Inclusion with Helen Mets

Thank you, Grace, and very much looking forward to the conversation.

Yeah, happy to do so, Grace. So you know how I start with 'who is Helen Mets'? I actually usually start with: listen, I am the wife of a wonderful husband, a Dutch husband called Bert. I am the mom of three gorgeous children: Stephanie, Jacqueline, and Daniel. I'm an oma, so I am a grandmother to seven-year-old James and five-year-old Ay, who you can see put a big smile on my face. And I am President and CEO of Ahlstrom. Now Ahlstrom is a materials science company, a big global materials science company, just over three billion in sales revenue and 7,000 people around the world, so also a huge responsibility when it comes to the business side of things. But you know, that's really how I always describe myself, and my world is very connected. So I live what I call a very circular life with my family, my grandchildren, husband, sport, and the company that I run. Today I'm actually sitting in Helsinki, which is the headquarters of Ahlstrom, so I have an apartment here in Helsinki. I also call the Netherlands home, which is where my family actually are today, and I'm originally from the UK.

Um, you know, when I describe my journey, I always, for me, I didn't get out of bed every day, in fact any day, saying 'Oh, I want to be a CEO of a company,' Grace. I never did. What I've always felt the desire to do is make a difference, to have impact. And I think from a very early age I have been entrepreneurial in my nature. So I go back to my young childhood days when you spend a lot of time playing outside, and those are the days that I look back with a smile because even in those days I would be curious, you know, how to make a little bit more pocket money and organize plays with all of the children in the street and make our parents pay for the lemonade which they of course had paid for. But you know, I've always had this entrepreneurial streak, always been a little bit... how do I get a bit more pocket money? Playful, curious. And that's something that I still hold true today, a lot older and a lot wiser. But I think there are certain threads that have gone through my career in that respect. Also when it comes to business, that entrepreneurial side: how can I be a little bit better, do things a bit differently, how do you create value? Which for sure has certainly helped me, but it hasn't been easy getting to the position as a CEO. And you know what I say is then a gender-diverse CEO, because as you said, Grace, this is also something that I feel massively passionate about. Today I've got a responsibility of course for a company, but I absolutely see myself as a role model, and I have a responsibility to, I hope, inspire other diverse people to say, listen, if Helen can do it, I can do it. And what does that mean? That means I try and stay extremely true to who I am. So I am gender diverse, I enjoy things like my high heels, my makeup, my chats about fashion, etc. And that's really important, because I do think if people can see themselves in other leaders then that is an inspiration in and of itself. I think if you're working for people or in an organization where you just can't see yourself fit, then you constantly question, 'Hey, what am I doing wrong?' So that's, I think, a couple of messages: it's not easy, and I feel a responsibility to be a role model in how I act and behave, and that means staying very true to myself, staying close to who I am and what I stand for as a leader. And I started in an American company called Avery Dennison. I actually started straight out of school. I'd finished my A-levels and I went home to my mom and said, listen, I had this opportunity in my school holidays to work for Avery Dennison in reception, and they said to me, 'Listen, Helen, if you'd love to stay with the company, we'll pay for your education. We'll pay for your degree, your MBA. You can go on a Friday.' And again I said to my mom, 'Listen, why don't I give it a go? I have to work in the evenings, I have to work on a Friday, but it's funded and I get experience.' I spent 29 years with that company, working my way up through the organization, getting trained and developed through the organization, and that's given — with the hardships as well that went with it — but it was also working extremely hard and constantly, constantly proving myself. There's one story that to me was pretty defining in my career. I was actually, I'd finished my education, I'd done a second degree in marketing, and this role came up in the company for a European marketing director, and I was like, 'Hey, perfect timing, just got my MBA in marketing, I've got experience in technical, complaining, supply chain, perfect next move.' Applied for the job, was down to the final three in an interview against two guys. Now I was seven and a half months pregnant with D. I never gave it a thought, honestly, that I was seven and a half months pregnant at all. And the day before the interviews, I got a phone call from Human Resources to say, 'Helen, really sorry, you didn't get the job. When you come back from maternity leave, we can discuss it.' And I said, 'Listen, I haven't had the interview yet, it's tomorrow.' And there was silence at the end of the phone. And it was at that point that I knew, listen, as often happens, somebody was going to get the role. One of the gentlemen was going to get this position, and we'll figure out Helen when she comes back from maternity leave. I was furious. And in general, I am a pretty calm, stable person, high energy, I enjoy what I do. I was furious because it really touched on the integrity of a process and fairness. And we'll come back to that in a minute, because to me, thinking about equality, that fairness had been really overstepped. And I actually phoned the headquarters and I phoned, not the CEO but the CHRO, and I said, 'All I want is a fair opportunity at this interview, and if I'm not the right person, fine, but give me the chance.' So that caused a lot of stir, of course, and I got a phone call back and said, 'Absolutely, Helen, you're absolutely right. Let's go through the interviews.' I can remember like it was yesterday — and listen, my son is 28 years old, so it wasn't yesterday — getting dressed in black so I didn't even look pregnant, or try not to look very pregnant. I'd practiced every question with my mom that I thought was possible, and I got the job. I got the job. And it taught me something really important, something that you'll hear me say constantly: find your voice and make it loud. Stand up for what you really believe in. Because I got the job, and I started working for the person who eventually became the CEO of Avery Dennison, and he became one of my sponsors and mentors. And as a consequence, I think that was very helpful in getting me through certain points in my career. If I hadn't stood up, if I just said, 'Hey, life's unfair, this is terrible,' my life could have had a very different turn in terms of career. So just an important story, I think, when we talk about what it takes.

It's great, Grace. We jackets today, yeah. And I love that, because it probably sounds to some people like something that's so trivial, but actually there is something about being able to bring your whole self and your interests to the workplace and sharing that it's okay to like fashion or to like talking about certain things. So thank you for that.

Yeah, it's interesting, Grace, that you have to even ask me the question in 2024, in all honesty. But you do have to ask me the question, and I also worry that we go backwards not forwards in 2024 with things that are going on. But why does it matter to me? I put it both professionally and personally. From a professional level, there is such strong evidence to say that diverse teams generate far more in terms of innovation, far more in terms of performance, and it's diverse teams with a diverse culture that create sustainable growth. What's the biggest issue in countries and in companies? It is growth. So when the science and the data and honestly my own personal experience just demonstrate time and time again that diversity and inclusion drive sustainable growth for companies, for me it is a non-negotiable. As a CEO, of course I care about the financials, but I've got 7,000 people in Ahlstrom who have families. And for me, why do I get out of bed every day is actually to inspire those folks to know that they do an incredible job, because we've got amazing technology in Ahlstrom. So we have an impact in the world. And I think the more that people can be energized and motivated in the work that they do and they come to work with pride and happiness, I think that filters for the good. But I also think if you've got a company that is on a sustainable growth agenda, you're driving economic value for families. So for me, that is the responsibility of growth. Diversity and inclusion drive performance and sustainable growth. So why doesn't every business leader care deeply about it? Now on a very personal level, of course I just think it is the right thing to do. Why would we not feel like everyone should have an equal opportunity? I know that can sound like motherhood and apple pie, but when you put them both together for me, it is still very surprising that in this day and age, it's on the agenda of businesses that we still have to really even think about quotas and numbers and that it's not seen as the single most important thing to be driving. But I don't think it's always top of the agenda because it's difficult. It is not easy. And we can talk about diversity, which in some respects is the easier part of it. If you try to drive the inclusion part of it, then I actually think it comes back to a couple of things. One is the culture that you create as a leader, because if you want an inclusive culture, it means you have to work very hard on providing the environment where everybody, you said it yourself, Grace, feels like they can bring their whole self to work, feels like they can bring their whole self to the conversation. And if you have a point of view and you come from a diverse perspective and experience, then I hope it's different to my point of view. I have a different point of view than somebody else sitting around the table of a different gender or nationality. If you put that all on the table and it gets pretty messy and a bit more confrontational, it is almost like conflict, which it's not if you've got the right culture. That is actually really great dialogue and great conversation. But by human nature, it's also not that easy to do that. You generally see people are often conflict avoiding. So to have a very inclusive culture or to have an inclusive culture, I think it takes courage, it takes time, it takes a lifetime of commitment to actually do it. And that's why I think it's still very difficult for companies and for leaders to be okay with conflict, to be okay with not knowing all of the answers, to have mess in the conversation. And that's why I think it's still on the agenda.

No, I like that. You're also triggering me, Grace, is how do companies measure inclusion and are they held accountable to the inclusion piece of it? And I think this is so important. When people ask me how do you measure inclusion, if there are any listeners that have ever been in a company that I work for, I have a couple of non-financial metrics that I put as important as the financial metrics. The first there are two of them that talk to me around inclusion. The first is employee engagement. Because for me, and it's interesting, Ahlstrom is owned by a private equity partner, B Capital. And some people when you hear private equity, you think oh, it's all about the value creation, the money. But I have great conversations about why do you keep putting employee engagement? Employee engagement just had the results over the weekend, our employee engagement has gone up again. For me, it's a sign of the health of the inclusiveness of the company. And for sure, we've still got a way to go, absolutely for sure. The second measure that I put a lot of importance on is safety. We're a manufacturing company, but I talk about safety both physically, so getting people home safely every day because they're working in operations, but also around mental safety. And that comes back to the inclusiveness piece. If you feel okay to talk about how you're feeling, I ask people, 'Hey, how are you feeling today?' In a meeting, I will start often with going around the table, 'How do you feel?' It's those simple things, but for me, those are really critical measures, as important as the financials. Because that is actually for me the heat map or the indicator of the culture of the company. And it's like you've absolutely said, it's a long-term journey.

Yeah, I think we both know, you're an expert as well, Grace, in the field. To me, it is, as you say, it's not an easy subject to have constantly on the agenda, and how you measure it, and it is one of the long-term subjects rather than the short-term subject. It's also highly personal. I mean, inclusion — what makes me feel included is different than what you feel. So it's a very personalized subject. I want to bring in here, and I don't know whether it exactly answers your question, but for me, one of the biggest challenges running any company actually is how do you get people feeling connected — connected to the company, connected to the work that they're doing — so that you can actually connect not just their minds but their hearts. I always say, how do you connect the hearts and minds of people to your business? And so there is more and more talk about purpose in companies and the purpose that drives companies. And I really genuinely believe that if you can actually really nail what your company is about, the purpose that it has in the world, and you can get people rallied around that purpose and understanding that purpose, then for me, that's a great tool to ensure that you are actually attractive to diverse candidates. And then of course you're working on the inclusion. So Ahlstrom, as I said, we're materials science, we are a 171-year-old family company, and we actually started our life in timber and paper making. So if you have cellulose fibers that you can overlay, that you can coat, that you can cover, that offers options for sustainable solutions. For instance, the whole single-use plastic towards more sustainable solutions, i.e., paper-type solutions, that is the space that we play in. So the purpose that we have is to purify and protect with every fiber for a sustainable world. And I am putting a huge amount of energy, together with my team — and let me come back to that because I think this is a very important point as well, who you surround yourself with — to make sure that people understand it doesn't matter what role you play, whether you're getting out of bed to operate a machine that coats fibers or you're doing the financials that says, 'Hey, is our pricing right?' You have an impact in the world because the products that we make are actually addressing some of the big issues that the world has. And I think the more that you can get really strong on the purpose of your company and help people understand the impact that they have, that is really powerful. Now the second thing is, it can't just be my responsibility in a company of 7,000 people. So who you surround yourself with is also a very important part of your diverse and inclusive agenda. And I put equally as much focus on not just what people do, so their ability to drive certain things, but how they do it. And again, it's not everybody the same, because that is also non-diverse. We tend to be attracted to people who are a bit more similar to us rather than different. But it's really also ensuring that you show throughout the organization that you drive the what and the how.

I have to say, I feel proud that I've been recognized as a role model for my work on inclusion. I got a leading women's award for my work on inclusion from the WBCSD, which is a very recognized sustainability organization. And it's interesting because I don't say I'm most proud of something. What I would say makes me feel really good and gives me a huge amount of energy is if I can just inspire a few people at a time to actually keep having the courage, as diverse candidates, to get their voice out there, to make their difference, to feel they get their own fulfillment. And I do know that because I have paved the way for certain people, or because I do care about inspiring people and coaching people, that I have had impact on folks. And I do know that if I called on people or moved to a company like I have in Ahlstrom, people will happily join my bus because they feel like they can get out of themselves their whole self, being part of the team. That's what makes me proud, that's what makes me have energy and keep going. The inspiration that I hope I can show and give, even if it's one or two people through conversations like today that you and I have, that for me is such a valuable use of my time always.

My call to action is for every CEO to actually appreciate that if you're on a growth journey, if you have a growth agenda, you cannot do this without having diversity and inclusion as part of your key journey, because you're not going to be able to unlock the potential of the company and the talent, and you're not going to be able to attract people. So my call to action is to make sure it's on the agenda. And my second call to action is: if you don't genuinely believe that this is something that is important, then I actually don't encourage people or leaders to falsify it. Don't do it for the sake of doing it, because it doesn't help anybody either. I think having metrics and numbers around gender diversity, about diverse candidates, if you don't genuinely appreciate, understand, believe in the power of diversity inclusion, I think that can be very counteractive. But my call to action absolutely is to keep it on the agenda, to put it on the agenda, to talk to your diverse candidates who I think would be very willing to provide guidance. And I do want to say, I think at the heart of every leader, they want to drive the right thing for everybody, for the people and for their company. So it's difficult, it's hard, don't give up.

Thanks, Grace, and thanks to you as well, because you are an absolute advocate for keeping this agenda live, for pushing the agenda, and you know, it is people like you that make the difference too. So thanks, Grace, and I've thoroughly enjoyed it.