蜜豆视频

The jobs weren鈥檛 separated by 鈥榯his is a man鈥檚 or a woman鈥檚 job

We had to ask: Did her grandfather give her any advice before throwing her in at the deep end? 鈥淣o. It was considered a normal thing. In our family,聽the jobs weren鈥檛 separated by 鈥榯his is a man鈥檚 job, this is a woman鈥檚 job.鈥欌��

In the global battle to include more women in the workplace and close the gender pay gap, both priorities of the UN鈥檚 17 Sustainability Goals, a flourishing industry has sprung up advising companies on how to make women feel more comfortable participating in male-dominated workplaces and then speaking up for themselves. But it鈥檚 usually wiser and cheaper to learn best practices directly from some of the world鈥檚 best-run family businesses, and when it comes to gender issues, the Inci family in Izmir, 罢眉谤办颈测别, is a source of world-class inspiration.

For nearly 20 years, women have been driving this family-owned auto-parts supplier to one new sales and profit record after another. Ne艧e is in fact the third generation of the family to preside over the Inci Holding board, after her mother and four aunts served successively before her. In other words, this is a family business where competence trumps blood ties and classic 鈥済ender roles.鈥� When Ne艧e successfully completes her eight years at the helm later this year, she will pass the top job over to her male cousin.

There is a reason for all this. Inci Holdings鈥� predecessor company was founded on the Aegean Coast in 1952 by Ne艧e鈥檚 grandfather, Cevdet Inci. He was an entrepreneurial farmer who started trading oranges, then tires and spare car-parts, which led him, in 1968, to start manufacturing car-wheel rims and hubs. In the 1980s, the closed Turkish economy suddenly opened up, the government began encouraging exports through Free Trade Zones, and the nation鈥檚 industrial base took off. That included Inci Holdings, which, in 1984, added a car-battery plant. Typical of Turkish family conglomerates of the time, Cevdet鈥檚 holding company owned everything from real estate to a hotel minibar manufacturer.

But Cevdet had five daughters, no sons, so when Ne艧e鈥檚 mother Emel graduated from university, he turned to his oldest daughter to help run the sprawling firm. In time, all of his five daughters joined the company and on a rotating basis oversaw the company鈥檚 explosive growth. 鈥淚 grew up listening to my aunts鈥� stories of the blood, sweat and tears that went into the making of 陌nci Holding, and watching them work tirelessly,鈥� Ne艧e once wrote to her stakeholders. 鈥淚 also watched them grow from holding grandfather鈥檚 hand to shouldering his burden. They always stood right at the front, right by his side in triumph and defeat.鈥�

The company is now among the world鈥檚 leading auto-parts suppliers. Ne艧e says the second generation taught her and her cousins, not by words but by their actions, 鈥渉ow to be humble. In the press, as a family, we never liked to be in front too much, to be known for how big we were. We preferred to be known for what we did for the community.鈥� Proof of point: In 1986, the family created an educational foundation which is now well known in Izmir and the region for its communal support.

26 years ago, the family wrote up their moral code and professional guidelines

But here鈥檚 the key: Ne艧e credits the firm鈥檚 continuous business success to the moral code and professional guidelines the entire family wrote up 26 years ago, in what the family now calls 鈥渢he constitution.鈥� Some of their house rules: Family members must work a minimum of two years elsewhere before applying for a job at one of the family businesses; the company鈥檚 human resources and professional managers decide whether that family member should be hired, and if hired, they can only report to a professional manager, not another family member, and it鈥檚 that manager who reviews their performance and decides whether they should be kept on. Lastly, the family reviews their salaries every year, to make sure 鈥渁n injustice鈥� hasn鈥檛 been created by paying them more than nonfamily members in similar positions.

The family still religiously follows such self-imposed disciplines. While there are 17 family shareholders collecting Inci Holding dividends today, there are only five family members actively working at the company, and then mostly at the holding company level, specifically looking after the family鈥檚 interests. Inci Holding鈥檚 eleven operational businesses, from car batteries to logistics, are all professionally managed.

Which gets us back to gender equality: Ne艧e argues that focusing on good governance is more important than focusing narrowly on, say, gender issues, because by taking care of the former, such as demanding professional competence, you naturally set the right company tone and open a pathway for addressing the latter.

鈥淲hen I say ESG, I am really talking about the G part. I think we have always been good at governance, it鈥檚 our strong suit, because we thought about family governance from very early on. When we recently started reporting internally on ESG matters, to improve ourselves, we saw that 80% of the issues that came up were really about good governance.鈥�

Building a company-wide culture based on fundamental values

Inci Holding is for this reason more focused on building a company-wide culture based on fundamental values聽than it is on ticking boxes that meet some gender or ESG quotas arbitrarily set by Human Resources, and this big issue focus is far more muscular than periodically trotting out platitudes at 鈥渁ll hands鈥� meetings. Last year, for example, the company celebrated its 70^th anniversary by honoring a different aspect of 鈥渞espect鈥� as each new quarter came along. They celebrated 鈥渞espect鈥� for the 鈥渕asters鈥� 鈥� experts with unique knowledge 鈥� by making video profiles and honoring the gifted workers at company celebrations; they showed 鈥渞espect鈥� for education, by giving generously through the family鈥檚 education foundation; for nature, by reaching a 100,000 tree-planting goal and cleaning up beaches; and they showed 鈥渞espect for the Arts鈥� by supporting a children鈥檚 orchestra and by commissioning numerous artists.

But, of course, Ne艧e is not na茂ve, and she recognizes that in the wider world, the common decency of treating women fairly and with respect in the workplace is 鈥渘ot yet where it should be. So, we also invest in women.鈥� An important vehicle for her to do that is Vinci Venture Capital, strategically funded by Inci Holding and the family. Ne艧e and Vinci鈥檚 investment committee usually asks some 50 questions 鈥� from exploring the founder鈥檚 worldview to prodding the company on its Sustainability commitments 鈥� before deciding to invest in a start-up. But a high number of those leading questions specifically relate to where women rank within the target company. 鈥淲e ask, 鈥業s there a female founder?鈥� 鈥楢re women in the management team?鈥� 鈥榃hat percentage of their workforce are female?鈥欌��

That, of course, doesn鈥檛 mean Inci Holding itself gets a pass on the grilling. 鈥淲e have worked a lot at our company on women empowerment; to have more women both in the management team but also among the workers.鈥� The automotive supply industry is of course again famously male dominated. 鈥淚n the production, it is very rare to see a woman and we are doing our best to include more women at all levels of the company.鈥�

What would her grandfather say about how well they鈥檝e done living up to the family鈥檚 ideal? 鈥淗e probably wouldn鈥檛 say it to our face, but I think he would say to his friends that he is proud of us.鈥�

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