Advancing towards a more equitable and diverse company

Modern societies are clear about it, we need to continue working for a more equal and inclusive world for all, one in which women can freely perform the work they dream about without prejudice or limitations, so that, through of a more equitable and fair treatment, they can achieve greater social and economic development.

Although certain obstacles have been encountered along the way, the force of change is unstoppable, and has allowed us to reach the scenario we have today, where even in industrial sectors that have historically been masculinized, such as the electricity sector, more women are integrating successfully. This is the result of efforts such as those that the Enel Group Colombia companies have made for both women and men to have the same opportunities of achieving their goals.

BUILDING AN EQUAL WORKPLACE

Private enterprise is a fundamental pillar in the promotion of gender equality, since from the construction of more equal workspaces, and the implementation of actions and practices designed to break with social paradigms, it is possible to generate true change in the workplace. Understanding this at Enel-Codensa and Enel-Emgesa, we started paving 6 years ago the path for gender equality, implementing a series of initiatives and policies that seek a balance within our company, with the purpose of strengthening equality between men and women.

Multiple changes have been made to promote this culture of change for equality: equal selection processes, interviews without biases in the questions, achieving that 100% of the leadership positions within our companies have a female successor and in the development plan, and a 30% increase in the participation of women in internal promotion processes, is a sample of this work.

Likewise, one of the initiatives that has allowed us to advance in terms of gender equality within our organization has been our ‘quality of life’ benefits aimed at allowing our workers to achieve a balance between their personal and work life. Thus we not only work to increase the participation of women in our sector, but we also help men fulfill their family roles, to have greater involvement within their family dynamics, something that has been traditionally displaced by their professional roles.

“In 2013 my wife became pregnant with twins and I wanted to be part of the whole process, but I feared this would not be possible. However, thanks to the ‘quality of life’ programs offered by the company I was able to take the necessary spaces with my wife to live the parenting experience to the fullest. Today I continue to make use of these benefits, which allow me to spend more time with my daughters”

– Gian Paolo Daguer, Deputy Manager of HSEQ (Health, Security, Environment and Quality) at Enel Colombia.

On the other hand, we realized that young women did not see an opportunity for professional development in technical careers, but to strengthen gender equality in our sector, it was key to bring them closer to access this type of careers. Therefore we developed the "Seed Plan" program, in which both women and men can obtain training in these areas. In this way, we have ensured that more women can perform technical tasks and incorporate themselves in the processes and tasks that we perform in our operation. Nowadays, 38% of the program’s participants are women, and this has allowed us to break down some collective barriers, forming mixed teams for the first time within the electricity sector, and we have even formed the first women-only team.

“We started thinking differently and we realized that women have the skills to perform technical tasks. As they are more dedicated and follow the rules more strictly, these are all strengths that are extremely important in our operation”

– Carlos Valenzuela, Seed Plan Leader.

“Women play a fundamental role in the success of modern companies. They add a human component that is important and highly differentiating in the management of personnel, and team building. They enter the processes without bias, they take the time to know and understand what they are going to handle, and they undoubtedly add value constantly to our organization and to what we do”

– Marco Fidel, head of the medium and low voltage department at the Bogota Operational Unit.

Thanks to all the efforts that we have made over the years to be more equal regarding gender issues, we were recognized with the Gold Seal of Employment Equality (Equipares), an initiative that motivates companies to increasingly commit to work for gender equality in the country.

No doubt at Enel Colombia we bet on an inclusive model in which we work hard for diversity and equality, because we want all people who are part of our companies to feel included and recognized. We believe that by having more diverse work teams we can fulfill our vision, be more innovative, proactive and therefore achieve better results.