IN ORBIT A KBR PODCAST
Season 3, Episode 4
Who Runs the World? Girls! – KBR and the Advancement of Women
INTRO
John Arnold
Hello. I'm John, and this is In Orbit. Welcome to the podcast. We're thrilled as always that you're with us. Today, we might be a little extra excited, because we have something special for you. We're doing something a little bit different. But before we get into it, please allow me to set the stage.
A few months back, KBR was once again named a Forbes list of the world's top female-friendly companies: quite an achievement. We've talked before on the podcast about KBR's commitment to inclusion and diversity. One aspect of that is a focus on gender equality. In fact, KBR has an outstanding employee resource group called ASPIRE, which is specifically dedicated to the development of women and the promotion of gender diversity across the company.
Well, after the Forbes list was released, a KBR colleague in Abu Dhabi reached out to me about doing an episode to highlight the amazing strides KBR is making to be a great place for women. That colleague is Reshma Bhat, who is a technical advisor and project engineer working with KBR's Integrated Solutions International Business, and who serves as chair of ASPIRE in the United Arab Emirates. Reshma did an incredible job putting together all the pieces for this episode, which included doing an interview with Dr. Euan McCulloch, Director of Operations for the Middle East for Integrated Solutions International.
In that interview, you'll hear Dr. McCulloch's vision for growing the business and the region and becoming an employer of choice, his thoughts on the importance of inclusion and diversity, and what sets KBR apart as a great place for women. You'll also hear directly from some of the women of KBR, who share what it means to them to be a part of the KBR team of teams.
The timing of all this has been serendipitous, because at time of editing, we are fresh off International Women's Day, which was on March 8, when KBR joined with millions around the world in celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. In fact, March is Women's History Month, so it's especially timely. So that's enough from me, and without further ado, let's dive right in.
TRANSITION
Reshma Bhat
Hello. I'm Reshma Bhat and I'm the ASPIRE chair for UAE location. Personally, I joined KBR a couple of months ago and it has been an enriching journey so far. I'm an instrumentation engineer by qualification, and I'm the project engineer on Majnoon Growth 2 in Abu Dhabi. Personally, I'm of Indian origin, but I have been born and raised in UAE in Abu Dhabi.
So if you're wondering what is the reason for this podcast, well, it is to celebrate KBR's listing on Forbes as a top female-friendly organization to working. And who better to explain that than our regional manager, Dr. Euan McCulloch, who has been a huge motivating factor for the female force in KBR UAE. Over to you, Euan.
Euan McCulloch
Thanks, Reshma. I'm the director of operations for the Middle East for the Integrated Solutions International business within Sustainable Technology Solutions. I've been in the Middle East for 10 years in a variety of roles, and I'm proud to have recently joined KBR to take up this position leading the business within the Middle East.
My main objective is to simply grow the Middle East business, and the way I want to do that is by ensuring we adopt a customer-focused approach where we listen and understand the needs of our customers; create unique value propositions and solutions in order to make sure our customer requirements are satisfied. In order to do that, we need to recruit, retain and cultivate people and talent within our organization across the widths and depths of our capabilities, to ensure the uniqueness and key attributes of each person can be promoted and supported to grow to its full potential. And by doing that, we'll have the unique solutions that we can offer our customers that can service their business, and in turn, that will grow our business. So in essence, to help develop, cultivate, and grow the people will in turn grow our business.
My main vision for the Middle East business is to become the employer of choice for the people across our territory. The way that I want to do that is to provide a platform that enables people to thrive and prosper and really to reach their full potential. I want to cultivate and foster an environment of inclusiveness, of open communication and listening to our employees and their needs so that we can create better teams, and that's across all technical and support-service functions, and really to give our people across the business a voice: a voice to be heard, a voice to be listened to, so that we can shape our business to be unique in the marketplace. And by doing that, we'll attract and retain the best talent, and by doing that we'll create best service offering for our customers.
Reshma Bhat
So my first question to you is: what has been a key observation or a resilient characteristic of the female force in KBR?
Euan McCulloch
The key resilient feature for me of the female workforce, that really stands out in simple terms, is tenacity, I think across the team, I look at individuals from different backgrounds, different cultures, and they've all got one thing in common. They've got a tenacious approach to work, personal objectives, and if I look at a team of teams that wants to break silos and barriers, the females of other organization step up to the plate and do that with gusto.
Reshma Bhat
What, in your opinion, makes KBR a top female-friendly organization to work in?
Euan McCulloch
In my opinion, what makes KBR a top female-friendly organization is the opportunity for females of the workforce to come together, have an open discussion. And especially fundamentally speaking, you've got such a width of nationality and diversity that actually there's a lot of good open discussions that can happen, both from a work's needs perspective, from a personal and cultural perspective, that can come together. I think that's quite unique, and I think by encouraging this open communication often and making sure that as the discussions evolve over time, that we can continue to listen and continue to adjust and shape our organization to make sure that we can be responsive to the female needs. And by doing that, I think we'll retain talent. I think we'll cultivate talent, and we'll foster the right behaviors that enables the females of our organization to thrive.
Reshma Bhat
What is your message to the female workforce across KBR offices in different geographical locations?
Euan McCulloch
If I look at the Middle East team since I started until now, we've grown to 56 nationalities of representation within our business. We've got a nice balance between male and female employees. And I think across the range of the business, because our diversity's so large, actually there's lots of different voices with lots of different backgrounds and values that we need to take time to hear.
KBR actually has developed an ASPIRE group, this team of teams, I think. So an excellent showcase and example of how female employees can come together as a team within an organization to share experiences, share their learnings, and share their own vision of how they want to shape their future and turn the company's future. And I'm really interested to support and listen to this team of teams, listen to what is important for them, what are the key messages that they want me as the business leader to hear, and make sure that they're echoed across our business and to the customers as needed. I think this is an exciting group. I think it's a group that is very powerful, and it's my duty and my responsibility to make sure that we provide this group full access to the tools and support services to enable their voice to be held.
Reshma Bhat
Thank you for that, Euan. So now that we've heard it from the management, let's talk to some of the female workforce in KBR. So what we've done as part of this podcast is that we have reached out to ladies across the organization of different nationalities and who've been in KBR for a long time, and some of whom have joined recently, like me. So let's hear it from them.
TRANSITION
Hi, I am Gulmira [Nazhidenova]. I am working in the contract center procurement department. I am from Kazakhstan, and I've been part of KBR for four months. I believe KBR employees are the heart of everything. That's why KBR is dedicated to creating collaborative environments that transcend cultures and geographical boundaries, where all ideas, viewpoints, and inputs are heard, respected and considered. KBR believes that all its individual differences are valuable. By embracing those differences and working together, it's more innovative and resilient, safer, and better prepared to conquer any challenge.
Hi, my name is Alma Begic, and I'm senior supply chain manager, currently based in Dubai. I'm originally from Bosnia, and I have been part of KBR for more than 26 years now. Over the years, KBR has made great strides toward creating an environment where women feel valued, where they can lead, and where they can thrive. And women are helping lead conversations about areas for improvement across the company, such as gender parity, especially through ASPIRE, which is KBR's employee-led resource group dedicated to the development of women and the promotion of gender diversity. Since 2016, the proportion of female representation on KBR's Board of Directors and executive leadership team has been on the rise, with current female representation on the board increasing to almost 30%.
I am Hamda Al Mansoori in the Real Estate department. I am from UAE, and I've been part of KBR for three months. Women play a from profound role in the workforce today, and the progress we continue to make to close the gap depends on the work of the individual. KBR has created various resource groups for members to connect with each other. For example, ASPIRE, which has committed to the development of women and the promotion of gender diversity for the benefit of employees and KBR. The aim is to build a culture of inclusion and respect, which enhances team performance and make KBR a more efficient business. Inclusivity and diversity will make a difference, not only in our work, but to the entire world.
I am Mariel Onate from the PMT department. I am from Philippines, and I've been part of KBR for five years. As a woman and a mother, working in the oil and gas industry comes with its own fair share of difficulties. According to a recent study, only 22% of the industry workforce are women. Of the 22%, 27% are entry-level, 17% hold position in a managerial room, 16% hold a higher-management position, and then those percentages decline the higher we go into executive management. I am proud that these conversations around lasting change are happening at KBR.
I'm Caroline Kimaru from the payroll department. I am from Kenya, and I've been part of KBR for eight years. Inclusivity and diversity will make a difference not only in our work but to the entire world. I believe in the following five points. One: trust in yourself and step out of your comfort zones. Two: be your own biggest advocate and encourage others along the way. Three: have the courage to speak up about creating a more diverse and inclusive work culture. Four: build a good team, trust in the people around you, empower them and in turn, you will also be empowered. Five: create a work-life balance that works for you.
I'm Barsha Saikia and I'm working as a senior instrumentation engineer in the [inaudible 00:14:40] project in KBR. I joined KBR a few months back, and I think KBR promotes a culture of care, gender equality and inclusion. I am very happy to be a part of KBR. Cheers to the ladies of KBR.
I'm Joyce Monteiro, working for [inaudible 00:14:57] project as a project secretary. When I joined KBR three months back, I was astonished to see so many womenfolks around, especially on my floor. KBR has created a platform where women feel valued. Gender balance in the workplace creates more positivity. I would like to quote Selene Kinder's words: "I wish more women realized that helping another woman win, cheering her on, praying for her or sharing a resource with her does not take away from the blessings coming to them. In fact, the more you give, the more you receive. Empowering women doesn't come from selfishness, but rather from selflessness."
This is Preeti Santani from Process department. I have recently joined KBR, and I have come to know that KBR over the past seven years has made great strides towards creating an environment where we women have felt valued. KBR's employee-led group ASPIRE, dedicated to the development of women in promotion of gender diversity, promotes its commitments to the women. Since 2016, female representatives on the KBR BoD [Board of Directors] has been on the rise. Cheers to the KBR women team.
I'm Sachita Rao. I'm a senior process engineer with KBR. I joined KBR three years ago, December 2019. In 2021, I got pregnant and I requested for work from home because I was having some medical issues. It was difficult for me to travel back and forth to office and home. So I got work-from-home facility very easily from HR, so they understood my needs. So I would say that not only as just for a mother; in general. In general, KBR Abu Dhabi, we have a very friendly atmosphere for our female colleagues, and I actually am happy that I'm part of KBR.
My name is Teresa Fernandes, senior payroll specialist at Dubai Shared Services for almost 23 years. And to me, KBR is a top female-friendly company because of its diversity. Women from different backgrounds in cultures who work together not as colleagues, but also as a family who share common goals and interest. This makes our team an even more special place to work.
My name is Chetna Mistry. I am the regional accounting manager in Dubai. I have been with the company for the last 19 years, and I feel KBR is the safest place for women to work, as the company provides the highest level of security. We have the right to raise any concerns to management. KBR provides equal opportunity to all staffs, irrespective of their race, color, religion, gender and nationality. KBR's work ethics and policies are excellent, which gives each employee a sense of responsibility and involvement with the company. I'm very happy to be part of this KBR family.
TRANSITION
CONCLUSION
John Arnold:
Well, what more need be said? Another fantastic episode, and a very meaningful one, is in the books here on the In Orbit podcast, and there are lots of people to thank on this one, so I'll get down to it.
First, many, many, many things to Reshma Bhat for making this episode happen and for leading the interview. Thank you to all the women of KBR for sharing your personal experiences and insights with us. Thank you to Dr. Euan McCulloch for taking time to talk about the importance of inclusion and diversity. And a huge thank you to our producer, Emma, who went above and beyond in editing this episode together. By and large, this was an episode made for and by women, and that's fantastic.
Finally, to you, our listeners, thank you for tuning in on a biweekly basis. We've already blown right past that 10,000 downloads mark and are already creeping up on 11,000, so we hope you'll keep coming back for more.
If you're interested in learning more about KBR's commitment to inclusion and diversity, or the work our integrated-solutions teams are doing, you can head over to kbr.com and use the friendly search bar. If you liked what you heard today or if you have an idea for an episode, we'd love to hear from you. So please email us at inorbit@kbr.com.
And that's it. Until next time, from all of us here, thank you so much for being with us and staying in our orbit. Take care.