HILTI LEADERSHIP | MARTINA MCISAAC
MARTINA MCISAAC
Region Head and CEO of HILTI North America, Engaged Beyond Business
Returning to the workforce after a hiatus as a Mom, Martina McIsaac chose Hilti as her next place of work because it is a value-driven company. Hilti’s global strategy is based on the three pillars of environment, people and society. It is a company that is Engaged Beyond Business. Caring about people, the community, and the environment are essential drivers, even or most significantly, in the face of business decisions.
Initially stepping into a sales role, Martina has now emerged as Hilti North America’s CEO, a formidable achievement in a male-dominated industry. As a leader and inspiration to her team, Martina not only embraces Engaging Beyond Business but sees it as a business imperative and responsibility.
Unprecedented Times.
In March 2019, the COVID-19 pandemic closed down the world. Change happened fast. Countries closed borders, airlines in hiatus laid-off employees, schools and offices closed, and the world went inward into isolation and fear. It was at this time that Martina McIsaac took the reins of Hilti North American as CEO. Three thousand eight hundred Hilti employees looked towards Martina for leadership in an uncertain time.
Eighteen months later, Martina reflects on her leadership; “There was no precedent. I could be me at that moment, and what the moment called for was connection and warmth and empathy.” Eighteen months later, business entities, recruiters and prestigious magazines are writing articles about the requirements of post-pandemic leadership, “Most of them are “feminine” characteristics”, says Martina, “such as empathy and compassion.”
Watch Martina's GATHER conversation HERE.
Opportunity and Challenges.
Hilti is a private, family-owned company based in Lichenstein that develops, manufactures, and markets products for the construction, building maintenance, energy and manufacturing industries, mainly to the professional end-user. Future forecasts predict that the construction industry will build one New York City every month for the next 40 years generating substantial economic potential. And with that immense potential and opportunity come challenges.
The construction industry is one of the most significant contributors to global emissions, responsible for 39% of its sum. Furthermore, it is no secret that it is a male-dominated industry, and consequently, the economic wealth and benefits reside in the hands of men. The traditional leadership of Hilti, North America, has been top-down and authoritative.
Despite these challenges, Hilti is passionate about building a better future globally for its employees, business leaders and communities. In unprecedented times, facing these many challenges, Martina stepped into the leadership role, and by her very appointment, shattered gender perceptions.
“We are convinced that long-term success is only secured through business decisions that value environmental, people and social aspects equally with economic factors,” said Christoph Loos, CEO of the Hilti Group. “We are aware that this is a journey with several stations still ahead of us, but we have set ourselves ambitious goals and will leave no stone unturned. At the same time, we also want to support our customers in the construction industry in becoming more sustainable.”
Changing Roles.
Martina had what she describes as an exciting and fast-paced “global” job in her early career. She and her husband climbed the corporate ladder and worked in cities worldwide, such as Mexico City, Mexico and Santiago, Chile. When they decided to have children and settle, they continued to work at an extraordinary pace. One day, returning from a trip to China and handing off kids and diaper bags in an airport foyer as her husband departed for Vietnam, Martina decided something had to give. She stepped out of the workforce and became a “Mom”.
After five years embedded in the school community and neighbourhood with her family, Martina became restless for something different. The timing was perfect as her husband was ready for a change too. They traded places.
Martina chose to work at Hilti because it is a value-driven company with a global strategy based on the three pillars of environment, people and society, which resonated with her integrity.
To Engage Beyond Business means to contribute without expectations of a sales return. It mandates Hilti business leaders globally to impact their local communities. Every business leader invests a percentage of their sales revenue or time into a community project. In total, Hilti North America invests 8,000 paid days into community commitments a year.
Other diversity and equity initiatives that Hilti is committed to are:
- DICE (Diversity and Inclusion in Construction and Engineering)
- MARC (Men Advocating Real Change)
- George Brown College (underrepresented women in trades partnership)
- Affinity Groups in the workplace; it
- South Dallas Thrives
- 1,000 people joined a Hilti Team Talk on diversity
- Belongingness Task Force
The Seasons of Contribution.
Looking back on her life, Martina sees three very different people.
- The ambitious, hungry young woman, who would grab her backpack and head to the next meeting, the next city, the next deadline.
- The Mom, who stepped out of the workforce to nurture her family.
- The mature women who stepped back into the workforce, ready to grow, expand and lead.
Martina believes that organizations need to meet people where they are in their journey, and they can do this by creating an intentional approach to career development and workplace benefits. Doing so is the only way to build lasting equity.
Like men, when young women step into the workforce, they are eager to spread their wings, ready to fly far and fast. Around this time, they are looking for financial support to pay down their students loans, and they need mentors, coaches, and strategic sponsors who will champion them in the complex world of work. However, Martina noticed that Hilti successfully attracted women to the company in their 20s, but they disappeared around the mid-30s.
The mid-30s is when people step into their mid-careers. Unlike men, It is also the time that women are leaving the workforce to raise young children. Martina admits that Hilti has not found the solution to stop the drain of mid-career female talent. However, there are steps that businesses can take to support women at this stage in their careers. Hilti supplements education for children and provides fertility and caregiver benefits. Furthermore, women need safe spaces in the workplace to share the pressure they face due to juggling multiple responsibilities at work and home.
It is Martina’s experience that women In their mid and late 50’s are far from wanting to retire. As their home responsibilities ease, women have more capacity to step into senior executive levels. Finding their stride and purpose in the workplace, they are ready to take on more. Further educational development, mentorship, and continued benefits such as child education and caregiver support are tremendous confidence boosters for these mature women.
For too many years, women have had to bend and adapt to fit into outdated businesses models, practices, and culture, resulting in talent lost to the workforce. Currently, companies and industries are fiercely competing to retain and attract talent. By observing, honouring, and supporting the life cycle of women and breaking down a patriarchal system that has been punitive to women, Martina believes that corporate and business leaders can reshape the journey of women in the workplace.
[Only] in 1978, The Pregnancy Discrimination Act prohibited discrimination based on pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions in the USA. Corporate and business leaders can reshape the journey of women in the workplace by honouring and supporting the life cycle of women and breaking down a patriarchal system that has been punitive to women.
Valuing Women in the Workplace.
The gender balance between men and women at Hilti is 35 per cent women, and on Martina’s direct team, it is 40 per cent women.
Of the construction industry, Martina says: “Women don’t feel supported in our industry. They expect to encounter sexism and racism. It has to change, and Hilti will not tolerate any form of sexism in the workforce. The industry is booming, and we have hundreds and thousands of unfulfilled well-paid jobs with regulated hours. These jobs offer women and single mothers in the workforce exactly what they are looking for; sound financial return, regular hours and a manageable work-life balance.” Martina believes that programming and policy within businesses and industries will drive change.
Covid Insights
“Leadership has changed, and people, most especially women, will not accept a leadership style that does not see the whole person”, says Martina.
“Covid has taught us to be open to change and to be flexible. The backslide of women in the workforce since COVID is a genuine problem, and to exacerbate this problem, Hilti continues to shed women at early management level”, she states. “In the fight to retain talent, we need to reconsider how we structure our working days.”
Covid forced Hilti to address hours and resources.
Trusted work hours.
Martina talks about “trusted” work-based hours. During Covid, unregulated time and hours happened without impacting productivity. Employees did not book time off to take care of their children or to attend school performances, and the work got done regardless.
A computer in every household.
Introducing a computer grant made a significant impact on both Hilti’s employees and their families. Few families can operate effectively without a computer. The world has become internet-driven, and research, homework and communication are all happening on wifi. Families who are not connected are left behind. The Hilti computer grant has been a significant benefit to employees.
“ Not only are women and working moms balancing a plethora of responsibilities as the lines between career and parenthood are indefinitely blurred with shelter-in-place, but they are also fearing for their jobs—approximately 60% of the jobs eliminated in the first wave of pandemic-induced layoffs were held by women. Single moms have been particularly hard hit by the crisis, losing jobs at a far higher rate than other families with children.
Because of this, the female labour force participation rate dipped below 55% (54.7%) in April 2020 for the first time since February 1986, when it was at 54.8%.”
Allison Robinson, Fortune Magazine, August 3, 2020
Allison Robinson, co-founder and CEO of The Mom Project, is spearheading a trailblazing organization committed to building a better workplace for women.
Although 2020 was a year dominated by COVID, societal mobilizations such as Black Lives Matter and the ongoing protests in the USA as of May 26, 2020, reminded Hilti to re-examine inclusion in the workforce. “Although we have been doing a good job on the gender issue, we had not been paying attention to the race. Black Lives Matter brought this forward. Up until this point, we did not capture data on racial diversity within Hilti, and we now have a Belongingness Task Force to address where we are getting in the way of inclusion.”
Building a Leadership Legacy
Carving out a career in a male-dominated industry, and rising through its ranks from the sales team to CEO, is no small feat. It requires business intelligence, grit, leadership and maturity. All these qualities describe Martina. Plus, she has one breathtaking quality that all great leaders should possess, vulnerability.
Martina states that the culture of Hilti is about accepting that solving problems can be done from all kinds of perspectives and in many different ways. Her job is to be open to bringing balance between various sources and players. Making space for dialogue is the hallmark of inclusive leadership.
“We have to build relationships and bring people together. It is like a strand In a braid; no one strand is dominant. To be inclusive, you have to be willing to change where you're standing. You have to be willing to change your position. As a female in the construction industry, I've always worried that people will perceive me as weak if I do that. So, I hold onto the picture of braiding because obviously, the braid is stronger than the strands.”
- CEO, Hilti, Martina McIsaac, September 2021
