“It’s always been our drive,” said Khalil Daoud, chairman and managing director of LibanPost.
LibanPost has been following the path of gender parity since day one, trying its best not to discriminate and differentiate between men and women. This year, its effort and hard work was seen and appreciated by others.
Following the theme #PRESSFORPROGRESS for International Women’s Day, LibanPost honored women in every way possible by sharing profiles of LibanPost’s inspiring women on their website, sending an email to staff to raise awareness about the day and sharing its current statistics on gender diversity online.
“This year’s theme was to focus on committing to and accelerating a gender parity mindset via progressive action, challenging stereotypes and biases, forging positive visibility of women influencing others, and celebrating women’s achievements,” explained Ronnie Richa, senior marketing manager at LibanPost.
The company also designed postage stamps with important and influential Lebanese women on them. And most importantly, they welcomed the first female letter carrier onto the team.
“We’ve always had women in LibanPost, except in distribution,” said Nada Genadry, human resources manager. “Now we have seven female letter carriers with one in charge of an entire distribution branch in Jbeil.”
LibanPost has proven to be a woman-friendly environment where females participate in and lead different parts of the team, such as accounting, marketing, and even serve as members of the Board of Directors.
Sana Abou Haidar Elias explained her experience with LibanPost in a video commemorating women on International Women’s Day. Working for 19 years, she started from the bottom until reaching the retail manager position. “That means one thing,” Abou Haidar Elias stated, “that at LibanPost, efficiency is what allows you to grow.”
All of this was appreciated on June 12 in London when LibanPost won the Corporate Social Responsibility Award for Gender Parity during the World Post and Parcel Awards in 2018. Running against Deustche Post DHL, winner of two consecutive years in the same category, and the United States Postal Service, LibanPost was able to prevail, defeating two post offices from highly developed countries.
“We wish to set an example for others where the path isn’t currently followed by all companies,” says Daoud on the issue of gender parity in Lebanon and the Middle East.
How did LibanPost’s journey with the World Post and Parcel Awards start? Wanting to be the best in all categories, LibanPost has been competing for several years.
“We care about comparing ourselves to the best, this way we set a benchmark to follow,” Daoud explains. By studying the previous winners’ programs, LibanPost is able to learn how to evolve and improve in all categories. Winning the Innovation Award in 2016, LibanPost was shortlisted for the Corporate Social Responsibility, the Retail Customer Access and People Management awards in 2018, with a win on one and a high command on the two others respectively. “
Richa concludes by summing up the gender parity journey in two words: LibanPost’s DNA.
By Carla Richa
