Aer Rianta International (ARI), a pioneering force in the global travel retail industry, is also a leader in the field of Environment, Social and Governance (ESG).
Early last year, ARI Chief Executive Officer Ray Hernan underlined the company’s commitment to diversity and inclusion as core priorities amid the company’s recovery and future growth drive. In a related move he appointed ARI General Counsel Gareth Byrne as Executive Sponsor for Diversity & Inclusion.
The Moodie Davitt Report talks with Byrne as he spearheads the company’s mission to ensure that “every voice is heard, every opinion is considered”.
As ARI Executive Sponsor for Diversity & Inclusion, Gareth Byrne is on a mission. He is determined to empower his colleagues to be interested in, and to understand, the importance of these values on moving the company forward, and aims to offer everyone within the group the opportunity to make a positive impact.
“We believe that a focus on diversity and inclusion – let’s call it D&I – never ends,” he says. “There is always scope to improve. ARI has made great strides in D&I right across its global estate and our D&I strategy is now under one big umbrella so we can share ideas across our global network.”
“Inclusivity is at the heart of everything we do,” Byrne adds. “We want everyone, every employee, to feel welcome and part of the ARI team, at the same time comfortable to be themselves. Our D&I strategy goes further too; it includes our customers.
“Our overall vision for D&I at ARI is to ‘be yourself, whoever you are, wherever you are from. At ARI, you are welcome’”.
Byrne joined ARI at the end of 2019, moving to the company from a senior position at WhatsApp. His legal background and extensive experience began with Dublin-based law firm Matheson in 2005, with Byrne progressing to take on, and to spend over five years in, a senior legal role with Bord Gáis Energy (Ireland’s leading utility provider). He then moved to lead the EMEA Legal team at WhatsApp and was also a Director of WhatsApp in Ireland.
Byrne says that his career experiences prior to joining ARI play an important role in his approach to his work there.
He credits WhatsApp and its owner Facebook as being world leaders in D&I. Before joining ARI, Byrne led the WhatsApp team as it opened its international headquarters in Dublin. Throughout his time with the tech giant, he felt that D&I was just part of the ‘norm’, something he is now striving for at ARI.
Byrne recalls training in initiatives such as ‘unconscious bias’ during his onboarding experience with WhatsApp and recognises that some companies are only at the start of their journey in developing, and embedding these initiatives into their organisations.
Playing to the strengths of the travel retail model – and focusing on its attributes including global mobility, culturalisation, and an international sharing platform for experiences and expertise – Byrne feels he is well placed to nurture this.
We need to be as inclusive as possible and by that, I mean not just through the traditional demographics of gender, race, religion (which are obviously extremely important), but in the way we engage with each other as colleagues.
“All of us at ARI are behind D&I,” he says. “Everyone is considering why it is important to them as individuals, what they can do themselves to be an ally and to empower others. The pandemic has definitely allowed us to take stock of this and have a more open approach and understanding of people’s individuality.
“We need to be as inclusive as possible and by that, I mean not just through the traditional demographics of gender, race, religion (which are obviously extremely important), but in the way we engage with each other as colleagues.
“For instance, something as simple as when we are setting up a meeting: Are we including all our colleagues that should attend the meeting? We also need to understand our businesses in each location, the people and their cultures when developing and enhancing our Global D&I Framework.
“At ARI, we are alive to the fact that each international business in the ARI estate is at different stages of their own D&I journey but, with the spirit of inclusion, each business can learn from and help develop the overall D&I strategy.”
Byrne decided that the best way to demonstrate, and ensure, inclusivity was to develop a Global Diversity & Inclusion Committee, made up of one representative from each of ARI’s global locations and set this as one of the key goals for 2021.
ARI’s Global D&I Framework has four core objectives:
- Leadership Commitment and Accountability
- Be Inclusive
- Seeking better gender balance
- Building a diverse talent pipeline.
A number of goals sit under each of these objectives and Byrne proudly points out that those set for 2021 were achieved.
“Look at the success of the ARI International Women’s Day initiative last year,” he says. “It was a proud moment for many of us at ARI to see the traction on social media of the many inspiring quotes from our female leaders.
As reported, ARI and The Moodie Davitt Report teamed up last year for a striking International Women’s Day website makeover. ARI and The Moodie Davitt Report also launched an empowering social media campaign called ‘Women Rise’, which celebrates the diverse and inspiring women working at the Irish travel retail company (many of whom are depicted in the images on our home page). The Moodie Davitt Report asked 75 women from ARI to talk about womanhood and compiled their responses in the film below. |
“We are fortunate to have incredible female leaders in our organisation and, through our Women Rise conversations we seized an opportunity to shine a spotlight on some of these great leaders,” Byrne continues.
“We showcased a diverse group of women across many of our locations including Muscat, Montreal, Barbados, Dublin and Cyprus and gave them a platform to share their stories, challenges, experiences and skills.”
“Another initiative we feel passionate about is to highlight and communicate to our entire team the different holidays, celebrations and festivities that take place across our various locations. We encourage the local teams to share pictures and stories of local activities that mark these occasions, such as Omani Women’s Day, and Diwali celebrations.”
ARI launched its mentorship programme, which was developed and led by ARI’s Chief People Officer Siobhán Griffin and her team, in 2021.
This programme sits in ARI’s Global D&I Framework and encourages colleagues to – as Byrne puts it – “put their hands up and participate to support the development of a diverse talent pipeline”.
“I have been very fortunate to have some great mentors, over the course of my career. We can all learn from someone; no-one should feel too qualified or too experienced to seek the help or support of a mentor. I’m delighted to be taking part as a mentor (and am learning a lot from my own mentee!) and we have seen a huge uptake in this programme from our colleagues across the global estate.”
The people at ARI are our biggest asset. On D&I I am the voice, the sponsor. However, we all need to be in this together; everyone should be involved… to make a positive impact, no matter how big or small.
Byrne is spearheading an initiative to ensure everyone has a voice at the company. There is an increased focus on colleagues getting valuable ‘face time’ with, and opportunities to present to, the ARI Executive Team, and the various leadership teams across the ARI estate. This, according to Byrne, demonstrates a voice for all at the top.
“The people at ARI are our biggest asset,” he adds. “On D&I I am the voice, the sponsor. However, we all need to be in this together; everyone should be involved. My mission is to empower all of our colleagues to be interested in, and understand the importance of, D&I and to give everyone an opportunity to make a positive impact, no matter how big or small”.
While Byrne reflects on ARI’s achievements following the launch of its inaugural D&I Global Framework in 2021, his sights are already set on more ambitious plans this year. “ARI is in a great space, but we are still in our infancy; we’ve achieved a lot last year, but we have a lot more to do.”