Automotive News Canada - June 2019 - v2 - 17

* JUNE 2019

Hyundai HR manager credits 'huge culture shift' for
the company being named a Great Place for women
Flexible hours and a
priority on family are
some of the reasons,
executive says

HYUNDAI CANADA IS THE
only automaker named as one
of Canada's best workplaces for
women for 2019.
The list comprises 50 companies
selected by Great Place to Work, a
global corporate surveying, assessment and indexing organization. To
be considered, at least 90 per cent
of all employees at a company must
agree that their workplace is safe

and fair for all, regardless of gender, and companies must employ a
minimum of 15 women and make
their female employees available
to complete a survey. The top finishers are selected based on programs and practices that promote
the fair treatment and advancement
of women, as well as on the overall trust index score from female
respondents.
"We've had a huge culture shift
over the last five years," said Lydia
Bowser, senior manager of human
resources for Hyundai Canada,
where women make up 35.5 per cent
of the 230-member workforce.
Bowser said Hyundai is "con-

sistently looking for opportunities
to encourage diversity and inclusivity" across the company. "With
support from our senior leadership
team and understanding that our
workforce ... should represent our
customers, introducing more tactics
to make Hyundai a great workplace
for women has been a natural progression," she said.
"We have flexible Fridays where,
if you work an extra half an hour
from Monday to Thursday, you can
leave two hours early every Friday.
"We implemented maternity
leave. ...We want women to know
that they can have a great career
with us and start their families with

Lydia Bowser, senior manager
of human resources for Hyundai
Canada, wants women to know that
they don't have to sacrifice their
family life to have a successful
career with the company.

us, and that's not going to inhibit
their growth." - ANC

NICOLETTE LAMBRECHTS

AMY MARTIN

LESLIE MILLER

Mercedes-Benz Canada

General Motors of Canada

Toyota Canada

Vice-president, Mercedes-Benz Vans

Lambrechts is the first woman to hold her
current position on the Mercedes-Benz Canada
executive team, a group that is nearing gender
parity. She began her career with Daimler AG in
her home country of South Africa in 2001, moving through sales and distribution roles before
becoming managing director of the vans division
at Mercedes-Benz South Africa in 2014. That job
led her to Canada.

WHAT'S A KEY CHALLENGE YOU'VE
HAD TO OVERCOME?
In the beginning of my career, I thought I was
very emotional, until one really amazing woman
one day told me 'it's not emotions, you're just passionate about what you want to do.' That shifted
my mind to realize that. Men would go, 'You're
being emotional, a typical woman.' Those are the
kinds of statements that I had to shut down.

DO YOU THINK THERE'S MORE TO BE DONE
TO SUPPORT WOMEN IN THEIR CAREER GROWTH?
"We have to ensure that we don't just assume
that it's easy for other women. We went through
a lot to get where we are, and the world hasn't
changed that dramatically yet. We have to ensure
that we guide and coach them and focus on female
leaders to support them as well.

Chief financial officer

Martin grew up in Windsor, Ont., earned a
double major in accounting and finance in the
United States and then worked for an accounting firm for three years before joining General
Motors 22 years ago. She held numerous positions in trade and customs, including a stint in
operations in South America, before moving into
the CFO role at GM Canada in July 2017.

WHERE DO YOU SEE OPPORTUNITIES
TO PROMOTE DIVERSITY?
We're making a big effort to get women and
young girls, starting at a young age, to get interested in and see the opportunities in STEM [science, technology, engineering and mathematics].
That includes me and having discussions with
my daughter. Our focus with our STEM fund is
through university, so I think we're leaning in
where we need to, and we'll get the benefit of that
in the years to come.

Director and officer, finance and accounting

After studying accounting at Brock
University in St. Catharines, Ont., near Niagara
Falls, Miller's career began at Toyota Motor
Manufacturing Canada in Cambridge, Ont.,
as a manager of finance and accounting. She
advanced into a corporate directorship role and
held a three-year position in the education industry before returning to Toyota Canada as head of
finance and accounting in 2016.

HOW DID YOUR CHILDHOOD PREPARE
YOU FOR LEADERSHIP?
I was very fortunate having an upbringing
with a family and parents who always gave me
[the same] opportunity as my brother, meaning
that I never had the notion coming into a career or
into my educational path that there were aspects
that were off-limits to me.

HOW CAN THE BROADER INDUSTRY
SUPPORT TALENTED WOMEN?
Most of my mentors have been great male
managers. I would hope that other companies in
the industry consider that it doesn't have to be a
female-to-female kind of mentorship. If there's a
stigma that says that males can't bring female
leadership along or be those great mentors, that's
certainly not been my experience.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

Automotive News Canada - June 2019 - v2

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