“In this world of competing priorities, constant change and high performance, the welfare, wellbeing and future prosperity of our employees is more important than ever. At PepsiCo, we know that our business can only succeed when our people flourish, and therefore our mission is to build a more diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace for all. Being accredited as a family friendly workplace only serves to strengthen this commitment. What’s important for us is that our people build their work around their personal and family needs, not the other way around, and creating a family inclusive workplace enables this outcome.”
Aligned to the PepsiCo mission to create more smiles with every sip and every bite, we are committed to creating smiles for our employees by providing meaningful growth opportunities to build successful careers, and importantly, a diverse and inclusive workplace where people can flourish by bringing their whole selves to work every day.
With this in mind, and understanding that work-life quality and balance means different things to different people, PepsiCo ANZ is committed to being a family friendly workplace by providing a range work practices, initiatives and programs (and supporting policies) to assist its employees in balancing personal responsibilities and lifestyle with work.
At PepsiCo, we recognise that supporting diversity and inclusion and being a family friendly workplace is not only the right thing to do for our people, it is also the right thing to do for our business. This commitment is also woven into our values which recognises that our business is strongest when we are a company of opportunity that embraces the full spectrum of humanity.
Fostering a culture of flexible working has always been front and centre for PepsiCo ANZ and over the years we have implemented a range of initiatives to support our approach:
Last year, we refreshed our approach by revitalising our Flexible Work Practice Policy to focus on three core pillars: Flextime, Flexplace and Flexday.
Flextime – employees adjust their start and finish time to assist with personal commitments before/after work.
Flexplace – employees work from an alternative location to their usual place of employment. Alternate locations include home, other PepsiCo sites or client and partner offices.
Flexday – employees choose specific days to work from home and/or alternate place to the office with no limitation.
The refresh of our new policy has seen a fundamental shift in employees and managers embracing flexibility even more, with an increased level of trust. Leaders also have a clearly defined, united vision for the flexible workplace they want to create.
This change has been most significantly driven by:
Last year, PepsiCo ANZ saw a lift of 5pts in organisational health as measured through our engagement survey (salaried employees) to 81%. Additionally, all 7 categories that measure engagement saw an increase in pts from 2019 to 2020: specifically, myEngagement increased by 3 pts to 85% and myCommitment increased in 6pts to 78%.
With regards to questions that specially measure diversity, equity and inclusion and flexibility, we saw the following:
Our people have responded in a very positive way to the flexibility refresh with comments such as:
“…I wouldn’t cope without flexing – something would have to give. Flextime, Flexday and Flexplace enables me to have it all!”
“By nature, flexibility is going to be different for everyone. I’d encourage all individuals to identify what is important in their lives and look to see how these great changes [to our flexibility practices] could assist you in finding ‘your balance’.”
“…Flextime has greatly improved my sleep and health. I am so grateful to PepsiCo.”
“I count myself lucky that PepsiCo supplies the resources and support to enable me to work effectively whilst still maintaining my home life.”
(Note – our 2021 engagement survey is due in October.)
Liz Donohoe is the ANZ Commercial IT Lead for PepsiCo ANZ and has been with PepsiCo for 31 years. When asked about her view on PepsiCo ANZ’s new approach to flexibility in 2020, Liz said the following:
“Flextime, Flexday and Flexplace are part of my everyday life – I love it! Working flexibly allows me to balance my personal responsibilities, work commitments and wellbeing. Having a family of 5, working on global projects spanning across four distinct time zones and being an active healthy person, I wouldn’t cope without flexing – something would have to give. Flextime, Flexday and Flexplace enables me to have it all!
As for how she maximises the flexibility on offer at PepsiCo ANZ and makes it work for her, Liz advised that it largely depends on her work schedule and commitments as everyday can be quite different.
“For example, I may have an early US call so I work from home, then go to the gym and get on calls with the ANZ business around 9:30. I then have time with family later in the day for dinner. It is up to me how I flex to suit my needs and more importantly to make me happy. My ideal flexibility is choosing the best days to go into the office each week based on work and personal commitments.” And whilst her working hours given the current environment may be longer, our flexible work practices have also given her time back from travelling and therefore more time with family and more flexibility for personal activities.
The advice she’d give to others?
“Everyone has different situations, and this can change day to day, so there is no ‘one size’ that fits all. Therefore, it is important to try a few different approaches, whether it is changing work hours, days working from home or from another location. We shouldn’t overthink it. We just need to think about how we can deliver our best results workwise and personally.”
“In this world of competing priorities, constant change and high performance, the welfare, wellbeing and future prosperity of our employees is more important than ever. At PepsiCo, we know that our business can only succeed when our people flourish, and therefore our mission is to build a more diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace for all. Being accredited as a family friendly workplace only serves to strengthen this commitment. What’s important for us is that our people build their work around their personal and family needs, not the other way around, and creating a family inclusive workplace enables this outcome.”
Parents At Work acknowledge and pay respect to the past, present and future Traditional Custodians and Elders of this nation and the continuation of cultural, spiritual and educational practices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
