Middle East
L’Oréal’s internal mentoring program to support and help empower women
Blending female empowerment and talent acquisition
Launched in 2020 in France, the L’Oréal internal mentoring program that supports and empowers women in Operations throughout their careers is currently celebrating its third edition. In three seasons, 42 women will have taken part in the program, coached by L’Oréal mentors. Discover more about it.
A mentoring program for building up women’s self-confidence and fostering uninhibited, authentic leadership
Breaking down stereotypes and eliminating barriers that women may unconsciously create for themselves -- and thereby slow their career progression: that’s the aim of the women’s mentoring program created by L’Oréal in 2020 and launched by Samia Douma Le Dorze, Vice President, Human Resources Operations, and Gaëlle Laigo, Operations Director for Professional Products Division. While 88% of women have career goals, 77% of them consider these ambitions taboo*. And, on average, they apply for 20% fewer jobs than men - but are more likely to be hired**.
This program seeks to help participants overcome these barriers by building their self-confidence and leadership skills and giving them the tools to take action and make an impact. Designed to share knowledge and skills through mentoring in order to provide customized support, the program takes place over a year and consists of several stages:
- co-development workshops;
- coaching sessions with experts;
- mentoring with senior executives of L’Oréal.
Primarily France-based, the program will be implemented internationally from 2023.
A third season of sharing experience and expertise
A total of 26 participants from all areas of Operations have already benefited from the first two seasons of this program, which has helped them to become drivers of change in their careers.
This year, the program is thinking bigger and offering mentees even more opportunities to gain cutting-edge insights and strategies. The 16 participants of the 3rd season, coming from France and Europe, will benefit from the support of 16 senior management mentors, as well as the expertise of the program’s partners: MoovOne, Driven Woman, Yolo, and Women's Voices. And, for the first time, the mentoring sessions are moving from being entirely online to a hybrid format with 4 online coaching sessions and 12 co-development workshops conducted in-person using shared spaces.
L’Oréal inspires and encourages dynamic career opportunities for employees to learn and thrive across 150 countries. For 20 years, L’Oréal has been formally committed to upholding Diversity, Equity & Inclusion and to fight against all forms of discrimination. Differences are a source of strength. Supporting difference means creating excellence.
Globally, UNESCO estimates that only a third of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) students are females, even though women outnumber men at universities worldwide. This is the reason why the operations teams within L’Oréal have deployed several programs to help drive change. Today, over 50% of the engineers working in Operations at L’Oréal are women.
For Women in Science
The Fondation L'Oreal and UNESCO have been committed for more than 20 years to the promotion of women in science to make them more visible, to make their talent known and to inspire careers for future generations. Each year, the Fondation L'Oreal and UNESCO celebrate the scientific excellence of five eminent women researchers, each from a major region of the world. Since the creation of the For Women in Science program in 1998, 122 Laureates and more than 3,900 talented scientists, PhD students and post-doctoral fellows, have been supported and honored in more than 110 countries and regions.
A long-standing commitment to women empowerment
At L’Oréal, women represent:
69%
of the total workforce (in 2021)
58%
of the members of the Board (in 2020)
70%
of the total research department (in 2021)
L’Oréal supports and encourages major initiatives to empower women
**Source: LinkedIn, 2019