36% of the Executive Committee are women
Catherine MacGregor, the Group’s Chief Executive Officer and the only female executive of a CAC 40 company, has a vision of gender diversity that strongly ties in to the company's performance. “I have a conviction, which is based on my own experience, that you will lack innovation and cannot properly understand customers and markets if your team is not diverse. New ideas cannot develop in a uniform environment [...]; rather, they are generated through diversity of genders, experiences and lives. In our highly-competitive markets, diversity is an asset”. Action: since last January, four women have been appointed to the Executive Committee!
In an article published on 7 March 2021 (French only), 41 executive officers of large companies, among which Catherine MacGregor, committed for gender equality through target figures.
Awareness-raising actions for young women
For the last 10 years, ENGIE has been a partner of the “Elles bougent” (“Women on the move”) association. It aims to promote gender diversity in industrial and technological companies. 253 female engineers and technicians at ENGIE are affiliated with this association and regularly speak in schools. We are also partner with “Capital Filles”, which helps young girls from suburbean or remote areas discover scientific, technological and industrial fields, while guiding them in their career choice. In collaboration with the “Innovations pour les Apprentissages” foundation, and their “Ingénieuses” programme, we offer work-study training opportunities to future female engineers.
In 2020, 25% of work-study students at ENGIE were women. What is our goal for 2021? To recruit half of these work-study students following their training.
WIN: ENGIE's active network of women with a conviction
Since 2008, ENGIE’s female employees who are committed to improving diversity and inclusion have been part of the international women’s network “Women In Networking” (WIN). Every country runs the network in its own way. In Spain, the network publishes a monthly newsletter to the members of its community and is active through meetings, such as the conference on 9 March with Mercedes Wullich, CEO Mujeres&Cía, Gender and Diversity Specialist, on the theme “Our careers belong to us”. As Loreto Ordóñez, CEO ENGIE Spain, highlighted: "You can choose between two ways: accelerating our business progression towards more diversity and an inclusive future, or choosing to go back to the earlier model. Clearly, the option chosen by ENGIE is: diversity and equality!".
In the Middle East, WIN members participated in a webinar with female leaders of the network and in a radio programme promoting the launch of the book “Women go Digital”, in parallel with the official launch of the Fifty-Fifty programme.
A spotlight on women in the Tech and Digital sector
ENGIE has published a series of portraits on female researchers and technicians within the Group! “Women in Tech” highlights testimonials of women who are making a difference in tech and research at ENGIE. Among them, Adeline Duterque, the first woman to head a Research Centre at ENGIE, explains what drove her to the energy sector and shares her vision of gender diversity in the world of research. Olga Kavvada, Senior Research Engineer at ENGIE Lab for Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence, gives advice to women on, for example, how to deconstruct stereotypes on a daily basis. Although these women work in different fields, they share a common factor: they both work in male-dominated environments. Women account for 20% of our employees that work in data and software. In these fast-growing professions, the presence of women is both an opportunity and a driver for development. As such, ENGIE published Women go Digital*, a book that promotes the role of women in the digital sector as well as the Group’s female employees who are playing an active role in the digital transformation. We need role models!
*Find “Women go Digital” in bookshops and online, illustrated by Fabienne Legrand, published by Cherche Midi
© Illustration Fabienne Legrand
Did you know? Because energy and climate change concerns everyone, Csilla Kohalmi-Monfils, Innovations Director at ENGIE Fab, speaks to us about the role of women in the energy transition in this LinkedIn Opinion!
A global scheme to fight sexism
A respectful and inclusive work environment is crucial in increasing the role of women in the company. This is why, since 2019, ENGIE has set up large-scale actions in France to fight against sexism and harassment. As such, along with 120 other companies, the Group has signed the #StOpE charter, confirming its strong commitment to fighting ordinary sexism. A guide aimed at eradicating sexual harassment and sexist attitudes will be published in the first quarter of 2021. Upon its launch, an international campaign against sexism will be deployed in all of our entities.
140 sexism specialists have already been appointed in France, and the external hotline, Allodiscrim, has been set up to facilitate speaking out within the company and to help deal with situations in an effective manner.
Watch the interview with Philippe de Felix, one of the Group’s sexism specialists.
Key figure
6 weeks
Claim your professional and family life - and this goes for men too! To give men the means to benefit from this societal change, we have extended paternity leave to 6 weeks in several pilot entities in France. An initiative has been launched to include all entities!
Accrediting our fight for gender diversity
The fight for gender diversity within ENGIE takes on several forms. To make gender diversity a reality within teams, the Group is committed to upholding the equal opportunity policy in each of its entities. For this reason, ENGIE obtained The Diversity label for the first time in 2012, which was renewed in 2017 and extended until 2022! This Label, which is managed by the French government and implemented by Afnor, is a testament of ENGIE’s efforts to fight against all forms of discrimination in the hiring process, in access to training and in promotions.
Did you know? The Global Energy Management BU launched WoMen Up, an initiative that aims to create a “gender-neutral” environment, allowing every individual to fully explore their potential.
Vocalising our determination
This year, the theme for 8 March is “Choose to Challenge”. Driven by our entities (in Africa, Brazil, North America, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand), many of the Group’s women and men took the opportunity to convey this powerful message. The goal: to deconstruct stereotypes, to fight against sexism, and, together, to build an inclusive company.
#IWD2021 #ChooseToChallenge
