The Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, together with Fundación Diversidad, was responsible for presenting these awards.
British Council, Caja Rural de Soria, and Valeo were the three companies recognized for implementing a comprehensive strategy to manage diversity within their teams.
The Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, together with Fundación Diversidad, presented the First Awards for Corporate Diversity Management on July 24.
Three companies were recognized for their good practices in diversity management: British Council in the International category, Valeo in the large-company category, and Caja Rural de Soria as an SME.
Ms. Rosa Urbón Izquierdo, Director of the Institute for Women and Equal Opportunities at the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, together with Ms. María Eugenia Girón Dávila, President of Fundación Diversidad, opened the event. The former emphasized that equality has become a fundamental priority for the Government of Spain, which is allocating a significant budget to it. Ms. María Eugenia Girón highlighted the importance of sound diversity management so that companies and society can achieve their goals.
The keynote address was delivered by Ms. Celia de Anca, Director of the Diversity Center at IE University and Director of the Saudi Spanish Center for Islamic Economics and Finance (Scief) at IE Business School, who spoke about the need to foster unity within organizations, since diversity without unity is not feasible. She also pointed out that people can be different only when they are equals.
Before accepting their awards, the recognized companies wished to share their practical experiences in corporate diversity management.
In the words of Ms. Pilar Elegido, Director Human Resources Spain at British Council: We create opportunities for collaboration between people from the United Kingdom and people from the countries in which we operate. For us, diversity is not an independent area or a department; it is something that permeates the entire company.
For his part, Mr. Enrique Domínguez, Human Resources Director at Caja Rural de Soria, emphasized the bank's commitment to work-life balance and equality for its employees. In addition to complying with applicable requirements, although it is not legally obligated to do so, it complies with the Equality Act and the General Disability Act through the direct hiring of people with disabilities.
Lastly, Ms. Teresa Frontán, representative of the European Commission in Spain, presented the guidelines that the European Commission will follow on diversity. She explained that the Commission will create a guide to be published at the end of 2016, but that a process would be launched in September so that everyone could give their opinion on how to measure or assess those guidelines.
The event was closed by Ms. Mar Aguilera, trustee and secretary of the board of Fundación Diversidad, and Mr. Ignacio Sola, Deputy Director General for Equal Treatment and Non-Discrimination, Institute for Women and Equal Opportunities, State Secretariat for Social Services and Equality, Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality.
