Woman of the Month – Marina Arbuzova – BMW Group Thailand

I joined BMW in my home market 15 years ago working for a local subsidiary. Upon initial success during my first role, I was promoted to a leading position in the Product Marketing Division and started traveling extensively.  I attended multiple prototype viewings at the headquarter’s design studio, and testing vehicles on race tracks all over Europe. This experience made me think about broadening my career horizon and taking up an international assignment. When that opportunity knocked, I opened the door!

I have always been passionate about all things moving. So learning the business and operations of one of the best car companies in the world is indeed very exciting. I believe I got lucky that my career started in Russia, which is among the countries with the highest percentage of women in senior business roles. I witnessed great examples of extraordinary female leaders in the company. Our current CEO of the BMW office in Russia is also a woman – one of only two female heads of all BMW subsidiaries in the world.

However, the automotive industry is not all homogenous when it comes to gender equality. Some positions in marketing and PR have greater female representation than other sectors of the business related to STEM fields, which are indeed predominantly male. Yes, here one will find plenty of gender bias and stereotypes. Women are often treated as if they are incompetent. I have been denied opportunities to present new products to customers during launch events. Management believed it would not look professional because, after all, what do women know about cars? And women hearing from management that “you should smile more”, is not uncommon. While an outspoken and assertive man expressing a different opinion would be praised for being a natural leader, a woman would be called uncooperative and disobedient. This often discourages women from speaking out at all, which becomes an impediment to further career development. Often times when women display typical male leadership traits, they are labeled as aggressive and unaccommodating.

Employees who are feeling supported and appreciated perform better, there’s no doubt about it. Creativity and productivity thrive in a multicultural climate at all levels. Lately, BMW has been working to create a healthy and inclusive corporate culture. We schedule regular “Diversity Days” events to educate employees on the importance of this topic. There are also explicit goals to increase women’s representation in the middle and top management levels. However, this makes you question, are we still pursuing “equality of opportunities” or “equality of outcome”? Are women being promoted based on their competence or because they are just convenient candidates to demonstrate gender diversity? This makes women second guess their own capabilities. We should first address this unconscious bias providing awareness training throughout the organization. Gender diversity is not a tix-box exercise, the systemic discrimination cannot simply be fixed with corporate targets and newsletters. I think it comes down to personal accountability.

Thailand has indeed one of the most welcoming cultures that I’ve ever seen. And BMW Thailand is incredibly diverse. The culture here is open and inclusive embracing different religious views, non-binary gender identification, and sexual orientation.

I noticed during the pandemic, when most of our work interactions shifted to digital channels, that business discussions using an online format became more structured and efficient. I noticed that women received fewer interruptions when presenting online compared to face-to-face meetings.

Appreciation goes a long way to boost productivity in your team. This is true for all humans regardless of gender. Communicating appreciation regularly and in a meaningful way has always helped to keep my team engaged and motivated. Displaying trust in my team’s capability to perform at a high level also helps to empower them. Making people feel like they add value and you trust them to make decisions or recommendations, and that you ‘hear’ them is even more empowering.

During my early years in Russia, I did have female mentors who helped me nurture my passion for working in the automotive business. However, while advancing through my career, I noticed that male mentors prefer to coach other males. Perhaps because they see more potential in them and don’t want to waste time on women. This also contributes to systemic bias, which we need to address.

I am not sure relative strengths is relevant. I would say learn everything you can get your hands on, regardless of your nationality. Be the expert. There is no such thing as too much knowledge. If you need to have more experience and knowledge than your male peer, when it comes to promotion, then be ready to show it when opportunity arises.

Sheryl Sandberg. I learned a lot from watching her interviews, and reading her book “Lean In”. Back in the day when I was struggling with finding my place in the organization and my path forward, I learned about “impostor syndrome” – I didn’t realize how many women feel unconfident about their achievements in the work place. While there’s a lot of practical advice on how to deal with it, such as rewriting your resume, focusing on facts, or looking for a mentor, this issue has to be addressed on systemic level. Management really needs to learn and focus on empowering both men and women equally in the workplace during the daily routine.

I wish I could tell my 20-year old self: know your worth and stand up for yourself, because no one else will. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there.

Be assertive, send a letter to a company you want to work for, connect with people, and learn from those you aspire to be.