Diversity and labor inclusion in Spanish companies

Our commitment to diversity is not only on March 8 but every day of the year.

Today is the perfect day to bring you back the podcast for Future For Work by Álvaro Cárcel, partner of Saltor Talent, about diversity and inclusion practices in companies, the main challenges faced by companies and some success factors that can be applied to promote this type of strategy. We also analyze how Spanish companies are progressing in these areas and review the many benefits that a more diverse and inclusive work environment can bring.

What do the terms “diversity” and “inclusion” mean? How do they affect companies in different markets? And why do many people with diverse profiles find it difficult to penetrate the Spanish market?

Although these are concepts that have been talked about for some time, in recent years diversity and inclusion in the world of work have gained relevance. However, some organizations still struggle to address these challenges and many people still find them confusing terms. Diversity is not limited to gender issues, but covers many more areas: cultural, ethnic, religious, physical and mental disabilities… These two key concepts go hand in hand, and are integrated by different types of companies in their human resources strategies, because a multinational that operates in several countries and has a very wide audience is not the same as a small family business that works in the national market and has very specific products.

Several questions related to diversity arise. Do companies apply these strategies because they truly believe in the value of diversity or do they do it out of obligation? How do companies evolve in this regard? Where is Spain compared to other countries? These are some of the questions we explorein this podcast.  Weare making good progress in some aspects, such as gender diversity, which has clearly been the focus of many Spanish legislations. In other areas, however, we still have a long way to go, such as age diversity.

It also analyzes the problems involved in having a little diverse steering committee – for example, formed exclusively or almost entirely by white, middle-aged, married and childish men, etc. – and some of the diversification strategies applied by companies, and we will complement it with a real case of the multinational Nike.

Another question is how remote work has changed the work landscape in terms of diversity. Specifically, if teleworking has favored the formation of more diverse teams.

We also  take the opportunity to comment on Kennedy’s recent report and explore the ten success factors for diversity and inclusion in the workplace identified by this executive search firm. For example, the results are much better when diversity and inclusion strategies are promoted from the general management of the company, in the same way that it is essential to have expert personnel in the field who can take the reins of that initiative. However, we all have biases, and this also affects companies.

That is why it is important that managers receive specific training on diversity. There is  the figure of “ambassadors of diversity” and they play an important role in organizations, there is a specific  process that is followed to find these profiles.

Finally, we return to Spanish companies to see how they are progressing in relation to some of these issues. Unlike other European countries, we have a more open and warm culture, and we should use it to our advantage, because this welcoming character is what can give us a “little push” in the points where we are lagging behind.

In any case, one thing is clear: “Having a wealth of looks brings a differential value.” It must be adapted to the context of each company, but it has been shown that diversity can improve talent recruitment and retention rates, lead to cost reduction, increased productivity and better decisions. In other words: diversity can be a very profitable investment.

Listen to the podcast