Since the English writer Mary Wollstonecraft published her famous essay “A Vindication of the Rights of Woman” in 1792, in which she advocated equality between the sexes, women all over the world have had to travel a long and difficult path for recognition of their rights. International Women’s Day commemorates this struggle to occupy a place in society and to be able to have access to worlds such as the workplace in full equality with men.
Fortunately, since the troubled days of Wollstonecraft, a lot has changed. For too long, it has inexcusably renounced the valuable contributions of half the population, but that vision is beginning to be left behind for good. In the field of work, more and more companies and organizations are fully aware that equality is not only an unavoidable right, but also a powerful and essential tool to improve business management and operation, and to respond successfully to the Great challenges and opportunities await us.
The latest report published by the Global Gender Gap, carried out by the World Economic Forum, informs us that the gender parity figures increased from 67.9% in 2021, to 68.1% reached in 2022. These are encouraging figures, but they demand to continue advancing. However, the trend of narrowing the gender gap seems to have stagnated in many countries of late. In fact, only 30 of the 145 economies analyzed last year made significant progress.
In addition to constituting an essential ethical issue, the full incorporation of women into the professional field on a fully equal basis is essential to face new scenarios such as the digital revolution, in which the development of human talent and the promotion of innovative ideas will be key elements. A company like Telefónica, which considers diversity and inclusion as a vital part of its business DNA, has worked hard to develop proposals and measures to ensure that these desires become a full reality. Below, we present some of the milestones that, in recent times, the telecommunications company has reached in this area.
With the aim of reinforcing its social commitment, Telefónica approved last year the first edition of its Equality Policy to ratify its commitment to equal opportunities as a priority in its general strategy. This is also included in its Responsible Business Principles and in its Diversity and Inclusion Policy, approved by the Board of Directors in 2022.
In addition to the guidelines that appear in the three documents that we have just mentioned, the company has a Diversity Policy in relation to the Board of Directors and the Selection of Directors; or with the Protocol for Action in Situations of Labor or Moral Harassment, Sexual Harassment and Discrimination.
The group’s president, José María Álvarez-Pallete, signed, also in 2022, the United Nations Principles for the Empowerment of Women, thus showing his global commitment to this issue. The document consists of seven principles that seek to promote the role of women in the professional or commercial field, with objectives such as equal remuneration, equal opportunities for professional advancement, paid parental leave or zero tolerance for sexual harassment in work place.
Telefónica increased the percentage of women in management positions by 1.8 points in 2022, thus reaching 31.3% throughout the company, excluding the United Kingdom. This increase now places them very close to meeting the objective established for 2024 of reaching 33% of women in positions of this responsibility, as a fundamental step to be an egalitarian company.
In addition to all of the above, the company has defined a series of actions aimed at accelerating the professional careers of its employees, developing the pool of pre-managerial talent and attracting more female talent, to promote equality at all hierarchical levels and reduce the salary gap. of genre. An example of this is the Empowering Women initiative, aimed at all the women who work at Telefónica, which focuses on female leadership and points out the key issues and also the barriers that those who want to lead still have to face. Last year, this proposal brought together almost 250 representatives.
Another particularly interesting measure is the promotion of the presence and visibility of young women who are studying careers and delving into entrepreneurship in the field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics), both inside and outside their own company boundaries, through more than 100 programs and initiatives.
This professional field, unlike other sectors, continues to be perceived as a road full of obstacles for many young students. In fact, only 30% of the world’s women are currently studying STEM careers. This percentage is reduced to 8% in engineering and up to 3% when we talk about training related to information and communication technologies. For this reason, proposals promoted by Telefónica such as Mujeres4Tech,
Telefónica is part of ClosingGap, a cluster made up of a total of 12 organizations that was created in 2018 with the aim of analyzing how the persistence of the different gender gaps affects the economy and society as a whole, and also to promote the social transformation that is needed to assume the definitive equality.
The group has contributed to promote the report entitled The opportunity cost of the gender gap in digital professions, with the purpose of generating the knowledge and debate necessary to adopt measures that correct existing inequalities.
The company has also decided to join the network of companies Yo No Renuncio for reconciliation, focusing, where appropriate, on promoting co-responsibility between men and women so that there can be a true reconciliation between personal and professional life. This association, created by the Malasmadres Club, promotes awareness campaigns, carries out sociological studies, offers workshops for companies and maintains the Yellow Conciliation Telephone, the first free service on the subject, which has already attended more than 8,000 queries.
Already in 2019, Telefónica formalized an agreement in which the Right to Digital Disconnection of its employees was recognized. The irruption of the pandemic accelerated the process of transforming the forms of work in which they were already immersed, to take advantage of the possibilities offered by new technologies. In 2021, a hybrid, flexible and digital model was adopted that has served to improve the quality of life of the people who make up its teams. In addition, the group offers help for family planning, such as childcare.
Telefónica has been included, for the sixth consecutive year, in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI), positioning itself as one of the companies most committed to equality at a global level. The GEI is a weighted index that aims to track performance and verify reporting data to verify the transparency of companies that have publicly committed to gender equality.
Currently, they analyze in depth the work of some 600 companies in the world. All these actions that they have already managed to carry out have been possible thanks to the consolidated structure of bodies and internal figures of the company, which are in charge of carrying out the due follow-up of the progress in terms of equality, diversity and inclusion, monitoring compliance indicators and strategic objectives, and counting on the direct involvement of senior management. They also have a Global Diversity Council, as well as a Transparency Commission that supervises all these processes.
As Marta Machicot, Telefónica’s Global People Director, states, “diversity and inclusion are cross-cutting elements of talent management in all the markets in which the company is present”. Telefónica continues to work intensely in this field, setting new objectives that guarantee full equality of treatment and opportunities, with the conviction that it is not only a matter of justice but also a fundamental requirement to successfully face the challenges of the 21st century.
