As CEO of Great Place to Work in Mexico, Michelle Ferrari makes it her mission to grade work environments on how appealing they are to all workers. She offers her advice on doing the right thing.
| In your own business, what are the benefits you see from having teams with more gender diversity? |
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The benefits of having teams with more diversity are very evident: innovation occurs naturally because the creativity provided by different points of view contributes to very rich results for the organisation. It coexists in an environment of inclusion and respect for other ways of thinking. |
| Within your industry, do you see a bias towards women being recruited for their proven ability, and men being recruited on their potential? |
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It is not only in my industry, but in general in all industries; it is still an area of opportunity to continue adjusting and promoting processes that support the ever-smaller gap between the selection of gender equity not only in the process of hiring, but in promotions and the career plan. There are companies that today implement practices to eliminate the biases that unfortunately continue to exist. |
| How can routes to career development and advancement be opened up to more women? |
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One of the most important issues is to work on the beliefs of the leaders of the organisation and implement processes that demand an alienation to a diverse culture. Also, managing diversity as a strategic issue and as a business objective; and monitoring very closely the moment of decision making, where in many cases the most healthy option is a committee that is allowed to transmit the transparency of the process and feed back to the candidates. |
| In your organisation, what does an inclusive business culture look like? |
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Diversity and inclusion is something that must be worked proactively. We are constantly looking for opportunities for people of any profile that is suitable for the position. It is something that I personally value. |
| What kind of data does your business record about diversity? How does your business use this data to help promote diversity? |
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We evaluate topics such as how many women are in leadership positions, what practices the organisation offers to promote issues of equity and gender, diversity and inclusion. It’s important to not only have data recorded in a documented file, but to have it live on a day to day basis, rooting them in the DNA of the organisation. Companies that achieve high numbers in these indicators fall within our Diversity and Inclusion ranking, thus fulfilling our mission of making workplaces a Great Place to Work For ALL. |
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