Women in Tech: Shining brighter at Sun Life Global Solutions PH

Sun Life Global Solutions (SLGS) Philippines, the shared services of the global insurance and asset management leader Sun Life is celebrating this year’s International Women’s Month by further championing Women in Tech through a more comprehensive Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEI&B) career plan.

Over the years, SLGS has emerged as a talent and innovation hub, driving seamless digital transformation and providing technology, knowledge services, and business services to Sun Life businesses globally. In its continued commitment to empowering its talent, Sun Life Global Solutions strives to foster an environment where all employees are treated fairly and respectfully at work and in communities, where everyone has equal access to opportunities and resources.

This has been the motivation of their DEI&B core team to develop an even more comprehensive DEI&B career plan for 2024, divided into three phases: 1. Attract, 2. Develop, and 3. Engage and Retain which was conceptualized considering inputs from the SLGS team, survey results, and a DEI index in the Towers Watson survey from Towers Watson, a global professional services firm focused on business, risk management, and human resource consulting to measure and propel an organization’s workforce. 

ATTRACT through gender diversity-focused hiring 

While SLGS’s gender diversity across the organization is currently at 55%, the company is still looking to grow their gender diversity in tech positions. SLGS is committed to improving gender diversity at the very start of the employment process by removing bias in hiring. 

With their Talent Acquisition team collaborating with various sectors since 2023, SLGS created awareness campaigns with university partners, conducted training on resume writing, and incorporated policy changes for removing bias in hiring such as the removal of pictures, schools, gender, age/birthday and parent occupation in candidate resumes. 

DEVELOP with mentorship program for women and training roadmap

For current employees, SLGS in collaboration with the SunStree team, a women employee network that serves as a platform for women to maximize their full potential, is creating mentorship programs for women and would-be women leaders. This will run alongside a reverse mentorship program with MIllennials and Gen Zs as mentors, and their leaders as mentees.

The mentorship programs will be amplified through the implementation of the Allyship Framework, which  allows the entire leadership team of SLGS to co-sponsor awareness campaigns on how to be an “ally” as well as to drive the SLGS PH DEI&B scorecard that will measure the demographics, participation rate, and impact of activities. 

This will be done through the SLGS inclusion networks, which are groups for gender empowerment called Bright Women,Pride (LGBTQ+) and DiverseAbility (Persons with Disability) clubs, which are all aligned with the Global Sun Life DEI&B Inclusion Networks. Two more were established locally: DEKADA (Inter-generation) and Working Families.

To consistently improve their DEI&BI efforts, SLGS is also inviting their managers to have focus group discussions to align on their inclusivity programs and serve as the voice of their employees. 

ENGAGE AND RETAIN through DEI&B Programs 

SLGS’s commitment to celebrating Women in Tech stretches to engaging and retaining women talent through year-round DEI&B programs. Some of these activities include: the annual celebration of the International Women’s Day during the month of March, the implementation of DEI&B Awards under Rewards and Recognition, Inclusion Network Activities and Events including collaboration initiatives with Sustainability and CSR teams, and as well as Awareness and visibility campaign on the inclusion networks to boost membership sign-ups.

Nathalie Bernardo, SLGS Philippines vp and Site head, echoed during their recently culminated SLGS’ Moments of Togetherness event the importance of their DEI&B mission to Sun Life as a company and its employees. “Our goal is for every employee to feel heard and empowered to make a positive impact, both with the organization and in our community,” she shared.

“Our People are our primary assets and hence they remain our core focus of our purpose and mission.  At SLGS, we are committed to cultivating an inclusive and respectful environment, where everyone can harness their potential to their fullest and where our workforce has equal access to opportunities and resources that enables everyone to make significant contributions,” said Tarun Sareen, managing director of Sun Life Global Solutions. 

“When we feel that we truly belong in our workplace, we feel more connected, committed, and valued. We then just own the opportunities and steer through challenges… to do the best work of our lives and inspire others,” added Bernardo.

“This is why we want to ensure a psychologically safe environment for everyone, where we bring our whole selves to work, where we are authentic and express our unique perspectives. We inculcate Belonging by fostering open conversations, listening to diverse voices, and celebrating the strength that arises from our differences,” Bernardo said. 

This year’s International Women’s Month is a monumental celebration for SLGS as the organization celebrates its women leaders and embraces their commitment to championing women in tech and the company looks forward to carrying the torch for gender equality not just this month but all year round.