Swiss engineering and technology firm ABB on Wednesday launched a new diversity and inclusion strategy to double the proportion of female managers worldwide over the next ten years. With its 'Global Diversity & Inclusion Strategy 2030', ABB aims at reaching a 25 per cent share of women in senior management positions from currently 12.5 per cent, a company statement said.
"The target forms part of ABB's broader ambition to foster inclusion and equality across all areas of diversity, including gender, abilities, generations, ethnicity, and LGBTQ+," the statement added. It will be offering employees inclusive leadership training and development programmes, mentoring programmes and learning interventions to foster an inclusive culture.
"Building and fostering a culture of diversity and inclusion is a key priority for ABB and represents a foundation for innovation and better decision making," ABB CEO Bjorn Rosengren said. Recently, ABB was among more than 50 leading European companies in the industrial and technology sectors to reaffirm a pan-European commitment to diversity and inclusion in the context of the initiative #EmbraceDifference, the company said.
Spearheaded by the European Round Table for Industry (ERT), of which CEO Rosengren is a member, the effort is designed to create an environment suitable to promote inclusion and diversity in the workplace. ABB has signed the Standards of Conduct for Business, Tackling Discrimination against Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex People, put forth by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, the statement said.
The Standards of Conduct provides five concrete steps that companies can take to align their policies and practices with international standards on human rights of LGBTI people, it added. The technology firm expects these standards to be followed by its suppliers to generate a real impact in the more than 100 countries it operates in.
Further, it has signed a partnership with Europe's largest LGBT rights organisation Stonewall to help develop a roadmap on LGBTQ+ for employees, it added.
