Emma Sri Martini is a multi-disciplinary business leader who championed an equity and
inclusion-based career advancement program in one of Indonesia’s largest oil and gas companies.
Chapter: Nurturing and developing female talent
About: Emma Sri Martini is the chief finance officer (CFO) of Pertamina, an Indonesian state-owned oil and gas company. She is not entirely new to state-owned enterprises: she previously worked with Telkomsel, PPA, and SMI. During her tenure with Pertamina, she became the leader of Pertiwi, an informal community for women and young workers to improve their leadership abilities through professional development and inclusion programs.
"Our job as leaders is to make sure the workplace is very supportive, comfortable, and
safe for all employees.”
Based on your experiences working at state-owned enterprises (SOEs), what is your view about workplace policies on gender equality and inclusion?
Since the Ministry of SOEs has issued an affirmative policy related to gender mainstreaming, there has been a target to have at least 15 percent of the C-suite comprised of women. The issue has never been addressed much in Telkomsel; our representa- tion is already at 30 to 40 percent. However, when it comes to the oil and gas industry, I believe we must make gender mainstreaming an affirmative policy to address diversity and inclusion. At Pertamina, it’s quite rare to see women in leadership positions as there were only nine women on the senior leadership team. In light of the Ministry of SOEs’ policy, Pertamina became the first SOE with a community of female officers, called Pertiwi. This program allows us to apply affirmative programs related to gender equality, women leadership, and female empowerment.
In your opinion, what are some of the biggest challenges in the workplace right now when it comes to gender equality?
I believe the biggest challenge is the female workers themselves. By nature, women have more roles than men. That’s what makes the challenge more complex for female workers. This is also probably why many women consider not pursuing higher positions in the workplace. It’s not necessarily that they aren’t capable. But because of family issues, many have held back their desire to advance their careers. Even so, few women choose to work in this field. And yet, it’s still not making us prioritize men over women. Our recruitment, job postings, and promotions still provide equal opportunities for women and men. We’re also willing to recruit more female leaders if there are any. To address the issue, we have
established an equity-based policy that provides convenient facilities for female workers.
"A focus on gender equality is often abused in its implementation, saying that female workers can get more privileges, which is not entirely true. I believe there should be a
sense of equality between genders instead of privileges."
Tell us more about Pertiwi, the gender-equity-based mentoring program at Pertamina. Do you think this program will be an effective strategy to boost the company’s uptake and retention of female talent?
We established Pertiwi as an informal community that strives for gender equality in Pertamina based on four pillars related to the environmental, social, and governance aspects of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The community aims to give management some refinement policies regarding gender equality in the workplace. For women’s leadership, we have train-the-trainer programs with several coaching programs, and we can propose career advancement programs related to leadership or learning.
We have also established a line of communications so all employees can comfortably express their concerns about the workplace, and the implementation of all mentioned programs is being monitored entirely by Pertiwi. I believe the program will provide equal access to opportunities for the rising stars. Thanks to Pertiwi, the communication between employees and management is more fluid, allowing opportunities for career advancement to be more open and transparent.
"Through Pertiwi, we highly encourage and support Millennials, young people, and female talent to become the new successors. I believe the young directors who were groomed by
the program have really helped us expand our portfolio while also cutting through the
bureaucracy."
Five to 10 years from now, what sort of legacy would you like to leave behind?
I like the word “transforming.” And I do intend to leave a legacy. I would like to create better working conditions to uplift the company’s performance and reputation. Just like two years ago when I joined Pertamina, I think there’s a lot of transformation happening here. Going forward, I would like to see the company become a better workplace in terms of both performance and the working environment. Transformations require energy and guts to make change stick. And you have to be ready to be hated by those who dislike changes.
“To disrupt, we need so much energy and endurance. A change doesn’t happen in just one night. We cannot transform in just one year. Transformational changes have to be done all the time.”
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