Kay Paeng, Groupe SEB General Manager, Korea honored by the Korean government on the occasion of the “Women Corporate Directors” (WCD) Forum

Groupe SEB’s General Manager of its Korean subsidiary, Mrs. Kay Paeng, has been honored by the Korean Ministry for Gender Equality and Family Affairs on the occasion of the annual WCD Korea 4th Anniversary Forum.

The award recognizes those who have made significant contributions to promoting women’s rights and interests by fostering gender equality and leadership roles for women in the corporate world. Kay Paeng, first woman to become General Manager at Groupe SEB, was awarded for her contribution to creating favorable work environments for women as well as for her various actions in favor of gender equality in the workplace since she became the first woman General Manager at Groupe SEB Korea.

At the same time, Kay Paeng has been involved in the Women Corporate Directors Foundation to develop and increase women board leaders and a mentoring program for students from the Korea Student Aid Foundation and takes part in numerous conferences on career and leadership development for women. 

Kay Paeng joined Groupe SEB in 1997 as Marketing Manager for Cookware and took on various assignments in Marketing and Sales before being appointed General Manager of Groupe SEB Korea in Sept 2009. 

Thierry de La Tour d’Artaise, Groupe SEB Chairman and CEO, commented: “Kay Paeng joined Groupe SEB in 1997 and her career is an example to all women. I am delighted she is part of our teams. Her commitment is today recognized by the Korean government at a time when the participation rate of women in the workplace is among the lowest in the OECD. The concrete actions steered by Kay Paeng form the foundations to build a world where gender equality can become a reality”. 

Concrete actions to foster gender equality in the workplace throughout the world 

Global commitment plan

• Gender equality in the workplace is an integral part Groupe SEB’s non-discrimination policy and its promotion of diversity, particularly gender diversity. In 2019, the Group stepped up its approach with the Global Commitment to Gender Diversity: each management committee, regardless of country or type of entity (factory, commercial subsidiary, etc.) must commit to six concrete actions to foster diversity among the 12 actions suggested by the Group (for example: anti-discrimination training, implementation of collective agreements in favor of diversity, etc.).
  
  Group action in this respect was stepped up in 2018 and 2019, with, in particular:
  • A global communication campaign on work/life balance,
  • The creation of an intranet Yammer group dedicated to gender equality,
  • The setting up of a diversity network within the Group,
  • Skype and/or intranet conferences.

• To accelerate the increased presence of women in top management positions, the Human Resources Department plans to have at least one woman on the shortlist for each top management position. 

• To develop and retain key talent while also enabling women to attain leadership positions, in 2017, the Group launched a mentoring program, first in France and then internationally since 2018. The program matches an experienced manager with a high-potential employee for one year to help boost her career within the Group. This career development initiative has been a resounding success, with benefits for both parties involved. In 2019, two groups of 24 mentor/mentee pairs united participants from 16 countries. Since its creation, more than 150 managers have benefited from the initiative.

Press release