Febriany Eddy talks about her role as the leader of a multinational mining company and the challenges of attracting women to work in remote areas.
Chapter: Attracting female talent
About: : Febriany Eddy has been the president and CEO of Australian-based multinational mining company Vale Indonesia Tbk since April 2021. She has worked with the company for nearly 14 years and has held important positions within the organization. In 2019, she was selected as Asia’s Top Sustainability Superwoman for her role as an active voice for equality, diversity, inclusion, and sustainability through various forums, such as IBWCE and WIME.
What are a few important ways to push more women to the top?
In my own experience, mentorship and sponsorship were very helpful. Confidence is an issue for some women. Pak Nico, the CEO whom I succeeded and who became my mentor, was a true believer in me. He has a passion for coaching, and I specifically asked him to observe me and give me feedback after every meeting. This kind of continuous feedback helped shape me as a leader.
“From the company side, flexibility, sensitivity, and empathy are what we need to help women grow.”
At Vale, the concept is still quite new, so we’re doing a metrics assessment to identify where the gaps are, where we can escalate, and a road map for it.
I also think the company commitment matters, but the women themselves matter even more. Women should be able to share their problems to foster their confidence and positivity to thrive in their working environment
“Bringing a positive mindset is very important. We have to cultivate gratitude. If we do, it creates positive energy to continuously fight and grow.”
If a woman says she has to work harder than a man to get an opportunity, maybe it is somewhat true. But thinking that way doesn’t help. Just think of it as training, preparing you for a certain position.
“If you think positively, it will create a greater motivation. Negative thinking will only bring you down, and you get nothing from it.”
You mentioned that mentoring is one of the most important things to help women thrive in their careers. How do you build the right network, mentor, or sponsors?
For me, finding the right mentor was mostly luck. I am delighted to have Pak Nico as my mentor. He was very passionate about helping me grow. However, to find the right mentor, you have to make sure they believe in you and will allow you to be yourself.
Vale named me as CEO because the company needed a different profile. I told Pak Nico that I lacked a network, and he said the network will come when you’re CEO. And he’s right. If we think positively, there are a lot of people who want to see women grow. When I became CEO, many people approached me and wanted to get connected. Being in a high-level position, I have also gained credibility for joining associations such as YPO and B20 to leverage my networks on certain issues that I’m interested in, such as sustainability and women empowerment.
What are some of Vale’s initiatives to grow women’s talents?
Vale has encountered many issues, one of which is the limited number of applicants. Last year, only 11 percent of all applicants were women, which shows that the interest is still low. To solve this problem, we initiated a change in the image of our company to be more women-friendly by encouraging more women to apply. We decided to do more active campaigns, such as roadshows to universities. We also have programs to go into communities. Eighty-eight percent of the employees we recruited are from the local workforce. In remote areas, we act as semigovernment to a larger extent. Of course, there are challenges, but there are also advantages. Having communities is quite important as the company has a positive influence by being active in the community and society.
For women within the company, we have talent analytics—a set of data that can assess a worker’s potential—and then we see what we can do by plotting the data. Then, we can tailor a program for mentorship and sponsoring.
Another big problem for a mining company is family. In a remote area, many workers haven’t married yet, and their parents want them to come home. To address this, we started working on a more flexible arrangement. For female workers, we added an extra four months for maternity leave. We also found it to be challenging if the operators needed a break for pumping, so we gave them more flexibility.
Vale has also arranged for a 100 percent work-from-home plan, except for the operators. The office is only a hub now. Each team and their leaders coordinate internally. They feel it’s helpful, especially the ones who live far from the office.
“As leaders, we need to be sensitive to employee needs. To identify that, we do one-on-one dialogues with direct reports. We should be more sensitive and have more understanding of their situations.”
Mobility has always been an issue for women who want to grow their careers. As a female CEO, how do you navigate and cope with such challenges?
I would not be at this level without the strong support of my husband. He always encourages me to go farther. We believe marriage is a collective responsibility, so we own it together as husband and wife. His view is that there’s a time for everything: “If you’re more successful at the peak of your career, my role is to support you.” When his time comes, of course I will also support him. He is an Australian and works in the mining sector in health and safety, so he is used to traveling and the concept of going to remote areas. I consider myself lucky in that regard.
“Trust, support, and communication are very important. Otherwise, it would be difficult for me to maintain a work–life balance.”
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