including tough feedback — sponsors provided. Four women mentioned an absence of sponsorship as a hindrance to their career development.
Articulate roles in terms that engage women. If a job description focuses only on the title, the experiences required, and the responsibilities and deliverables, it may not speak to the heart of what motivates all candidates. The female CEOs tended to pursue roles (or even invented roles) that leveraged their skills in a way that made a difference by adding value to the business but also advancing something that the world, customers, or employees benefited from. Companies need to more deliberately communicate the impact, outcomes, and meaningful contributions that would be possible to achieve in the role. This will also lessen the chances that talented women will leave. As one interviewee seeking a meaningful connection between her work and her values told us, “When I went to that recruiting conference, I had no idea that I wanted to be in sales, but the more I got to know the kind of company they were, they seemed to be a really good match for my academic standards, but also my value system. And I learned that was a very important way to look at a company.”
Beware the “glass cliff.” Studies show that women are more likely to be selected for senior leadership roles when the position is associated with a state of crisis or high risk of failure. Turnarounds play to many women’s strengths — particularly if they are challenge- and risk-seekers — including their desire to solve problems and make a difference. These difficult situations can provide vital experience for developing CEOs, and even failures can provide valuable lessons that enhance a leader’s success in the long run. Often, however, such a high-profile failure can tarnish, even end, a career. Organizations need to provide opportunities for women to regain their footing if a high-risk situation fails, or else they risk losing precious talent.
Our goal of building a pipeline of female CEOs is an ambitious one that likely means rethinking everything from targeting promising leaders to “selling” career opportunities better aligned with what drives and motivates women, who after all represent half of the world’s talent base. We are confident, however, that as organizations experience positive business outcomes from tapping into the power of women in their CEO pipeline, they will widen their aperture on high-potential talent and rise to the Rockefeller Foundation’s 100×25 challenge.
By Stephanie Neil, editor, OEM
A shortage of skilled workers has many packaging companies turning to workforce development programs to train and certify the next generation of operators, technicians, and maintenance staff. These same companies are also depending on local universities to attract and recruit more mechanical and electrical engineers. But sometimes what a company really needs is a psychology and business major, like Lisa Hunt.
Hunt, the Chief Operating Officer of Toronto-based Plexpack Corp., a maker of flexible packaging machinery for food, medical, personal care, pet, and other CPG industries, never intended on pursuing a career in this industry. But after 21 years at Plexpack, she’s hooked.
As a small company of about 45 people, Hunt has had the opportunity to work in all of the different areas of the organization, including marketing, sales & distribution, trade shows, HR, purchasing, scheduling, IT & ERP, inventory management, and has even built machines on the factory floor. For a while, she managed the entire Plexpack production floor and machine shop.
“I’m not an engineer,” Hunt readily acknowledges. What she is, however, is an intelligent, industrious, curious, detail-oriented, and creative problem-solver. And, a leader.
Paul Irvine, the CEO of Plexpack, recognized her unique skillset early on and, as her mentor, moved her into roles throughout the company to provide the experience she would need to ascend to her current position of COO.
Plexpack, like many manufacturers and OEMs, considers project and operations management an important position that requires a comprehension of all of the moving parts in an organization. While engineers have an intricate knowledge of how things work, and are very analytical, many companies would rather not have an engineer overseeing production project management. Instead, they are turning to individuals with a well-rounded understanding of the overall business.
“The company wanted someone heading the operations who wasn’t an engineer,” Hunt says, “because it’s a different mindset. The idea is to draw on a 360-degree view to understand what’s going on throughout the organization to support more strategic decisions. I have had hands-on experience in marketing, sales, trade shows, and I also understand what’s really happening on the plant floor and across the operation. The external and internal insight to each function provides the opportunity to make us stronger as a whole.”
Of course, as someone who is not an engineer and is a woman, Hunt faced some challenges on the job, noting she did not get a great reception early on from many of the men she was managing on the shop floor. “The men working in the machine shop are proud. They consider their skills specific, and rightly so,” Hunt says. “They didn’t always respond well to me, so I tried to give them back their autonomy. I was not there to tell them how to do their job, because they knew how to do it the best. I was there to create processes to support them in their work and allow for higher quality output and efficiency. That’s where we were able to establish a middle ground, and with that came respect and success.”
Hunt also worked through the operations chain from start to finish, often getting her hands dirty and, at one point, even building machines herself, because, she says, it was important to understand what the staff was going through and what the hands-on issues are. With that knowledge, Hunt was able to effectively communicate and empower the workforce, which motivated the collective group.
Hunt is taking the experiences she’s had at Plexpack to the broader world of packaging, specifically through her contributions to PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies. As part of the PMMI Business Intelligence Committee, she’s worked on many of the Quickie Surveys, which provide PMMI members with a benchmark on a variety of topics, including tracking travel expenses and compensation, aftermarket part sales, e-commerce, payment terms, shipping and receiving, and more.
“It feels good to know that I have contributed to something that can benefit other companies,” she says. “And I highly encourage PMMI members to take part in a committee, as I have taken away real actions that have helped to position my company better.”
The other area in which Hunt is making a difference is in her involvement to advance women’s careers in packaging. Serving on the executive council of the Packaging and Processing Women’s Leadership Network (PPWLN) sponsored by PMMI, Hunt has been instrumental in the group’s efforts to expand the presence and influence of women in this field.
“I certainly respect the successful women I have had the privilege of working with in my career and life,” Hunt says, which is why she’s involved in PPWLN. Currently in its third year, the group provides ongoing leadership development opportunities based on a focused group of core competencies that will help women succeed in the industry. There are also multiple networking opportunities, such as the upcoming PPWLN regional meeting taking place during PACK EXPO East on Tuesday, April 17th, at the Pennsylvania Convention Center. This meeting includes breakfast, a keynote speaker, and a workshop to provide attendees with insight and information that will help steer their career.
Hunt, too, has done her part to pay it forward and guide the next-generation of packaging leaders. During the PPWLN breakfast at PACK EXPO Las Vegas last September, where Hunt took the stage to introduce keynote speaker Tana Utley of Caterpillar Inc., a young woman just starting out in the industry approached Hunt and asked her for some advice. Hunt’s answer: Persevere. Make difficult choices. Take the job no one else wants. Continue to self-develop and educate yourself. And, use your voice.
But most important perhaps, focus on your own unique qualities. Men and women may have very different opinions or approaches to problem solving. One is not better than the other, just different. Therefore, Hunt is determined to keep the conversation on an equal playing field at all times.
“I feel like when we get together and we have speakers for the women’s network, we talk a lot about balance of family and work,” Hunt says. “But if we want to be viewed as equal we have to drop the conversation of what to do with our kids while we are at work. We have to talk about the profession.”
Today, despite the fact that she had no intention of fashioning a career in packaging, Hunt says she loves her job. Even with the accelerated pace of change due to technology and customers’ new requirements, she’s found her many different roles at Plexpack extremely rewarding. That is due to the variety of challenges, but also largely to the people she’s worked with.
“We have people with drive, integrity, and an eagerness to learn,” Hunt says. “We’ve brought women into the machine shop who had no experience with a CNC machine, but they are doing it and running 3D printers, too.” The men also recognize that the shop floor is changing and there are teachable new skills that anyone can learn. “It’s not just about them knowing everything anymore. The complexion of the machine shop has changed, and it has brought them out of their bubble a bit.”
Meanwhile, as the entire packaging community continues to scramble to find ways to solve the skills gap, Hunt falls back on her psychology roots, remaining steadfast in her belief that having an open mind will create more opportunities in packaging. “There are a lot of opportunities in packaging, in different disciplines and at various levels. You don’t have to be an engineer to have an impact.”
Advice to women (or anyone) starting out in packaging
After 21 years in packaging, having worked in just about every role in her company, Lisa Hunt, COO of Plexpack, outlines some strategies for success.
Persevere. I’ve been through some tough transitions in business and life. Managing the floor, leading the operational changes for a group of employees in an acquisition, to terminations, moving facilities, implementing ERP, mediating issues with customers, vendors or internal staff, motivating and leading in both up and down periods. Be an example. A leader. Sometimes I am intimidated by my situations, sometimes people are not accepting, but what is the alternative? Failure? Keep going, do your best. Just do what needs to be done.
You can’t have everything all at one time. Sometimes you need to make choices. I am the main earner, and I have a very busy life: two active kids, a husband, an aging parent at home, I volunteer in the community, have a C-level job, but sometimes I can’t be there for everyone and everything all of the time, including me. Decide what need has most priority now. Then commit to it.
With that said, take on the jobs no one else wants to. I have done this in spades. It has given me the direct experience of working in or with every department and discipline in my company.
Listen to the issues. It has expanded my view and my understanding. A jack of all trades, maybe. But I am relied on for input and direction because I can see the whole picture, how one action impacts another. There is a specialty in that—and perhaps that is in part why I have the job I do. There are possibilities in manufacturing outside of STEM, as well.
Continue to self-develop and educate. This is so important. I earned an MBA from Athabasca University while working full-time and while on maternity leave (for some portion of that time). I attained an Executive Leadership Certificate from the University of Toronto Rotman Business School. A green belt lean certification is in the works. I attend PMMI sessions, legal conferences, IT webinars, really anything that is of importance to me or the company that I can fit in. I leverage all the learning I can from consultants and business partners. Do things outside of work that keep you well-rounded, developed, and learning different perspectives. Most of the time this is a positive that can be applied to your work. For the past five years I have been serving on the board of directors at Lakeridge Health Foundation, whose mandate is to raise funds to support the regional hospital in Durham Region, Ontario, which includes, among many hospital services over multiple sites, a top-ranked cancer center and an education and research program. I have also served on the board of the Playcare Centers my children attended. The level of networking, professionalism and learning I have gleaned through these experiences is invaluable. I also do various volunteer works with other extracurriculars in which our family has involvement. Finally, exercise and be strong—it keeps your mind sharp and your energy up—you’ll need it.
Be yourself and use your voice. Use your voice to express what you want early on. It may not be a problem for the millennial generation, but certainly for me it was, and still can be. But I have rarely felt nervous about expressing opinions or suggestions or making a contribution within the business environment. I love to talk strategy and process and continuous improvement. Speaking up is a must. Even an introvert like me in a sea of extroverts can be heard—believe it. Read the original article.
A distinct positive correlation exists between more women in executive positions and a company’s ability to outperform competitors. Studies in recent years by DDI and MSCI have revealed that higher percentages of women in strong leadership positions correlate to better financial performance and greater returns on equity.
At Sapper Consulting, 49% of our employees are women, our management team is 40% female, and our company has grown quarter over quarter for the past three years. This is not an anomaly. A global survey of nearly 22,000 firms in 91 countries revealed that when a profitable firm moved from no female leaders to 30% representation, its net revenue margin also increased by 15%.
Unfortunately, women often aren’t given the productive feedback that’s necessary for workers to reach leadership positions. Provided that women in leadership help companies beat the competition, how can business leaders improve their constructive criticism of female employees in order to help them and their companies grow?
Consider these techniques for providing better feedback:
1. Keep your language constructive. Labeling a woman as “bossy,” for example, isn’t constructive, and studies suggest women are penalized more harshly than men for behaviors labeled “aggressive,” such as negotiating for a raise. Instead of labeling, try saying, “During our last meeting, I noticed that you interrupted others while they were speaking, which is something we could work on.”
Growing your employees and providing the feedback they need for success means making the criticism empowering. An employee needs a clear understanding of her opportunities for growth and action items to achieve it.
At Sapper, we require all employees to answer three questions when reviewing their peers: “What is something I should start doing? Continue doing? Stop doing?”
When managers review their employees, they should give clear, concrete answers to those questions, such as “She should start getting more input from her team on key decisions,” “She should continue meeting with individual team members weekly,” or “She should stop arriving late to meetings.”
We also encourage all of our team members to follow up with their reviewers if their feedback is unclear or if examples of a behavior would be helpful.
2. Don’t shame women for emotion. Crying isn’t a sign of weakness; women are simply biologically predisposed to cry four times as often as men. When women cry at work, they often feel they’ll be alienated by male colleagues or bosses. If an employee gets upset during your next feedback session, hand her a tissue, ask whether she needs a minute to regroup, and try to understand the root stressor.
Start with a statement like, “I understand that this is a difficult conversation and can imagine that you’re feeling a bit overwhelmed. I’m giving you this feedback because we believe in you and want to see you reach your highest potential.”
When I ask these questions, I often hear, “I don’t know why, but I’ve always cried when I get feedback.” Sometimes an employee will say the conversation had triggered a completely different stressor. Either way, I’ve started a valuable dialogue around the response rather than dismissing it altogether.
3. Don’t be ruinously empathetic. Ruinous empathy, a term coined by feedback professional and author Kim Scott, occurs when you care about your employee but you don’t challenge her. This often results in sugar-coated criticism or unhelpful feedback. By giving this vague feedback to save your employee’s feelings, you’re holding her back from improvement.
If an employee just finished a presentation and asks for feedback, I don’t simply say, “You did a pretty good job.” Instead, I elaborate: “I liked the content of your presentation, but you spoke too quickly through some of the key points. I can practice with you before your next presentation if you’d like.”
When providing proper, useful feedback, start by taking the employee aside as quickly as possible. Tell her you’re about to give some blunt feedback, but remind her it isn’t personal. Make your feedback as actionable and specific as possible, and thank her for speaking with you. Feedback is necessary for growth — don’t be afraid to tell employees what they need to hear.
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Join the Packaging & Processing Women’s Leadership Network group on LinkedIn.
Questions? contact Tracy Stout at [email protected].
