Ornua, the owner of the Kerrygold brand, has said that it needs “more women at the most senior levels of the organisation”.
In its latest annual report the Dublin headquartered co-op highlighted that it has “active
measures and targets in place” to increase the number of women employed at senior levels.
Last year Ornua celebrated the 50th anniversary of its transition to a co-op structure in 1973.
The co-op said its latest gender pay gap report for Ireland highlighted a “more heavily weighted male representation on Ornua’s executive and its senior leadership teams”.
“The gap is something the business has been cognisant of for a number of years.
“Ornua has focused on strengthening gender diversity at both a senior leadership and industry level, increasing its female talent pool from graduate level and upwards,” it detailed in the 2023 annual report.
Women leaders
The co-op has set a target of achieving “45% female representation in our succession pool for senior and executive level roles by 2027”.
According to the co-op since since 2019 a total of 203 female leaders within the organisation have attended its Women in Leadership at Ornua programme.
Meanwhile its 2023 annual report also highlighted that throughout the year in review the co-op had a particular focus on encouraging its workforce to “prioritise the need for strong work-life balance”.
Last year It launched “several new and enhanced policies” for its staff.
“These policies are part of Ornua’s commitment to supporting employees during many different life-stages.
“In Ireland, we introduced domestic violence and abuse leave.
“Globally we launched a new part-time working policy, enhanced maternity and second parent leave, and a phased return to work following maternity leave,” it detailed in its latest annual report.
The co-op also outlined that the business introduced “supporting initiatives on reward, benefits, ways of working, and wellbeing, to enhance the employee experience”.
Ornua’s global workforce stood at 3,000 by the close of 2023.
Earlier this week the co-op published its operating and financial results for the 12 months to the end of December 2023.
It reported a group turnover of €3.4 billion and pre-tax profits of €41.4 million.
According to its latest annual accounts total payroll costs were more than €196.6 million last year.