"The most diverse organisations have a competitive advantage in their markets," he said. Mirian IzquierdoPresident of the the Woman Forward Foundation during the presentation today of the 'Report to promote value creation and equality in companies: proposals to move forward', which has been supported by PROA and Deusto Business SchoolThe event was held in a mixed face-to-face and digital format.
The event, opened by Marta Aguilar, Director of Corporate Relations at Deusto Business School, also included a round table discussion on managing equality effectively, moderated by Lucía Casanueva, partner and founder of PROALeire Gartzia, professor of Leadership and Team Development at Deusto Business School; Laura González Molero, president of the Asociación para el Progreso de la Dirección; Ana Matarranz, general manager of Human Capital & Benefits at Howden Iberia, and Ernesto Weissmann participated as speakers, Managing Partner at Tandem Decision Solutions. Likewise, Susana Estudillos, director of the Woman Forward Foundation's Business Club, presented the tools to advance 'The business club for the management of equality'. Valvanuz Serna Ruiz, Managing Partner of PROAclosed the day.
Mirian Izquierdo pointed out, during her speech, that the report was based on research into whether diversity and inclusion improve the performance of organisations, which had to face several problems, such as the cause-effect correlation - "it is necessary to demonstrate causality, not correlation", she said - and the form of measurement. He also explained that it was carried out "after a decade of seeing how management committees barely improve by 1% in diversity per year and the digital gender gap has been growing in recent years, with the consequent challenge for the Spanish STEM industry, in particular, to find diverse profiles".
He also revealed that the research found that more diverse organisations "are more innovative, stronger at anticipating changes in consumer needs and consumption patterns that make new products and services possible, potentially generating a competitive advantage". He said the key to achieving both diversity and inclusion is committed leadership at all levels, "both at the front lines and in the middle", something he said organisations need to invest "time and effort" in.
His solution to achieve these objectives is measurement, advice, monitoring of results at all levels of the organisation, having benchmarks in the business framework and sharing good practices, "especially in smaller companies". In this sense, he recalled that "Lord Kelvin, inventor of the Kelvin scale of temperature measurement, stated that 'what is not measured, cannot be improved. What is not improved is always degraded', a phrase that could be applied to the presence of women in decision-making positions in companies, therefore, it is necessary to measure progress in a homogeneous, generalised and constant way in order to advance in equality".
She believes that all of the above should be accompanied by the creation of an equality index for companies and an agile and efficient management system to "know the reality of all companies, not just those in the Ibex 35, to be able to compare themselves with global international indices and those of other European countries and to comply with the recommendations of UN Women and W20 to compile and disseminate data on the economic situation of women, In addition, a management system would allow companies to improve equality longitudinally and to be able to set targets automatically, as well as to compare themselves with other companies in order to grow, attract and retain gender-neutral talent".
Lucía Casanueva then asked the round table participants questions such as the effect of legislative changes in support of a system of equality in companies, the importance of good practices, what to do to achieve equality and whether gender influences decision-making.
Laura González Molero valued the legislative changes in the area of equality positively, but considered that they are not sufficient and that "it is not feasible" to provide global solutions for all companies, because they are different, to which Ana Matarranz added that the what is important, but the how and the why more so, "because diversity brings much more to organisations and to society". Ernesto Weissmann summarised that "more diversity, not only of gender, is more extra wealth in decision-making". Leire Gartzia said that "it is an issue that cannot be simplified" and that it is not so easy to manage diversity, for which different indicators are used.
Regarding the importance of good practices, González Molero said that it is important to look outside and take ideas from outside, but that it is essential to design one's own in order to create a culture within the company and be able to implement them successfully. Matarranz pointed out that the differences between sectors must be taken into account, that there must be a balance at all levels of the company and that it is essential to create references to encourage girls' interest in STEM careers. Weissmann considered that "up to now, good practices have been very bad, because there is a stigma attached to women in society", which is why it is necessary to "work more deeply on cultural issues" in order to break down barriers. Gartzia, for her part, agreed that "a more profound change is needed, to rethink the system, to analyse the impact" and to take advantage of what already exists.
In order to make effective progress in equality, the president of the APD advocated progress in education and the creation of attractive references, as well as opening spaces for diversity to be shown in a natural way and reflected in society, "moving from politically correct speeches to real equality of opportunities to promote the best talent". Coinciding with this approach, the representative of Howden Iberia also advocated the need for "men to be ambassadors" and women to be less self-demanding, without fear and with more self-confidence. The Managing Partner of Tandem Soluciones highlighted the importance of roles, of communicating the contribution of diversity, education and the generation of processes in organisations to generate models that allow "the minority voice to be heard". The professor from the University of Deusto pointed out that "not all references are valid" and that we are greatly influenced by the context.
Regarding the influence of gender in decision-making, Laura González Molero warned that it is a mistake to generalise about decision-making by gender, "because it goes against diversity", Ana Matarranz reiterated that "committees must be totally diverse and that will enrich", Ernesto Weissmann, that diversity has to be full and that women's voices have to be heard, and Leire Gartzia insisted that we have to be careful about generalising and that going too deeply into this issue "can in itself be negative".
At the end of the round table, Susana Estudillos, director of the Club de Empresas para la Gestión de la Igualdad de la Fundación Woman Forward, presented this useful tool for implementing an equality management system in the organisation, which will favour dialogue and awareness-raising through the web platform. The aim is to achieve the strategic alignment of the entire organisation, which will enable the achievement of real and effective equality and position the organisation as a benchmark in the framework of equality and sustainability, in a process of continuous improvement.
To close the day, Valvanuz Serna Ruiz highlighted the importance of talent management in order to achieve true gender diversity.