Pia Höök

Describe your role and what it is that you do overall and on a day-to-day basis.

I work as Vice President of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) for Essity, a global hygiene and health company that improves peopl's wellbeing through leading hygiene and health solutions. Prior to working for Essity I had similar roles in Skanska and Volvo Group. In all three companies I’ve moved into newly created roles, which has been extra exiting.

My work is to enable and support Essity’s ambition to develop and maintain a diverse talent pool and reinforce an inclusive work environment, where people thrive and can fully contribute. The work builds on - and reinforces - Essity’s 'Beliefs and Behaviors'. The responsibility for diversity and inclusion lies on business leaders and managers, and my role is to support them. This includes building up knowledge and commitment, developing strategies and measurements and follow up on progress.

For a company like Essity, with operations across the world, and dedicated to breaking barriers to wellbeing, DEI is business critical. It’s key in how we position us in the marketplace and how we attract talent and drive innovation internally. The importance of DEI is manifested in Essity’s public DEI ambitions/goals and the strong commitment from the Group CEO, who chairs the DEI Council.

What interested you in working within diversity, equity, and equality? What excites you about your work?

I started out as an academic scholar pursuing research in the field of gender and organization. Initially, my drive was to understand the dynamic behind the relatively low proportion of women in senior positions, as well as companies’ work to change (i.e., becoming more diverse and inclusive). This was the topic of my PhD thesis “Fighter pilots in wide skirts – management development and gender equality” (2001). Since then, my interest has expanded to include other aspects of diversity, the role of leaders in shaping organizational culture and driving change, value-based culture, and sustainability.

What excites me about my work is that it’s profoundly meaningful. I get to address social challenges and societal inequities in a way that simultaneously creates business value and business impact. What I do (potentially – and ideally) matters to employees, to the company I work for and to the wider society. My wish is that companies’ DEI work also, in some way, contributes to a more inclusive and peaceful world overall – something that we are in desperate need of right now.

What would you like to see improved in large corporations when it comes to diversity, equity, and equality?

Although both level of DEI knowledge/awareness and commitment has grown in the last years, this can, and needs to, grow even more - not least as DEI is a dynamic area that constantly develops, as society and social norms change. Business leaders need to realize that they “own” this area, and need to lead with empathy, transparency, and accountability.

Also, linked to this I would like to see more companies promoting managers based on inclusive leadership skills and track record. Many organizations say DEI is important. However, it’s when it becomes part of how we evaluate managers and make promotion decisions, that the rubber really hits the road.

Finally, I’d like to see more companies realizing the link between DEI and our ability to address the climate crisis. The latter requires a lot of innovation to happen, and the catalyst for innovation is diverse and inclusive teams.

What can we all do as a community to be better when it comes to diversity, equity, and equality?

Find ways to learn about our own biases and help each other mitigate bias. As part of this I would advise people to read up on some of the research on gender/diversity and power in organization. And on a more practical level I would suggest that we all focus more on listening than talking, dare to have candid conversation, are mindful of the privileges we may have (that tend to be invisible to us), and find ways to elevate voices of underrepresented groups. Finally, that all of us always try to apply an equity, inclusion, and gender equality perspective in every decision we make.

Where do you see your role/specialty going in the next 5-10 years?

In 5-10 years this area has moved even further away from the sideline into the center and has become a, and sometimes even the, key component of companies approach to brand building, employee experience, culture and leadership, and business development. I also expect that the US dominance in terms of DEI discourse and practice has given way to more global, and probably more complex, DEI approaches. I also expect to see companies and their business leaders taking more intentional and elaborated stand in relation to social challenges/issues.

How did your time/education at SSE help guide you to the career journey you have embarked on?

As I started out as a student and then continued to pursue a PhD, and work as a researcher and teacher, I ended up spending more years at SSE than most of my fellow students. When entering SSE I imagined myself pursuing an “ordinary” career in business, working for a company. I didn’t know anything of either research or gender/diversity work in organizations. This unplanned career path presented itself at SSE and, thanks to Professor Anna Wahl, a pioneer in this field working at SSE at that point in time, I found an unexpected passion that also led to exiting positions in some of Sweden’s largest companies.

Following your time studying, do you have any words of wisdom or advice you would like to share with our current students?

SSE is a rather small world populated by high achievers. It’s easy to get caught up by what is considered “right” by others or “right” by “the SSE norm”. SSE turned out great for me because it opened my eyes to new areas and career paths, outside the “norm” and beyond what I could have imagined while entering as a young student. Building on this experience I have three pieces of advice: 1) Have fun, challenge the status quo, find your inner passion, and use it make a positive difference in the world, 2) Read up on some organization and gender research – you’ll learn about power dynamics and social norms in society, organizations and among individuals – it gives valuable insights into your life and career, 3) Once you graduate from SSE, check out Essity and consider applying to our GO! Program.

What are three words that sum up your time at SSE?

Glass-ceiling, Growth and Change