Roy Jakobs

Amsterdam North Holland

Netherlands
Dear Mr. Jakobs,
Is success the true goal or do we use success as a smokescreen to cover up the fear of
losing power? “Gender equality is not about raising women up at the expense of men. It is not
about making men feel bad or listing all the ways that men need to change. Quite the contrary. It
is about creating a workplace that values men and women equally and gives every-one the
freedom to be themselves. Equality is freedom” (King et al., 2021). Gender equality is defined as
“the state of having the same rights, status, and opportunities as others, regardless of one’s
gender” (Dictionary.com). Mr. Jakobs, I am far from a feminist. I am not here to preach at you
over women’s rights. This topic has become near and dear to my heart as I continue to progress
professionally within your company. I do not view people based on their ethnicity or sexual
orientation, rather by their character, moral compass, and work ethic. Sadly, I must say, however,
that all do not follow those same guidelines leaving gender inequality very much a current issue
within Philips.
As you move forward with the difficult decision to carefully select those who will be laid
off, evaluate the best course of action to move forward under the consent decree, and evaluate
how to rebuild Philips brand I have a request. Please focus on a building a culture that does not
use diversity as a scoreboard, but rather utilizing individuals strictly for their strengths rather
than what their title says who they are. I am asking that you be the one to change the trajectory of
this company for all humankind. As a solution, I would love to see a hiring process that utilizes a
resume with no name attached to it. By this I mean having a third party involved in the hiring
process who does not personally know the individuals applying for positions and each candidate
is identified as a letter and the associate is selected for the interview without ever knowing the
gender. I believe this will eliminate individuals being involved in the hiring process who may
have preconceived ideas or could use a bias based on sexual orientation. I believe we need to
start hiring based on credentials and references as well as looking for characteristics that do not
necessarily mirror the hiring manager, but rather characteristics that can compliment the
department in other ways. We need to break the barriers that everyone must look and act a
certain way to be in leadership. We need to stop hiring individuals to obtain a diversity score to
appear as if we are doing a good job of creating gender equality when it is all a front. I am asking
you to start a culture that will create a new environment for the future of your children.
In the article “Gender inequality in the workplace: The fight against bias,” we are told
about a day created referred to as equal pay day to highlight how women are not paid the same as
men. Even though the “Civil Rights Act of 1964 granted equal rights to women in all areas of
employment”, discrimination is still prevalent in the workplace (Wooll, 2021). Women earned
84% as what men did doing the same job. A study showed that when asking for a raise, women
will receive 15% whereas men will receive 20%. The article goes on to show how inequality is
not only about unequal wages, but also how women of all different backgrounds risk being
confronted with microaggressions that are tied to their gender, race, etc. It is up to leaders to help
stop this fight and close the gap on inequality by becoming supporters. Managers typically hire
those similar to themselves only continuing the vicious cycle. Mothers and younger women who
are in their prime years to have children are less likely to be contacted about a job over males or
women without children showing gender bias is very real. The article states that it will take
almost another 136 years to fully gain gender equality, however, the gap can start to be closed
now. Here is what can be done to help: Provide education for employees on the subject. Utilize a
diverse interview team. Carry out an audit and allow salaries to be public information. Allow
flex-time work schedules. Give the opportunity for developing women into new roles. Provide
coaching for women. Emphasize mental health. Develop mentorship programs. And allow the
option for paid leave for parents. Employees too can help bridge the gap by being open and
honest about situations and getting involved in programs within the organization. (Wooll, 2021)
In the book, “The Fix: Overcome the Invisible Barriers That Are Holding Women Back
at Work” by Michelle P. King is an excellent read on this subject. King makes a point to show
that the problems and solutions discovered on her journey to help women in the workplace is not
beneficial to only women, but men as well. Throughout her schooling and different majors, King
realized that society is obsessed with trying to fix women in the workplace, when it is the
workplace that needs fixed. Despite the efforts to adopt a diversity policy in the workplace, King
says, “Most diversity programs are not advancing equality; workplaces do not value men and
women equally.” She goes on to say, “We all know the statistics, like the fact that women
account for only 4.6 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs, 8.1 percent of top earners, and 16.9 percent of
Fortune 500 board seats—despite the fact that women hold 52 percent of all professional-level
jobs, according to the nonprofit firm Catalyst, which seeks to help companies increase women in
leadership positions.” Did you catch that? Women hold more than half of the seats in the
professional working world, yet they only account for less than 20, 10, and 5 percent of high
level leadership positions. She points out that if the solutions offered were working then we
would not continue to see issues surrounding gender inequality. It is time to open our eyes and
see the problem. “We don’t see them because we’ve been trained to believe that fixing ourselves
is easier than fixing a corporation.” King takes us on a journey showing us why we are where we
are with inequality in the workplace. She explains that the workforce was set up initially
intended for “a white, middle-class, heterosexual, able-bodied male.” This has not changed and it
is why we are still struggling to find a place for women. She then goes on to describe the
different phases of a woman’s career and she calls this our road map. “The more time women
spend at work, the more they become aware of inequality, even if they do not experience every
barrier. Just by spending time in organizations employees will be exposed to discrimination by
observing the inherent inequality in hiring, promotion, development, and pay decision-making
processes.” This is exactly the reason that has led me to speak out on this very topic. Lastly, she
gives us the tools to stand up and put corrections into action to remove the barriers still prevalent
today. A key point to remember is “Equality is not about women, and it is not about men; it is
about making workplaces work for everyone.” King once again points out that men need gender
equality just as much as women do. Men are held to a high standard of masculinity and to
portray the hero. She says, “To be considered a “real man,” men need to follow a rigid set of
behaviors—and doing this comes with benefits. Men who conform can access white male
privilege, associated with automatically fitting the success prototype. “But when men put the
cape of masculinity on, they lose themselves. Workplaces are set up to reward this conformity
and hide any challenges this creates for men—and there are many.” This does not have to be a
me against you type situation. “Asking men to champion gender equality is really an invitation
for men to take their capes off and decide for themselves what it means to be a man—at home
and at work.” King says that men need the freedom as much as women, but if they continue to
give in to the masculine ideal then they will ultimately suffer from isolation. Renewing our
minds and ideas of what is expected of each of us in the workplace and the roles of the sexes is
critical in breaking down the barriers. It requires both parties to participate to win this battle.
(King et al., 2021)
Sometimes I wonder why I do not view individuals in the workplace the same as the
majority. As competitive as I am, I am with myself and not others. Perhaps that is the key point
there. Are we all secretly insecure and we create a facade to obtain power? Do we view our
coworkers as competitors rather than allies? Do we fear appearing weak if we report to a
manager who is younger than us or a different gender? Are we so worried about what someone
else thinks about us that we end up being a part of the problem? What if we all started to think
that we are a key part in the big picture and realize that we need each other to be truly
successful? That winning and succeeding does not equate to the biggest pay scale or job title. If
we realize that we are all pieces of a puzzle in the giant picture of life, maybe it will shift the
focus from ourselves to all of humankind. In a workplace specifically that is built to generate
devices to help keep people alive or enrich their lives, we should be making moves to always
strive for the best candidate for the job and nothing to do with someone’s sexual orientation. We
truly need to come together in solidarity now more than ever and ensure our customers are
receiving safe and effective devices. Every person deserves the same opportunity in the
workplace which is the dignity of work and workers. CST tells us that “human dignity can be
protected, and a healthy community can be achieved only if human rights are protected and
responsibilities are met. Therefore, every person has a fundamental right to life and a right to
those things required for human decency” (Catholic social teaching 2017). We owe it to
ourselves to be kind to one another. No one person is better than the next and honestly if we
started to come together to utilize our strengths as opposed to working against each other to
maintain a specific status we would all be more successful.
I would like to thank you Roy for taking the time out of your very busy schedule to read
my letter and listen to my plea. I commend you for taking on the role of CEO at such a critical
phase in the Philips timeline. I cannot imagine the decisions you have ahead of you are easy, but
I want to challenge you to dig deep and realize you have the power to make massive changes for
the future of this company and for the people. May today be the first day we make steps in a
direction that will help us find true gender equality.
Sincerely,

Autumn Hepler
aj.hepler@setonhill.edu
Works Cited

Catholic social teaching. Catholic Community Services and Catholic Housing Services of
Western Washington. (2017, April 24). Retrieved November 11, 2022, from
https://ccsww.org/about-us/catholic-social-teaching/

Dictionary.com. (n.d.). Dictionary.com. Retrieved November 25, 2022, from

https://www.dictionary.com/

King, M. P., Anderson, G., & Nadal, J. (2021). The fix: Overcome the invisible barriers that are
holding women back at work. Simon & Schuster UK Ltd.

Wooll, M. (2021, October 15). Gender inequality in the workplace: The fight against bias.
Gender Inequality in the Workplace: The Fight Against Bias. Retrieved November 25,
2022, from https://www.betterup.com/blog/gender-inequality-in-the-work-place