DIMO, a leading diversified conglomerate, was recently recognized as one of Sri Lanka’s Most Outstanding Women Friendly Workplaces at the AICPA & CIMA Satyn Women-Friendly Workplace Awards 2022. The company was also bestowed with the award for ‘Organization with the Most Female Friendly Innovation/Practice in the Sri Lankan Workplace’ for its unwavering effort to nurture a women friendly culture.
With a strong heritage in several industries which are traditionally known as male centric, DIMO has reiterated its commitment to building a dynamic workplace culture for women on its team. DIMO has also continuously prioritized provision of equal opportunities and the advancement of gender equality in all its workplaces. The company has especially focused on empowering the participation of women in non-conventional job roles, such as Auto Mechanics and Engineers, and is a strong advocate for women in the areas of STEM.
Ranjith Pandithage, Chairman & Managing Director of DIMO, commented on this prestigious occasion. “This victory at the AICPA & CIMA Satyn Women Friendly Workplace Awards 2022, is attributed to the fact that DIMO is deeply committed to fuelling the dreams and aspirations of the women of our DIMO Tribe. In the recent past, we have seen a 5.8% increase in the number of women in leadership positions, a 15% increase of women in non-conventional roles and a 4% increase in the recruitment of women at DIMO.”
The company also established the ‘Employee Resource Group’ (ERG) to drive a dialogue on the subjects of equality, meritocracy, and respectful workplace behaviour. It provided employees, especially women, with a space to talk about any concerns they have. The ERG is also a platform used to drive women’s empowerment by leading various initiatives. Building a pipeline of female engineers by seeking out talent in the market through our own female engineers at DIMO and the recent company-wide impact trainings conducted on Unconscious Bias are some of the innovations that the company introduced to create a female friendly culture at DIMO.
Empowering Gender Equality through strategic stakeholder partnerships including IFC, DFAT (International Finance Corporation, Australian Department of Foreign Affairs & Trade) SheWorks Sri Lanka Partnership and the UNGC Working Group on Gender Equality and Diversity, has helped the company to reach ambitious corporate targets for women’s representation and leadership, starting with the Board and Executive Management levels. In the same vein, earlier this year, DIMO appointed the first female Member of its Board of Directors, Ms. Dilrukshi Kurukulasuriya, who is an Executive Director and the Group Chief Human Resources Officer of DIMO.
DIMO firmly believes that its workplaces need to represent a cross-section of the communities it serves. By increasing the participation of women in its workforce and continuously empowering them to reach unprecedented levels of success, the company continues to march forward, strengthening its knowledge, and flourishing in creativity and problem solving. This remarkable achievement denotes this very belief and symbolises DIMO’s progressive nature in terms of driving equality through empowerment.
