Diversity Leading Company Breakfast: exclusive content of the Diversity Leading Company programme
Responsible communication facilitates and enhances the key factors in building open, respectful and fair business environments that are sensitive to disability. This is the only way to lay the groundwork for the inclusion and integration of people with disabilities within the labour market.
This was the topic of discussion at the most recent Diversity Leading Company Breakfast, held on 29 May at the Four Seasons Hotel in Madrid. During the event, we talked and shared experiences with managers from different departments of organisations such as CEVA Logistics, Cecabank, Banco Cooperativo Español, Editorial SM, Eviden and Grünenthal Pharma.
Almudena Alonso, Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence Leader at Eviden, opened the discussion by pointing out that: 'One of the 5 core areas of diversity that we focus on at Eviden is the integration within the company of people with disabilities. On this journey, our cooperation with Fundación GoodJob is essential in understanding and welcoming different profiles. Thanks to employability programmes for people with disabilities and people at risk of exclusion, digital and technical abilities are acquired, the development of skills and acquisition of knowledge is streamlined and enhanced, which ultimately enables them to enter our digital world. We perform the technical selection and undertake the commitment to recruit them after one year of training. Once at Eviden, we continue to provide support through our HR-integrated Stay Care wellness programme, through which we inform, share and evolve. It is the driving force behind the programme and the perfect companion to ensure that all our people feel better in their day-to-day lives'.
Carmen Gallardo, L&D Professional Talent at CEVA Logistics, offered extensive insight thanks to her role as an experienced training manager: 'It is important to change and update the dynamics within Diversity and Inclusion programmes in companies. Our experience has led us to increase the variety of workshops offered and the number of visits by associations to workplaces, a necessary point of contact so that management teams and employees can gain a better understanding of talent opportunities, and continue to raise awareness of the need and commitment of the company to incorporate people with disabilities into their teams. At HR we engage in important awareness-raising work and actions to make this possible, and we propose actions for improvement so that we can continue to evolve and integrate without discrimination'.
'Our experience has led us to be in contact with different associations, such as ONCE or the National Organisation for the Deaf, which is really the best way to learn and bring special needs closer, as well as to bridge the gaps between theory and reality with actions inside and outside the company. Thanks to this we have had the opportunity to analyse and address these needs with a greater understanding," noted Pilar García, Head of Development at Editorial SM. As for the implementation of what we have learned, she added that 'it is clear that technological tools are needed to overcome many barriers, but they will only work if they are accompanied by other human capacities that know how to integrate them. Thanks to Fundación SM we also collaborate in specific programmes focused on diversity, such as 'Un café que todo lo puede' (An all-pervading coffee), where students with ASD from Fundación AUCAVI (Autismo Calidad de Vida - Autism Quality of Life) participate in regular corporate events at SM's facilities where they put their skills into practice'.
Regardless of the field of employment, awareness must be the starting point. Miriam Benavente de las Pozas, head of the integration of people with disabilities initiative at Cecabank, appealed directly to the importance of working at primary education level and reinforcing the management of unconscious biases in adults. 'One of Cecabank's strategic pillars is the integration of people with disabilities by recruiting such profiles into our teams. It is our social commitment as a company. As employees, but above all as individuals, we must raise awareness of this work. To achieve this, we have to learn to eliminate our unconscious biases when selecting and assessing candidates. Therefore, our training department runs training modules and courses to educate us in this area. We are currently focusing on young talent, scholarship programmes, collaborating with universities to select candidates. This way they are trained and become specialised in our sector, as this is one of the problems we are facing when it comes to recruiting staff'.
Diversity plans and the creation of committees for their implementation is a basic requirement in companies, but it is always necessary to be open to change when learning. This was emphasised by Elena Muñoz, Legal & Compensation Manager at Grünenthal Pharma. 'We have recently appointed a new Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Committee made up of people from different departments and with different roles. We are currently working on the implementation of the measures designed within the Equality Plan, specifically for 2024, on the dissemination of the company's existing work-life balance measures, as well as an awareness-raising campaign on joint responsibility and work-life balance in the workplace. We also collaborate with different organisations: together with our subsidiary in Portugal, in 2023 we signed the Diversity Charter with Fundación Diversidad, and we participated in different activities during the European Diversity Month last May. We also collaborate with Equipos&Talento in different initiatives such as working breakfasts, participation in forums, cross-mentoring programmes and training activities, where we have received two distinctions: Empowering Women's Talent and Diversity Leading Company. In addition, we collaborate with Women in Pharma, which is an interactive platform for men and women in the pharmaceutical sector, engaging our managers to participate in round tables with companies in the sector or colloquiums for students in master's programmes. We also implemented other initiatives, such as the appointment of our LGTBIAQ+ ambassadors. We want to continue to work on diversity, equity and inclusion measures and we are keen to recruit more people with other abilities into our staff'.
Emergence was a topic discussed during the Breakfast, a normality connected to the perspective of society and of people with disabilities themselves. María José Paisan, Head of People Management at Banco Cooperativo Español stated that: 'The importance of raising social awareness requires greater sensitivity, because reality shows us that within organisations it is difficult to detect disability and bring it to the surface. The results of campaigns to raise awareness, in which we inform people that certain health conditions are eligible for a disability certificate and in which we guide them on how to obtain tax, social or corporate benefits, are still received with emotional stress and pressure. In this regard, continuing to train in values that reinforce the feeling of belonging to a community, in order to believe in a society that is open to incorporating diverse profiles, remains a priority. Inclusive communication is most effective with group actions and experiences',
