Red Eléctrica Group is one of 18 Spanish companies to feature in the 2021 edition of the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index. This year, the GEI includes 380 companies from 44 different countries and 11 different sectors with a market capitalisation of at least $1 billion. 

This world-renowned index distinguishes companies that demonstrate a firm commitment to gender equality and that openly publish information related to these matters. The survey used by Bloomberg to assess companies analyses a total of 59 indicators encompassing five dimensions: female leadership and talent, salary equality, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies and pro-women brands.

The inclusion of Red Eléctrica is the result of its obtaining a score above the established global threshold that reflects high levels of dissemination and effort in these areas. 

In this regard, the company’s global score, referring to that which results from measuring these five dimensions as a whole, is above the average score of the 380 companies included in the index and above the average of the 35 companies that offer public services (such as gas, electricity, etc.). The company also exceeds the average in terms of performance and transparency. By area, Red Eléctrica stands out for its equal salary policy: its score is 27.3 points above the average and 11.4 points above public service companies.

The promotion of gender equality is a cornerstone of Red Eléctrica. With 50% of its board of directors comprised of women, the Group has also set itself the target of achieving parity in its management team by 2030 –currently women make up 32% of management positions-. At the same time, the active monitoring of salary equality between men and women has enabled it to close the gap in gross salaries by a percentage point over the last year, shrinking from 10.94% to 9.84%.

For 2022, the Group has an Integral Diversity Plan for promoting women’s access to positions of responsibility, equal salaries between men and women, parental co-responsibility, the prevention of moral and sexual harassment and for reasons of sex and the prevention of domestic violence. 
“The fact we’ve been included in this index indicates that we are on the right track and it encourages us to stay committed to gender equality and inclusion”, states Antonio Calvo, Sustainability Manager at Red Eléctrica, who adds: “Diversity and gender parity is a business necessity. There is no longer any doubt that companies like ours that include gender issues lead to a more conducive working environment which, in turn, increases out productivity, fosters collaboration within our workforce, stimulates innovation and improves our business performance”.

In the light of the growing demand for information on environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues at companies that are trading on the stock Exchange, the GEI provides investors and managers with information that enables them to assess the performance of companies in terms of gender equality. 

“The companies included in the 2021 GEI are broadening the universe of ESG data to include those related to gender, which is what investors are demanding today”, states Peter T. Grauer, President of Bloomberg, adding: "Their commitment to dissemination is driving market transparency forward". And there’s more: by publicising their efforts to achieve gender equality in the workplace and in the communities in which they operate, they raise the bar of what should be expected of other companies in the same sector.

The Bloomberg Gender Equality Index assesses the efforts made by companies to attract, retain and boost the development of women in management positions; the steps they take to eliminate the salary gap and the policies, benefits and programmes they start up to contribute to an inclusive work environment, where male and female employees have the same opportunities.

Similarly, it rates the level of development of policies against sexual harassment and the procedures provided to deal with reports of harassment when they arise; the support it gives to women in the territories in which it operates and even the perception that its stakeholders have of the company.

Red Eléctrica promotes women’s empowerment

As part of the actions that Red Eléctrica Group is taking to promote gender equality, the company has just joined Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEP) promoted by UN Women and the United Nations’ Global Pact. This entails a commitment to a series of measures to empower women within the Group’s companies, in the labour market and in the communities in which it is present. 

In this regard, and in keeping with these principles, the company will be promoting female leadership at the highest level; it will favour fair and non-discriminatory treatment of men and women; health care, well-being and safety throughout its workforce and the training of women to encourage their professional development. It also takes on the responsibility of promoting equality outside of the company, that is, in its environment and community, among its commercial partners and supply chain, and in its communication and advertising campaigns, eliminating damaging gender stereotypes. Lastly, it accepts the commitment to collect disaggregated data by sex in its sustainability reports in order to communicate the progress it is making internally and externally in favour of gender equality.

This membership adds to other initiatives such as Más mujeres, mejores empresas (More Women, Better Companies) –to foster a balanced participation between men and women in management boards-, the Promociona (Promote) programme –that promotes training and professional development for the access of women to management positions-, and the Red de empresas por una sociedad libre de violencia de género (Network of companies for a society free of domestic violence). In turn, the company is constantly participating in awareness and training forums dealing with equality and diversity, against domestic violence, women and engineering and to drive the incorporation of women into STEM careers. In this way, Red Eléctrica Group continues to contribute to the achievement of SDG 5 on Gender Equality in the United Nations 2030 Agenda.