PepsiCo reflects on almost five decades of Irish success

PepsiCo's WIN, ENABLE & EQUAL employee programmes are making the workplace equal for all

Fri, 11 Feb, 2022 - 09:31

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PepsiCo Ireland today

Since opening our first concentrate manufacturing plant in Little Island, Cork with approximately 30 employees in 1974, our presence has since grown significantly. We now employ more than 1,000 people across Ireland and have additional manufacturing and R&D facilities.

Our PepsiCo products are enjoyed by consumers more than one billion times a day in more than 200 countries and territories around the world. Our beverage and convenient foods portfolio include Lays, Doritos, Cheetos, Gatorade, Pepsi-Cola, Mountain Dew, Quaker, and SodaStream.

Guiding PepsiCo is our vision to Be the Global Leader in Beverages and Convenient Foods by Winning with PepsiCo Positive (pep+). pep+ is our strategic end-to-end transformation that puts sustainability at the center of how we will create value and growth by operating within planetary boundaries and inspiring positive change for planet and people.

We are involved in several initiatives to make a difference to our colleagues and the communities near where we do business.

A Space to be YOU

We are committed to fostering a diverse workforce by creating a collaborative, equitable and inclusive space where everyone, regardless of what we look like, where we come from or who we love, has a voice. We believe that only when we are open about our identity, our story, our highs and our lows, can we deliver more smiles, and build a better, more positive workplace for our people and world for our business partners and communities.

To ensure this becomes a reality, our A Space to be You vision currently encompasses three Employee Resource Groups (ERGs); Women’s Inclusion Network (WIN), ENABLE and EQUAL. Spaces where colleagues are proud to be unique and it is celebrated.

WIN aims to strengthen our culture and promote a work environment that attracts, retains, and develops women and creates a more inclusive PepsiCo.

ENABLE champions inclusion and engagement of people with different abilities and provides support resources for PepsiCo colleagues with other abilities, and for their caregivers.

EQUAL is PepsiCo’s LGBTA+ ERG that has almost 30 years of history. The goal is to create a workforce that reflects the diversity of our customers and local communities, and encourages our colleagues to bring their individual perspectives into their work.

EQUAL programme:

“My name is Wil Organ, and I’m one of the Irish chairs of PepsiCo’s LGBTA+ Employee Resource Group, EQUAL. My day job involves purchasing the flavours that go into our biggest beverages like Pepsi, 7UP, Gatorade, and Rockstar; from all over the world into two of our plants in Cork. It’s busy work in today’s hectic world, but I’m thankful that I get to be involved with EQUAL to give to something I feel socially passionate about and make a difference within my workplace and community.

“We started the Irish EQUAL chapter in 2019 with just three of us and a dream. We were overwhelmingly embraced by PepsiCo Ireland and today we have grown to be one of three major resource groups in PepsiCo Ireland, all under a dedicated umbrella of our A Space to be You programme. Our mantra is encouraging and celebrating our associates’ unique perspectives and bringing your authentic self to work with you. Our work in EQUAL includes providing education events and resources, HR policy discussion, and community participation where we are now one of the major sponsors of the Cork Pride Festival for the last two years.”

— Wil Organ, EQUAL Chair

PepsiCo Ireland today, which now employs more than 1,000 people across the country, having started with around 30 employees in its first concentrate manufacturing plant in Little Island, Cork, in 1974.

How are our colleagues doing?

Complementary to our A Space to be You vision, we launched an employee wellbeing and mental health awareness program, HowAREyouDoing? in early 2021, to support colleagues emotionally through the pandemic.

HowAREyouDoing? programme:

“Clare Cahill, Laura Jane Hennessy and I lead the HowAREyouDoing? employee wellbeing and mental health awareness programme for PepsiCo Ireland and we couldn’t feel more privileged to be in a position to do so. Apart from our day-to-day roles, we feel extremely passionate about bringing wellbeing and mental health awareness to our colleagues during this time, wherever they may be on their own personal journeys. The programme offers many and varied guest speakers focusing on Wellbeing and Mental Health Awareness. Not only do they share their personal stories, but they also share tools and resources for colleagues to use beyond the monthly sessions. We have partnered with the senior leaders of the business to ensure that this is not only a nice to have, but it is a serious programme that colleagues are encouraged to take time out from their day-to-day roles to be able to attend the sessions. We also continuously promote our Employee Assistance Program which provides free and confidential wellbeing services to our colleagues and their families.

The HowAREyouDoing? programme was introduced to ensure we were meeting our colleagues needs during the pandemic, but we see this program staying, becoming another element of our strong wellbeing culture that lies with PepsiCo Ireland.”

— Clodagh Thompson, HowAREyouDoing? Co-Lead.

Nurturing what worked when working from home

At PepsiCo, we had been considering what the workplace of the future might look like. Then Covid-19 changed the world — and work transformed overnight, with a large cohort of our colleagues working from home. The time was then right for us to reimagine where and how work gets done at PepsiCo, and with that, our new programme Work that Works was born.

“Work that Works is about greater flexibility in where and how work happens. It’s about working in a way that makes sense for colleagues’ roles, responsibilities, and lives. It depends less on the workplace itself more on the ways we can do great work together, while identifying opportunities to connect, communicate and maintain the culture we love. It’s encouraging for us all to nurture the benefits that working from home brought to our lives over the past two years,” said Brian Cassidy, HR.

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