Up the ranks: Rohaya Roslee is the APAC regional inclusion leader at Dow Chemical

Rohaya Roslee was appointed to the role Asia Pacific regional inclusion leader at Dow Chemical, effective May 2018. This saw her move away from her previous role as talent management leader (Southeast Asia) at the company.

Roslee is responsible for leading and shaping the culture of inclusion in partnership with internal and external stakeholders through the implementation of Asia-centric solutions that are aligned to the global strategy. Her job scope covers 13 APAC countries.

Speaking with Human Resources on her top priority this year, Roslee said: “My focus is on alignment with the global direction while customising the strategy to fit the needs in APAC.”

Examples she shared include attracting and retaining Millennials as well as elevating more Asian talent into the global leadership level.

“In APAC, the percentage of Millennials we have comprises more than 50% of the employee population. We have a relatively younger employee population as compared to the global average.

“Hence, one need here is to capture the interest of Millennials and sustain them by engaging them and modeling inclusive behaviours so they will see themselves working with the organisation for the long term.”

The business case for diversity and inclusion is indisputable, Roslee said, citing a McKinsey study which showed the likelihood that companies in the top quartile for diversity and inclusion outperforms those in the bottom quartile by at least 21%.

With that in mind, when asked about the main talent concern in the region, Roslee said: “It’s about the engagement of employees. Ultimately, it’s about helping employees see what is in it for them when it comes to inclusion and diversity, and hopefully they will then be able to contribute to that culture change.

“I’m hoping to see a culture change where inclusion becomes a part of our natural DNA, like how we have done with safety, sustainability and ethics.”