“SMEs for Equality,” recognized by the Spanish Network of the United Nations Global Compact

ESIC carries out various initiatives aimed at promoting Corporate Social Responsibility. Among them is a guide for developing an Equality Plan for SMEs. The School’s “SMEs for Equality Project,” which has just been recognized by the United Nations Global Compact, is a methodology that establishes how to develop an Equality Plan based on an initial diagnosis of the company’s current situation.

Although the law does not require SMEs to have an Equality Plan, they have the opportunity to reflect on and incorporate gender criteria that can help them improve both their competitive position and the social benefit they generate. ESIC’s “SMEs for Equality Project” is a methodology that establishes how to develop an Equality Plan based on an initial diagnosis of the company’s current situation. This methodology combines online and in-person formats, with the methodological development adapted to each company’s specific circumstances. The stages covered by the program are:

• Diagnosis of the equality of opportunities situation. Equality of Opportunities Plan. Training. The project’s ultimate objective is to promote equal opportunities between women and men, enabling SMEs to develop an Equality of Opportunities Plan within their organizations through a process of awareness-raising, training, advice, and support. This process makes it possible to assess the extent to which equal opportunities between men and women have been developed in SMEs by analyzing aspects of human resources management. This facilitates the identification of situations of asymmetry and inequality between female and male employees, followed by the design and definition of measures that may form the Equality Plan. Thus, the plan will become an organized set of measures aimed at guaranteeing equal treatment and opportunities for men and women in the organization and preventing any discrimination based on sex. Using its SMEs for Equality methodology, ESIC has achieved the development of 414 equality plans through the “Generating Change” Program, promoted by the Regional Ministry of Employment, Women and Immigration of the Community of Madrid. These plans include: More than 8,500 equality measures. An average of 20 measures per plan. 341 harassment protocols included as improvement measures. 1,500 people trained in equal opportunities. More than 82,000 visits to the program’s website and more than 18,000 users. Monitoring

One of the platform’s functions is to obtain up-to-date information on the SMEs using this methodology through the reports generated.

These reports range from updating profiles to reviewing companies’ satisfaction questionnaires. • Activity summary. • Implementation summary. • Implementation report by consultants. • Global diagnostic report. • Global Equality Plan. • Web access statistics. • Profiles.

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