LUX launches its first interactive training programme fueled by real-life consumer insights and co-designed with DE&I behaviour change experts to counter sexism in the workplace.
LUX Allies Against Workplace Sexism is a training programme that will equip both men and women with skills to identify and stand up against everyday sexism and ultimately become allies.
SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 14 December 2022 – With a mission to power women with the strength to express their femininity without fear of everyday sexist judgments, Unilever’s global beauty brand LUX takes another leap forward in fighting everyday sexism at the workplace. This month LUX has launched the Allies e-learning programme – a free global training resource for companies to rally colleagues to come together and stand against everyday sexism.
Everyday sexism exists regardless of profession, country, or cultural background. This is even more prevalent and ingrained in developing and emerging countries. Despite greater advocacy for gender equality since the #MeToo movement took off, sexism and sexual harassment continue to be persistent issues that plague society today. LUX’s ‘Finding Strength in Beauty’ 2021 whitepaper supported this view and discovered that women regularly face up to 17 types of judgements, 70% of which are appearance-related with even 26% worried about being seen as overly successful at work.
Purpose built into its business model
LUX understands the daily plight of women and how much judgements can impact confidence. Being recognised as the 15th most chosen brand and the third most chosen beauty brand in the world by Kantar, the brand has the scale to make a difference for good in people’s lives. This has been reflected in its content, products and partnerships that have made a positive impact in the markets it operates in.
Led by Wunderman Thompson, the communications are rooted in real-life insights relevant to the audience in developing and emerging markets that LUX serves. The brand is behind award-winning and purpose-driven campaigns such as “In Her Shoes” and ‘UNSTOPPABLE”, which made waves in advocating for greater social inclusivity against sexism in the respective countries.
Today marks a new chapter for LUX through the creation of an e-training programme to give women and men the tools to call out and stop bad behaviour in the workplace. The course called ‘LUX Allies Against Workplace Sexism’ has been designed with a DE&I behaviour change expert to counter sexism in the workplace. Furthermore, it was created specifically for emerging markets where patriarchal values and the traditional mindset about gender roles are entrenched in society.
Severine Vauleon, Global Brand Lead at LUX, says, “Beauty can be a powerful source of strength and self-confidence for women. At the workplace in particular, confidence and self-belief can make a huge difference in a woman’s job satisfaction and career trajectory. As a brand that touches the lives of millions of women worldwide, we want to be an enabler that supports women’s confidence and authenticity to thrive, rather than see them self-edit and wither. As such, we will continue to help women everywhere fight casual sexism especially related to their experience, at home, in the workplace and in wider society.”
In today’s climate, personal values drive consumer preferences. Through the brand, LUX is taking action to drive positive change. Often, it is the small and seemingly harmless instances of everyday sexism that are working to maintain and normalise inequality between men and women.
“We intend to use our extensive breadth to help all women worldwide to be given the freedom to express themselves and allow their authentic selves to shine through. LUX shall continue to create blockbuster ads and tools to spark conversation around everyday sexism and empower people to stop it.”
LUX Allies Against Workplace Sexism programme is structured as three module pillars – AWARE, ACT and ALLY. It confronts participants with everyday scenarios in the workplace where women may face casual sexist remarks from colleagues – whether male or female – and simple yet effective actions to call out these belittling comments. Equipping them with the knowledge and tools through the Allies programme, LUX ultimately seeks to empower and inspire participants to become an ally against everyday sexism and put a stop to it, both at and beyond the workplace.
To drive home this agenda, LUX worked with organisational and behavioural scientist and indigenous rights advocate, Matthew J Yazzie, who specialises in workplace discrimination and launched Allies, an e-learning resource. Matthew played a pivotal role in creating the content schedule for the modules. Part of the modules, he sheds light on casual sexism being often built into everyday phrases, and how it can sometimes be difficult to notice how some words can hide biased judgements.
The modules uses short-form videos to highlight seemingly casual remarks that disempower individuals based on gender stereotypes and share how simple yet effective actions to call out belittling comments can make a difference.
From today, anyone can access the Allies programme at no charge via LUX’s website and complete the modules to be a certified ally against sexism. Encouragingly, individuals who completed the Allies modules shared that they have become more cognizant of the underlying gendered biases in everyday conversations at the workplace and beyond. This gives people greater confidence to stand their ground and call out such behaviour, especially if they feel supported by a network of allies around them.
Nicolas Tran Dinh, Global Digital & Masterbrand Lead at LUX, shares, “Women, just like men, want to live in a world where they have equal opportunities to be their best selves. The first step in reducing the pressures of everyday sexism that women face starts with us. We must be more aware of our actions and be allies rather than bystanders to support women to rise above daily judgements. This is how we can build a world where men and women are celebrated equally and why we are providing this training as a free resource for all companies.”
Echoing his comments, Hinoti Joshi, Global Business Director, from Wunderman Thompson, Singapore, who leads LUX communications, adds, “This is the next step in our Purpose journey towards our end goal of putting an end to everyday sexism. WT APAC and Unilever staff will be actively using it as part of our training to help empower and inspire a community of women and allies to speak up and hold their truth for their beliefs.”
Allies may be accessed at https://www.lux.com/arabia/en/luxalliesagainstsexism.html.
