The Diversity label is awarded by an outside organisation (Afnor Certification, in France). The certification process examines action plans focused on preventing discrimination, promoting inclusion and diversity, and respecting equality. This valuable tool enables the Group to identify risks of discrimination and promote its best practices in human resources management. At end-2021, 11 entities were certified, representing 8% of the workforce in France. In the United Kingdom, two entities, representing 58% of the workforce, were awarded labels by the National Centre for Diversity. The Charta der Vielfalt was adopted in Germany to measure inclusion in the Group’s business operations. VINCI Energies Germany signed this charter in 2021, representing 74% of the workforce in this country. The Group continues to seek and deploy these labels internationally.
14 companies have been awarded a Diversity label in France, the United Kingdom and Germany
The self-assessment tool “VINCI fights discrimination – what about you?” is an application developed by the Group’s Human Resources Department to measure the effectiveness of procedures put in place by a company, business line or department in reducing the risk of discrimination. The platform is divided into nine modules covering nine facets of professional life: recruitment, induction and integration, managing jobs and skills, training, remuneration, departures and sanctions, social dialogue, quality of life in the workplace, and diversity policy. These modules are broken down into 150 situations in which discrimination could potentially arise. All Group employees can access the platform via a dedicated website and answer the self-assessment questionnaire to determine the likelihood of each situation, measure the entity’s resilience to discrimination, and suggest any priority actions that need to be implemented. The French version has been available since 2016, and a universal version for all countries was developed with the support of the regional human resources Pivot Clubs and the Inclusion and Diversity Department. In 2021, VINCI companies and their German-speaking and Portuguese-speaking employees adopted this version. Worldwide, the number of hours of training increased 2.2-fold, reaching 28,377 hours. In France, 14,702 hours of training devoted to inclusion and diversity were delivered in 2021, thus nearly 3.5 times higher than in 2020.
Overcoming the challenges of inclusion and diversity: the range of awareness actions and training courses expanded in 2021. VINCI Academy has included a training course on Up! that provides solutions for enhancing inclusive management and a guide on using the gender equality index indicators to navigate gender neutral pay and promotion policies. These modules are available in several languages. Also in 2021, the German and Spanish versions of the training course on inclusion and diversity taking an action learning approach were released for Group employees. The programme helps employees to better understand diversity and to develop inclusive practices.
Diversity is an integral part of social dialogue. Fifty-one collective agreements were signed on inclusion and diversity in 2021.
1.5.2 Measures to promote gender equality
Gender equality is one of the major components of the Group’s inclusion and diversity policy. This policy permeates every aspect of an employee’s career path, aiming to enhance equality in employment, training, career development, promotions and pay increases.
This issue is endorsed at the highest level of the Group’s organisation and discussed regularly at Executive Committee meetings. The document listing measures to be taken to help more women move into higher management roles was reviewed by the Executive Committee. This document is intended to establish the Group’s course of action and provide business lines and subsidiaries with steps to follow. Several initiatives were confirmed:
- conduct people reviews at each business line for women occupying managerial positions in operational as well as central functions;
- for each vacant managerial position, especially in operations, systematically include at least one female applicant in the shortlist of candidates;
- simultaneously stress efforts to recruit women, especially outside France, and step up their training in management to help them reach executive positions more quickly.
Women managers were given special attention in people reviews. The percentage of women in management positions was 21.6% at 31 December 2021, rising 6 percentage points in 10 years. Since the publication of VINCI’s Manifesto in 2006, the percentage of women in the Group’s total workforce has risen from 14% to 16.5%.
As a result of the special attention given to management committee positions, five women are now on VINCI’s Management and Coordination Committee: Alexandra Boutelier, Chief Executive Officer of Consortium Stade de France, VINCI Stadium; Belen Marcos, President of VINCI Highways and Executive Vice-President of VINCI Concessions; Isabelle Spiegel, Environment Director of VINCI; Jocelyne Vassoille, Vice-President, Human Resources of VINCI; and Valérie Vesque-Jeancard, President of VINCI Railways and Managing Director of VINCI Airports for France, South America and the Caribbean. At 31 December 2021, women held 75, or 16.1%, of the Group’s 467 management committee positions.
To drive this policy, the Group monitors its targets set for 2023:
- Increase the percentage of women hired or promoted to management positions to 28%
- Increase the percentage of women members on the Group’s management committees to about 17%, i.e. at least four women per year on a constant structure basis.