Business Chief April 2019

PEOPLE
60
$29.6bn
Approximate
revenue
1847
Year Philip Morris
was founded
80,600+
Approximate number
of employees
– on a budget no less – she emphasises:
“I’ve spent the last 15 years of my life
trying to come up with something to
wipe that off my tombstone.”
In her new role at Philip Morris
International, Salzman believes she
has found exactly that. “I have never
seen a company that cares more about
getting it right on this topic of inclusion
and diversity,” she says. Philip Morris
International is an Equal-Salary company,
ensuring that it remains committed
to equal pay for men and women.
Salzman is devoted to ensuring that
along with equal pay comes equal
respect and recognition and notes the
challenge of being
a top-level female executive at the firm:
“I’ve never really been iconic. I’ve always
just been someone who worked hard.
I feel now, as one of two women on
our Global Executive Committee, an
extraordinary burden on behalf of all
women to get it right.” In addition to
fighting for women in the boardroom,
Salzman is applying her ideals to the
business of cigarettes. “One of the
things I’m most passionate about is
that we need to do a better job making
sure women get information about
harm reduction,” she explains. “Because
of regulatory restrictions on things you
can and can’t do with women in media,
it’s tougher to bring smoke-free
information to that demographic.”
Philip Morris is currently organising
a women’s initiative in order to mitigate
the health risks placed upon half the
world’s population. “You’ll see us
launch communications campaigns,
over the course of the next several
months that will include women who
quit, woman who smoked themselves,
and make themselves into role models
APRIL 2019