What do you think about joining the Ibex Gender Equality Index?
It is always pleasant to see that our goals and concerns are shared and valued by our stakeholders. We firmly believe that without a diverse team we would not be able to innovate and continue providing a differential value to our clients. For us, it is a recognition of our commitment to equal opportunities and the promotion of diversity, and it gives us the drive to continue along the path we are working on.
How is your organization betting on female leadership?
Promoting equal opportunities has always been a commitment promoted by our Board of Directors and Management Committee. We want to have the best talent and for this reason, we have carried out internal campaigns to raise awareness among the team, set objectives and promote a way of doing things in our selection processes and professional development plans. The current number of women in leadership positions has allowed us to be in this ranking, but if we look beyond management positions, in 2021 we have increased the number of women on the workforce by more than 10%.
Can you briefly explain your evolution to the present?
We develop our activity in traditionally male sectors (industry, energy, telecommunications...) and we are present in a total of 35 countries with very different realities regarding the incorporation of women into the workforce. Whenever we analyze our results, we take into account the differences between geographies and sectors to know where we need to put more focus.
Can you tell us some good practices or specific initiatives that you are carrying out in this area?
We carry out initiatives in different countries to encourage the incorporation of women. In Chile, for example, our team has carried out a series of talks and training sessions for women to lead projects in the field. In Peru we launched the “Mujeres en Red” project to promote equality in the telecommunications technical service and in the Dominican Republic we are training a group of women to operate the El Soco photovoltaic solar plant. This year we have also signed the Target Gender Equality program of the Global Compact, committing ourselves to establishing and meeting ambitious goals in terms of representation and leadership of women in companies. We have also participated in the PWN (Professional Women's Network) "Leaders on board" conference, with more than 30 companies in Bilbao, during which we analyzed the importance of gender equality to guarantee competitiveness and economic recovery.
What is the current situation of diversity and good governance in Spain and its main obstacles?
Spain has made great advances in incorporating women on the Boards of Directors of listed companies. According to data shared by the CNMV, in the last decade the female presence has gone from 6% to 26%, although it is still far from the 40% now recommended by the organization itself and the European Commission. I think the positive thing is to see that we are moving in the right direction.
What are the other great challenges of your organization in this matter?
We already know that companies demand digital profiles. Even more so in our case, being an innovative company that applies technology to improve the efficiency and sustainability of our clients' business processes. This is where we find a great challenge in order to continue guaranteeing the diversity of our team in the coming years. There is currently a shortage of women in science and technology careers. Last year we joined the STEAM Alliance for female talent promoted by the Ministry of Education and we continue to seek alliances and initiatives in which we can contribute to promote these vocations in girls and young people.
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