SERES-Esade lecture series: Schindler, Ford and Faurecia agree that diversity gives companies a competitive edge
The SERES foundation and the Esade business school hosted another conference today in the Esade – SERES Foundation series entitled “Diversity and Social Responsibility: a strategic challenge”, to examine the new challenges involved in corporate diversity. During the online discussion, managers from Schindler, Ford and Faurecia addressed issues such as the relationship between productivity and diversity, the criteria that underpin their companies’ diversity policies and procedures, and the types of diversity encompassed by these policies.
Lucila García, deputy managing director of the SERES foundation, began the conference by highlighting the fact that diversity and its management as a social issue and its impact on business together form an integral part of the foundation’s work. “We regard diversity, inclusion and equality as a mainstay of our business strategy. In our experience, companies that build these strategies into their business models are the most innovative, most well-rounded and, in short, the most successful companies”, she emphasized.
Ignasi Carreras, professor and director of NGO management training programs at the Esade Social Innovation Institute, was emphatic that “the pandemic has prompted companies to focus much more on looking after people and managing people in a more responsible manner”. Carreras underlined the challenges posed by diversity which he seeks to incorporate into talent in order to make teams more diverse and increase creativity and innovation. Evolution is necessary but entails many difficulties. “Challenges happen when moving from the spoken to the written word, from the written word to policies, from policies to action, and from action to results”, he explained. Finally, he insisted that “progress in diversity is, above all, a matter of social justice in the fight against discrimination”.
Experience in making diversity policies run smoothly
Javier Legaz Gascón, Talent & Development Manager at Schindler Iberia, highlighted the importance of the board’s involvement for ensuring that corporate diversity procedures and policies run smoothly. “The main success factor in our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy is the commitment of senior management”. Greater gender diversity is a priory for Schindler and the firm has implemented several policies to overcome the gender stereotypes associated with engineering: selective recruitment, specific retention schemes, and the “Women in Management” program.
At Ford Iberia, diversity is a strategic priority. “At Ford we’re a family. We’re proud of our differences. We all belong”, said Susana Rodiño, Head of HR & general Services at Ford Iberia NSC and Ford Credit Iberia. She also emphasized how important it is for corporate diversity to be a reflection of society. “We are convinced that diversity is a plus. We have ranges of different products and customers, and we believe our company should be equally diverse.”
Tomás Lara, Country HR Director for Iberia, and North Africa at the Faurecia Group, explained that for his company, “diversity is a strength, a strategic approach both now and in the future that entails certain KPIs and specific actions.” In this respect, Faurecia is making an effort to increase gender diversity in the group. “In the last year alone, 70% of the people we have hired have been women”, said Lara, who also pointed out the difficulties they have encountered in finding qualified female candidates, an obstacle also mentioned by Ford and Schindler Iberia.
