Special Reprint of Three recent exame covers stories on the brazilian economy

Changing one woman for another at the command of big companies in Brazil, as occurred at J&J and General Motors, calls attention because it is still an exception. 

Marianna Aragão

 

When she was promoted to marketing director of the consumer division at the Brazilian subsidiary of Johnson&Johnson, in 2003, Maria Eduarda Kertész, from Bahia, had to get used to being an exception. In charge of brands like Band­Aid, Sundown and Neutrogena, Duda, as she is known, assumed responsibility for a vital areas at one of the biggest consumer product companies in the country and became, at the age of 29, the youngest professional in history on J&J’s executive board. Besides her youth, another factor made Duda stand out from her board colleagues: she was the only women in the group. Last April, invited to take over as president of the consumer goods manufacturer in Brazil, the second largest operation for the American company in the world, the executive found a very different situation.  Not only was Duda succeeding another woman executive — Suzan Rivetti, from São Paulo, who after three years at the job had been promoted to vice-president of J&J for Latin America — but she also found five women among the eight directors who comprise the current executive board. For the first time in its nearly 80 year history in the country, one woman succeeds another at the head of Johnson. “I got here by natural progression,” she says.

This female succession that occurred in the presidency of J&J also took place in April at the Brazilian subsidiary of General Motors. The auto manufacturer chose the American, Grace Lieblein, to replace Denise Johnson at the head of the company — the first transition of this nature since the company established itself here in 1925.

These two changes are symbolic of women’s advances in the country’s business environment. Although they are still a minority, they are advancing consistently, especially at the base. That is what an exclusive study shows conducted by the Betania Tanure consultancy, specialized in organizational behavior. Today, 5% of president positions at large companies are occupied by female executives. One decade ago, there was only one woman out of 100 presidents. In middle management positions, they already account for 41% of all executives – compared to 22% in 2000 (see box). When dealing with trainees, men and women are practically equal in number. A study conducted by the DMRH/Cia de Talentos consultancy at EXAME’s request reveals that last year women represented 44% of those chosen for trainee programs at 15 large Brazilian companies. (At companies like J&J, they are a majority and represent 51% of the 25 interns from the class of 2010.)

FLEXIBILITY
This movement we see today in Brazil has been occurring in the United States for a longer period of time - although also at a slow pace, like here. Women account for 26% of senior executives and vice-presidents. Among presidents, this index falls to 14% — and the first case of having one woman succeed another at a large American corporation only occurred in 2009, when Ursula Burns was appointed to replace Anne Mulcahy as global president of Xerox. “What we are seeing today is the result of a process that began decades ago, when women began having careers,” says Betania Tanure.

Some changes in workplace behavior have been helping woman’s ascension. At a great many of companies, it is no longer surprising for a male or female executive to leave in the middle of the day to go to a school commitment for one of their children, as long as they find a way to exceed their goals at the end of the month, of course. Actually, in accordance with a survey conducted this year by the McKinsey consultancy in the United States, some attitudes among men and women in this sense are converging: 50% of fathers with children said they would not accept a new job that would reduce the balance between their personal life and work. Among women, this proportion was practically the same, 55%. This enables professionals like Andrea Alvares who assumed as president of the Pepsico beverage division in Brazil in January of this year, to reconcile the roles of mother and executive without having to decide between the two. Months after assuming her first international mission as leader of marketing for the company’s beverage area in Argentina, in 2006, Andrea got pregnant with her third child. “I always wanted more than one child, and my option has never caused conflicts at work” she says. However, the experience required a lot of juggling. For example, Andrea decided to participate in some of the company’s decisions even during her maternity leave. “After the first few months of leave, even while at home, I was already exchanging emails with people at the office.” Even in traditionally male sectors, women are gaining space. Andrea Bertone, of São Paulo, 49 years of age, is an example. In 2009, after eight years at the Brazilian subsidiary and at the American headquarters of Duke Energy, Andrea, an attorney, was invited to run the American group's international division. With earnings of 1.2 billion dollars in 2010, half of that from Brazil, the area has only two women in director positions, out of a total of 15 men. “I am still an exception, but I hope my trajectory can encourage women at the company,” says Andrea. Studies show that stimulating diversity - not only of gender - has positive effects for companies. According to McKinsey, companies with between 19% and 44% of women on their boards have a 26% greater return on capital than those without any women at this level. However, specialists warn that establishing a quota system, as France did last year, is a huge mistake. “The French government determined that by 2016, companies with more than 500 employees or earnings greater than 50 million Euros must have at least 40% of their boards comprised of women.) “I have seen companies promoting executives merely as marketing ploys,” says Fátima Zorzato, partner at the headhunting company Russell Reynolds. “The result is that the incompetent woman executives end up leaving the job." In this sort of change, for the good and for the bad, there is no room for shortcuts.■