Category: Interviews

Latin America is a melting point for ancestries, ethnicities and races, making it one of the most diverse regions in the world. It is also a region where minorities face significant barriers to employment. For example, recent studies show that around 90% of board seats are occupied by men. If women are not represented on boards of those huge companies that are listed, it’s hard to claim a true commitment to diversity.

ADP’s executive team in Latin America has a 40% women representation. This is well above the market average in the region. ADP was recently recognized by Great Place to Work (GPTW) as a top employer for women in Chile and Peru.

We were able to reach to this point because of the tone at the top. ADP has taken several affirmative actions to make sure diversity and inclusion is part of our DNA. In ADP, diversity and inclusion is not an HR only issue. The leadership team strongly supports D&I actions.

ADP has a global diversity and inclusion office, with dedicated associates. The D&I office works closely with HR and leaders of business units. The leadership is highly engaged and involved in diversity and inclusion globally. In Latin America, each senior leader sponsors a Business Resource Group (BRG). Since I joined ADP, I have sponsored iWIN’s activities in Latin America.

ADP’s iWIN

iWIN (International Women’s Inclusive Network) is ADP’s BRG with a focus on gender equality. iWIN currently has around 7,000 members across 16 countries around the globe. That is a big chunk of ADP’s 60,000 employees.

iWIN’s activities are conducted by a global board comprised of 25 ADP associates and by local chapters distributed in different regions and countries. iWIN organises events to create awareness, education and training – on unconscious bias, for instance. Our main goal is to make ADP a more diverse and inclusive place, not only in the workplace, but we also think about how we can impact the business and the communities close to us.

Doing the right thing

At ADP, the legal team plays an important role in terms of providing the business a perspective on what is the right thing to do. One of ADP’s main value is ‘integrity is everything’. Integrity is about doing the right thing all the time. In this sense, diversity and inclusion is the right thing to do.

When the legal team organizes the compliance week and trainings in Latin America, we educate our associates on anti-bribery and other relevant compliance aspects, but we also take the opportunity to discuss conduct, respect and inclusion. We create opportunities to discuss with associates about being inclusive and respectful with their colleagues at work, with family members, and when using social media.

Keeping an open eye

Corporate legal departments play an important role in promoting diversity and inclusion in the legal market in Latin America. We can influence the private practice market as clients and exchange experiences through our network groups.

When diversity and inclusion is part of your agenda, you will constantly call attention to inequalities, share practices to improve D&I awareness. It is important that in-house counsel keep an eye on what law firms are doing in terms of diversity and inclusion: if they have their own policies and if they are taking real actions towards their associates.

In Latin America, we have our eyes open to prioritizing discussions about minorities, either on the compliance training, hiring process, or when choosing a service provider.

First, we should make mindful decisions about who we hire and resist the urge to favor people who look like us, went to the same schools as us or grew up in the same towns as us. Then, once you have a diverse legal team, be mindful that everyone’s experiences are different, and just because something has worked well for you, does not mean it will work well for me. Unsolicited commentary about the way one person handled a situation could be received differently than may have been intended so we should be aware of the impact of our words. Allow lawyers to develop their own styles and manage their projects as they see fit as long as the common goal to fulfill a client’s needs is being met.

Part of the benefit of working at a law firm is that a client has access to lawyers who have expertise in different subject matter, and transactions are not handled by only one lawyer or a group of lawyers with the same knowledge. The value a diverse legal team provides for a client is perspective and broad experience, which translates into a client being able to hear different sides to an argument or consider a strategy that had not been presented before. Having different voices in the room, in just the same way that having lawyers from across different practice areas in the same room, ensures that more ideas are being heard, with the ultimate goal to settle on the best one of the bunch.

A few examples include: (1) I think a best practice is that when a matter is being staffed, a senior lawyer should call each person on the team and tell them why he or she would make a good addition to the team. This adds instant loyalty and a sense of purpose for the lawyer. Compare that to an impersonal email alerting a group of lawyers about the new project. (2) At the start of the project, along with reminding everyone about the client’s needs, the most senior person should articulate his or her expectation that everyone on the team will actively contribute to the matter. Then follow-up. If you notice that the same people are the only ones speaking, specifically ask the others to weigh in and frame it so they know you are interested in their ideas. (3) Utilizing 360º feedback is also a simple but effective technique that allows people to feel heard (and of course, implementing changes based on that to the extent appropriate).

Latin America is a diverse region, with over 660 million people of various ethnic groups and ancestries: Amerindians, white, mestizos, African descendants, Europeans, among others. It is essential to all companies and their workforces to continuously reinforce the need for diversity and inclusion in their work environments and, most importantly, in the Latin American boards and senior management positions, which data indicates are more than 90% occupied by men, mostly from a similar ethnic group. Diverse groups have raised their voices to increase awareness and fight for their rights and needs in the last 20 years.

However, with the ‘new’ diverse groups, such as LGBTQIA+ groups, you see very different positions. In larger cities, such as São Paulo (Brazil), Mexico City (Mexico), Buenos Aires (Argentina), Santiago (Chile), Bogotá (Colombia) and Lima (Peru), you have more respect and more protection of such rights. However, if you go less than 100 kilometres into the interior of these countries, that situation changes significantly, and people are much more provincial and less open. While governments have passed laws accepting various rights for these groups that were long awaited (such as same sex marriage), and principal media channels have supported many of those changes, there is still a big divide amongst those in society that live in the large city centres and the populations of more remote interior areas.

Historically, legal professionals were quite reserved about the topic of diversity and inclusion. In the last five years, this has changed very positively. Law firms are openly promoting diversity and a free environment. This change was supported by the new generation of lawyers, who wanted to see those values and principles embraced and actually lived in the work environment, whether in-house or in a law firm. Law firms had to rethink their standards of what they were looking for in a lawyer. Most law firms, now more than ever, know the true value of having lawyers and paralegals with different backgrounds, and even different qualifications and experiences, that bring new ideas to the legal solutions and advice provided to their clients.

Bringing diversity to life

At my workplace, I can proudly say we promote diversity through many different actions. One, most importantly, is to respect diverse people and their rights. Another is to talk about it openly and have training sessions to raise awareness and consciousness of how important it is for any company to bring diverse teams to work together collaboratively, respecting each other, and promoting innovation. Day-to-day, these actions translate into a very positive work environment, where people learn from each other, bring new experiences and ideas without fear. People have the freedom to succeed and change. I truly believe that promoting diversity is a tool to reach greater performance in terms of solutions and products, and ultimately makes people happier.
We have many internal programs supporting diversity and inclusion, such as having more women in management positions at all levels. We believe we are at the beginning of a journey, but we are, every day, bringing that to life.

Removing the filter

Five years ago, we first recognized that we needed to do more in terms of having a diverse legal team in Latin America. We were pretty much all from the same background, very
similar in terms of life choices and, although we were, at the time, divided equally between men and women.

As a team, we thought: what could we do better to be more diverse, and to support diversity and inclusion? First, we had a training session with one of the internal ambassadors, and he opened our eyes to simple actions that we could do as part of our daily routine, and when recruiting people, which would have great impact in promoting this value.
We can proudly say we are a much more diverse and united team. We have embedded diversity in our actions within our team and beyond, when selecting our external advisers and new people for our team, for example.

We look at each other as professionals who work hard together to deliver visual health products and services, focused on our mission. And we don’t judge.

Influencing others

I believe that, as lawyers, we have a huge role to play in diversity and inclusion, because we interact with multiple teams, partners, customers, external advisers and their respective communities. We are their trusted advisers; we are responsible for ‘opening their eyes’ to this important value. We also interact with government authorities and organizations. If we understand the influence we exercise during those interactions and use those to support diversity and inclusion in the respective workforces, together with our other colleagues (such as the leaders of organizations and HR, to name a few), we can be a motor for change in Latin America and other regions.

Many people are still blind about the benefits of such change and know nothing about the consequences of not respecting such values. We have historically embraced cultural and ethnic diversity, we are people moved with different and unique passions for life, which makes us who we are as Latin Americans. Why not take our diversity values to another level?

The result will surely be having a happier and more inclusive work environment, where people enjoy their work and learn from each other, putting aside any pre-conceived ideas or prejudice that can prevent us from performing well collaboratively.

As of 1st April Ana has been appointed GC for Asia Pacific and India.

GC: Alejandra, how would you describe what diversity and inclusion mean to you? Why are they important for the corporate landscape?

Alejandra Bogantes (AB): In an organization, they are very important, because we need to make people feel comfortable.

If you accept them and let them be who they are, you are going to have employees that want to work with you. If you defend them and respect them, they are going to respect the company, and try to accomplish our goals and our vision and mission.

GC: How would you characterize the diversity and inclusion culture at Walmart?

Bob López (BL): To give you the background on this approach, we have core values for the company. One of these core values is respect for the individual in regard to differences – differences in mindset, background, education and so on.

But we also have an ‘Associate Value Proposition’ (AVP), which has five different pillars. The first one is purpose, the second is challenge, the third one is opportunity, the next is enjoyment, and the last (but not least!) is inclusion. For us, it’s really important to be an inclusive company, and that’s why we made the decision to include this pillar as part of the AVP, both internally and externally.

At this point, we’re focusing our efforts on four different approaches for the company: gender equity; people with disabilities; the LGBTQIA+ community; and the non-discrimination pillar, which is the newest one, and is working towards eliminating those barriers when it comes to talking about race, for instance.

For the company, it’s really important, and it’s part of the business strategy. We have goals to reach, we have KPIs for the company, so we are putting together all of these different thoughts within the company.

We also have a diversity, equity and inclusion council. This is a group of business leaders that are working towards an inclusive workplace for everyone within Walmart. This is not like the typical HR team working for inclusion, it’s more about the business leaders working for inclusion for the company, and they are bringing their expertise, they are bringing their ideas, and they are the ones that are writing this change. They know the business very well, they know very well the pain points that we may have in the stores, in the distribution centres, or in the home offices, and they are putting in place an action plan towards a more inclusive environment in Walmart.

In addition, one of the key actions that we have implemented since last year is to partner with external organizations outside Walmart, so we can bring their expertise within the company, and make better decisions for our associates in every pillar.

GC: It’s interesting that you mention KPIs, because it’s that sense of ‘what gets measured gets done’. How do the KPIs work; what does that look like day-to-day?

BL: We have different KPIs in regard to gender equity, and with regard to talent with disabilities. We have a work engagement survey, and last year we included a voluntary self-ID for the LGBTQIA+ community and for people with disabilities. That way, they could give us their responses and we could assess how they feel working for Walmart and with that information we have created different action plans to improve the work environment for these groups. This is also the first year that Walmart México and Central America has included a self-ID for race, because we wanted to know if we had racial diversity within the company, and how we can leverage people’s working experience within Walmart.

GC: How is the legal team supporting the company in its diversity and inclusion efforts? How does the team fit into that structure?

AB: As a legal department, we are an example and a role model for the company. We have to always act correctly – and not only look like we are acting correctly. We have to make sure the company complies with its policies and complies with the law. We help HR and the committees when they have any kind of question. We support area staff operations too, to make sure that they can explain what we are doing – we know that there are a lot of people that have prejudice and we try to make people understand. For example, we sometimes have cases where customers don’t want to go to a certain cashier because he has long hair, or tattoos, and we as a legal department have to tell them, “well, he has the right to look how he wants – we don’t have policies about how you look at work”. We have to support our employees and make them feel safe and protected by us, and we as a legal department promote a lot of efforts to make people feel comfortable.

In our legal department, we have a lot of people of different ages, some of them have kids, some of them are single parents, some of them have different sexual orientations, and we try to make the team feel completely united. We are very close, and we try to let people know that one of our values is that we are a diverse group, and we have different ideas. For example, the younger ones sometimes promote ideas about tech systems that can work for us to make things simple, and you know that people, when we are older, we sometimes don’t understand how things are going to work. So, I think that we make a really good balance.

We follow the company’s policies, and in case someone doesn’t feel respected or supported, the company has an ethics department, where people can file a complaint and they will investigate to make sure that the legal department, like everyone in the company, is compliant with the policies, and with our ethics code of conduct.

We have an open-door policy, so that everybody can go to their boss, or the boss of their boss, or the CEO of the company, to explain their concerns, and they have to listen to them. They don’t have to be afraid of retaliation, because they are allowed to express what is concerning them.

GC: Do you think that in-house legal teams have an important role to play in driving D&I? How do you think in-house legal teams can contribute to that conversation?

AB: As a legal department, people are looking to us. If the legal department is doing something incorrect or is not promoting diversity and inclusion, people are going to think that they can act in the same way. The risk is that if the legal department is not compliant with company policies, people are going to consider that that is ok, because we establish what is good or not, or what is correct in accordance with the law.

Also, the legal department has a section in our engagement letter to external lawyers where we request them to promote diversity and inclusion in their firms. For us, it’s very important that our external lawyers share our values; that they try to make a difference in society.

I think that Walmart is really working to make a difference in terms of diversity and inclusion. We are a big employer in Mexico and Central America, and the company is really trying to invest in helping people to understand what diversity and inclusion is. If our employees understand, they are going to start making a change in society, they are going to make that change with our clients, and we are, I think, contributing a little bit to making a difference.

BL: Being one of the largest companies within the region, we truly believe we can make an impact because of the cascading effect that we may have across society.

I’m going to try to say this as simply as possible: we have more women in the world, and women live longer. We have a group of people living longer without the financial resources to live well. If you consider that women don’t have a way to pursue a profession or financial independence, that economic model is not sustainable.

Of course, I could go to the UN and bring the numbers – ‘We can bring three trillion dollars into the economy if we achieve gender equity.’ But you should think of this in simpler terms: if you want to have people purchasing, living and having financial independence, you need to have everyone in the work environment.

The same arguments apply to people with disabilities, transgender people, LGBTQIA+ people and racially diverse people. We need to have everybody working; we need to have everybody pursuing financial independence. That’s the only way we can have everybody an the same table; everybody with the same resources for housing, health and education. If you take these people out, you’re going to have a huge gap in the future. We need to make it feasible for everybody to be able to work.

Access to education

Today, we have a lot of women in Latin America who are able to get into university to reach the legal profession. However, when you climb the pyramid to pursue higher positions, there is still a gap.

We still have a lot of red and yellow flags regarding children and girls. We have menstrual poverty, we have a lack of education. I think we are doing a good job with established women: we have young lawyers, we have a lot of mentorship, we have done a lot to address the women that are already in the workforce – those who have graduated from law school, graduated from engineering school, for example – and we are organizing a lot to help these women to grow.

But I feel there is a gap in terms of how we are helping all children, all girls, to achieve this step, and to really achieve a high-quality education. In Latin America, you have a lot of women who are able to go to school in the large urban areas. But if you move to the countryside, to the farms, to the less developed cities – oh my god! The girls share their time between housework, family work and also school. They don’t have access to proper places to clean themselves, proper places to study. I think it’s something we need to really think about. We are doing a good job with the women who are able to achieve education but what are we doing for the kids who do not have the same access to education?

Creating the conditions

Rock Content is a Saas Company in digital marketing, and we have this fun start-up environment. There are a lot of young people, and I have to say they have a different view about diversity and inclusion – they see that it is natural.

We have a leader for diversity and inclusion, and we are starting to have a lot of conversations and policies to raise awareness for the company about every aspect of diversity.
We have a lot of allies, to help diverse representatives. One of our goals at this moment is to bring in more people with disabilities.

We have also been thinking a lot about education. We have two main initiatives. One is led by the social impact area of the company, and we give scholarships. The other is that we are about to become a member of ‘Pledge 1%’, an initiative to commit 1% of our equity and employees’ time to educational initiatives.

An incredible journey

Rock Content is a really different environment from much of my career. My click with diversity and inclusion started around 2011 when I first achieved the GC position, and I was the only woman at the table. At that time, I was in the insurance sector, a market where I worked for 12 years, and an environment that, in Brazil, is very masculine and non-diverse.

I said, ‘I don’t want to be the only woman at the table, I don’t want to work in an environment that doesn’t see diversity as part of the strategy.’ So that’s when I started to take some actions and become an advocate for diversity and inclusion. I went to Harvard to attend the Women’s Leadership Forum, and I created a workshop for women in my company. After that, together with two other female GCs in the insurance sector, we created a task force in the Brazilian Insurance Confederation. In 2018, we founded a diversity and inclusion institute for the insurance market in Brazil. So that was the beginning of an incredible journey – we saw a lot of impact from what we started in the market.

Today, if you go to insurance companies in Brazil, all of them have some consideration for, or policy, initiative or target for diversity and inclusion. We see a lot of changes, not only as individual companies, but also as a sector.

Giving opportunities

At Rock Content, I’m a super ally for diversity and inclusion. I’m not only supporting the aspects of it, but also to make it visible, to start to help to drive policies and procedures, to have a diversity and inclusion framework that can also incorporate and embrace the company as a whole. I’ve been working really hard with our leader in diversity and inclusion, and also the head of education and the head of social impact, in order to really make sure that our environment is really inclusive.

One of the initiatives is around people with disabilities, so at this moment we have a lot of lectures and information-sharing regarding that. In September, we had a huge presentation for the whole company to help everyone understand not only the importance of employing people with disabilities, but also how we can embrace this.

We have initiatives like ‘Women Rocks’, ‘Inclusion Matters’. One of the pillars of our business is ‘Rock University’, and we give a lot of lectures, courses and we provide scholarships to low-income families to be able to attend the courses.

Within the legal team, I always pursue people with disabilities, women, and minor representation. I don’t like to say ‘minority’; I like to say ‘minor representation’.

At this moment, I’m hiring, and when they published the vacant position, I asked for somebody with a disability. It’s not only about walking the talk, it’s something that l believe: I need to give opportunity. Our company language is English, it’s our first language globally, even in Brazil. As a legal-compliance department, English is almost crucial. I know that hiring a person within minor representation groups with English knowledge is going to be challenging. But I decided, you know what? Let’s try to find somebody. Even with basic or intermediate English; we are going to develop this individual and provide support to grow as a professional.

A healthy workplace

Motherhood is part of our world, and in every team I have led, I’m always an advocate for parental leave, not only for women but also for men. At Rock Content, it was one of the goals for our CEO and so what we have today is a ‘family’ leave policy. Men and women across the globe have the same amount of leave, so we’re not talking about different policies for men and women. We are talking about four full months for everyone who becomes a mother or father. That’s why we call it family leave. And we give flexible hours too.

Among the other policies that we have established, especially in the current remote-working environment, is ensuring that work breaks will be respected. Lunch hours need to be respected too. No emails at night. These initiatives are crucial for a healthy environment.

In law, our foundational base is human rights – as lawyers, we are trained to observe human rights, and with diversity and inclusion, we are talking about fundamental human rights. It’s the right to have access to employment, to healthcare, education, to have a house. So as lawyers who work in enterprises, we make sure that we are complying with human rights, with labor laws, and make sure that we have equity. As lawyers we really have the tools to make this happen – to create healthy workplaces.

Since speaking to GC, Ana Paula de Almeida Santos has left Rock Content to become general counsel, head of legal and compliance at Argo Insurance in Brazil.

I think we are starting to see some first steps towards real change in terms of greater diversity and inclusion. But there is still a long way to go. Most of these discussions (maybe with the exception of that around gender diversity, which is a conversation that has been going on for a while, with limited progress – the glass ceiling is still very real) are fairly new in the region. So, even though there is some progress, it is still incipient. And it would also be naive to say that there is not some good amount of performative discussions taking place.

However, we have seen a lot of companies and many startups in the region making deliberate efforts to promote diversity. They have launched honest (and, in many cases, successful) initiatives aimed at recruiting diverse teams and fostering inclusive cultures. And that is wonderful. My sense is it is probably easier (and more critical) for younger companies to take diversity seriously from the start. Younger people are typically more aware and vocal about these questions. Also, investors (who are obviously critical pieces in the startup ecosystem) are increasingly concerned about this. So, this is likely to foster more inclusive environments, as everyone’s incentives are aligned.

Tech (and finance) has traditionally been a male-dominated arena and there are structural reasons that make change slow and difficult. In tech, the problem starts at an early age, given prevailing stereotypes (e.g., “boys are better at science than girls”). For instance, the toy offer for girls traditionally has been focused towards nurturing roles, whereas for boys it has typically emphasized Stem abilities and physical activity. What follows is less girls engaging in Stem subjects (especially at an advanced level) and then going into tech-intensive careers. As a consequence, there are few role-models for women within the sector. So, there is a vicious cycle, because there are just less women engineers/developers in the market, which means you have to make a conscious effort to look for these women when recruiting for these roles (which, in our case, is all the time). And then, there are also unconscious biases that we are trying to fight (and to prove incorrect). For instance, though merely anecdotal, we have seen that our women developers and data scientists are more likely to hire other women – who then turn out to perform just as well, if not better, than their male peers.

I am fortunate to be part of a company where we take diversity seriously – and where we are very much aware of the many challenges ahead of us. Our leadership team is very diverse along a lot of dimensions, especially for Latin American standards. And this is not a coincidence.

In terms of specific measures we have taken at Addi, for instance, we have adopted a parental leave that is more generous than what is legally required and that does not discriminate on the basis of gender or gender identity – or on the basis of how a person becomes a parent. What this means is that our parental leave is fundamentally the same for all of the company’s colleagues – and it is mandatory for everyone. So, everyone gets to enjoy the same benefit – and fear the same fear when leaving their job for months. We also make a conscious effort to make sure we have fair compensation bands, so that people get paid on the basis of their role, qualifications, performance, etc., not on their negotiating abilities. As far as the legal team is concerned, I am proud to say that it is fundamentally female and that it works fine. Of course, this is not a policy – I have extended offers to male colleagues. But it does warm my heart to see this as a wonderful experiment of professional sisterhood and women partnering with other women.

Unfortunately (?), there is not a rulebook to follow. However, I can think of the following ideas (which are not necessarily focused in legal):

• Find mentors and advocates and cultivate those relationships (and then be a mentor and advocate for others);
• Build networks (e.g., affinity groups) with your peers and rely on them. Welcome newcomers into these groups and be open to help people coming in – after one month you already know more than someone who is just coming in;
• Try to release yourself from the pressure of having to represent all of your minority group. Do the best you can, and do it for you;
• Find places that actually value integrity, transparency and where you can have direct, open and honest conversations – in reality, not on paper.

Inclusion and diversity are gaining space in the corporate world. But the journey is long and requires not only speed, but resilience and intentionality. In Latin America, it is important to consider that the reality in Brazil is different than Mexico, Chile, Argentina… and even within the same country, it’s not the same. This plurality must be recognized and respected.

Inclusion and diversity, or ‘I&D’ as we call it at GE, is a business imperative. It is no different than other strategic pillars and embedded in ‘how’ we do business. People feeling valued and respected perform better, and this makes it fundamental for corporations. Diversity creates value for our customers, shareholders, and employees, and, at GE, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture where everyone feels empowered to do their best work because they feel accepted, respected and that they belong.

My role as diversity and inclusion leader has been quite a journey, on which I embarked by putting into practice advice that many of us receive but not always listen to: to accept challenges even if we don’t think we are ready.

I’d been involved with the Women’s Network (WN), one of the employee resource groups (ERGs) we have at GE, for many years. I started my career with GE as an intern and being part of the WN not only allowed me to learn from experienced leaders, but also showed the power of these groups in creating a trusted network of people that help us grow professionally and personally. But when Rafael Palombini, GE Healthcare’s LATAM CEO, invited me to represent GEHC globally as Latin America’s I&D leader back in August 2020, it would be a much bigger responsibility. Although I’ve always been passionate about I&D, I was (and still am) no expert. After a candid conversation with him, where I was encouraged to focus on my willingness to learn as opposed to my limitations, I said yes.

This is a voluntary role on top of my responsibilities as general counsel. It is challenging to find the time, but all the learning, the people that I have met in connection with the I&D routine that I would otherwise not have met, the projects we are delivering and the impact – actual and potential – that the work of this team has, makes it more than worth it!

Together with the company’s senior leadership in LATAM, my role is to ensure that our inclusion and diversity strategy is embedded throughout our business, and to be the spokesperson for GE Healthcare Latin America with respect to I&D with GE Healthcare globally and regionally across the various GE businesses.

2021 has been an intense and rewarding year for I&D. All the GE businesses got together and, with the support of our employee resource groups, a strong I&D plan was developed, focusing on education and awareness, strengthening the leadership commitment and our culture of belonging.

To further the leadership commitment, an inclusion and diversity workshop was tailored to the reality of all GE people leaders in Latin America with the support of a consulting company. Almost 700 people leaders across the company participated in a three-hour interactive session that promoted reflection on empathy, unconscious biases, and how they are linked with GE’s Leadership Behaviors (act with humility, lead with transparency, and deliver with focus). We are pleased with the results, with an 80%+ approval rating from the participants.

In the talent pillar, leaders are encouraged to think of inclusive job descriptions – for example, is fluent English really a requirement? Why limit applications to people graduated from universities A or B?

One last example of our actions this year is the first GE census in Brazil. A self-declaratory anonymous survey was conducted to understand the diversity of the GE team regarding race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation, disabilities, and other characteristics, to help guide the next steps in the company’s journey of inclusion and diversity. The level of engagement made us all really proud. More than 70% of the Brazil team participated in this important activity, carried out thanks to the support of many people but, in particular, the AAF (African American Forum) Brazil, one of our affinity groups.

For the legal profession, on top of everything, I&D is part of our jobs. There is a strong component that intersects with labor and employment, data privacy, compliance. The potential legal impacts of I&D-related matters are relevant, so it is naturally part of the legal professionals’ routine. Here with GE in Latin America, the legal and compliance team goes much further than their ‘legal hats’, actively engaging in various initiatives and being strong allies and advocates for inclusion and diversity.

I&D is really part of our job in the legal team. And, at GE, we are fortunate to have various legal and compliance team members not only engaged in connection with their day-to-day work (the Brazil census, for example, required a lot of support from the legal team as one of our main concerns was to make sure that all data privacy requirements were complied with), but as advocates, volunteers and allies, leading or actively engaged with employee resource groups, I&D initiatives, and promoting a culture of belonging across the whole company.

It is part of the job of any legal or compliance professional to look after the company’s culture and reputation. We need people need to raise their voices when they see something of concern… our job is to ensure that the environment allows for that. I once heard that behavior is driven by conviction, convenience or compliance… so I see that legal and compliance professionals have a lot to add, whether bringing technical legal insights or going beyond, as our team at GE does.

GE believes a commitment to equality, diversity, and inclusion is a key element in achieving the best legal representation by partnering with those who appreciate and include a diversity of perspectives, and who can bring more creative and innovative thinking to GE’s challenges. Outside counsel shall work actively in promoting equality, diversity and inclusion within all levels of their workplace, to make a diligent effort in the recruitment, retention, training and development, career progression and promotion of diverse lawyers and to afford such lawyers an opportunity to work on GE matters.

During the last few years, awareness of diversity and inclusion has gained relevance in the business world, and organizations that promote gender equity and diversity are more positively accepted by society. In Latin America, we have been advancing that line and there is an evident increase in the participation and the commitment of chief executives regarding these topics.
We have made great progress in diversity and inclusion in the region.

We still have much to do – for example, there is a low percentage of organizations led by women, technical areas have a small participation of female talent, and I think what is very evident in the region is a gender-based salary gap.

Colombia has a high percentage of women in leadership positions, and we have space in the corporate world as well as in consultancy and the commercial world. I think Colombian women have gained very important space in business life.

Promoting diversity and encouraging an inclusive leadership style does not only follow social justice principles but it also brings important advantages for businesses, and I think it is viewed in that way in Colombia. It is the principle that guides corporations and opportunities here in the country.

Tone from the top

At Telefónica Colombia, diversity management is a key element of our global strategy. We believe that promoting diversity in our teams and encouraging an inclusive leadership style brings important advantages for the growth of the company and for the wellbeing of the employees. It allows us to attract and retain the best talent, boosts innovation and come closer to a diverse and changing society. That’s why our company is committed to the equity of opportunities and the undiscriminating inclusion of our people. I think that has gained terrain, not only in Telefónica Colombia, but also in the majority of the big organizations in the country, and as organizations act that way, it is an example for society and for the rest of the organizations – it is cultural, to give opportunities and to open the space.

We have a strategy for diversity and inclusion at Telefónica that is divided into five dimensions. One is gender, the other is new generations, the LGBTQIA+ community, disabled people and multicultural interaction.

So for example, in gender equity we have a transparent and unbiased recruitment and selection process; internal and external communications, with memos promoting inclusive language; actions to increase the participation of women in traditionally masculine areas, like the technical areas and, to some extent, the financial area as well; and actions promoting balance between work and personal life.

In the dimension of new generations, we have actions to promote job talent, and we recognize outstanding employees under 35 years of age.

We generate a safe work environment for members of the LGBTQIA+ community, for example by offering extensive benefits, like wedding time, mourning time and parental leave, among others. We have a communications campaign regarding respect and inclusion, and participation in Pride Connection to share and to learn good practices.

We promote the inclusion of people affected by different disabilities as employees and we are trying to attend to the needs of these people as well. We have 32 accessible service centres in the national territory providing specialized attention for people with disabilities, a special attention protocol for people with visual and auditory disabilities, and we have accessible mobile devices.

In the multicultural interaction area, we promote inclusion of people from different ethnic sectors and countries.

Thinking big

As a legal team, we follow the general principles of the organization. As a leader, I actively participate in the local diversity council, and I have had the opportunity to participate in the organization’s female leadership program.

The diversity council is a council in which we establish actions with respect to diversity and inclusion strategy. We establish actions and we follow those actions to meet our objectives with respect to the different dimensions of our diversity and inclusion plan.

In the female leadership program, we empower women. It is a formal program with different speakers, it has a regular space weekly, and there is a graduation ceremony for a selected group of women every year that participate. We share the experience of different women in the organization who have grown and show the women that there is a huge landscape and space, and what they have to do is dare to be part of the recruitment process for different opportunities that we might have, not only locally but regionally. It’s a way to push them to think big, to think that we are capable and there’s no limit.

In the legal area, we consider diversity to be an advantage that boosts our work team. We believe that diversity and differences promote empathy and innovation, generate value in the business and have a positive impact on our resources. At the top of the legal team, we have very good female representation – I’m a woman and I’m the leader of the legal team, but all my direct reports in Colombia are also women. In the region, eight out of eight general counsels are women. So, we are aware of the importance of giving space to women in these positions, of empowering women, and making women visibile in the company, participating in the most important business projects.

Building influence through business partnership

I think lawyers, and everybody, can be potential agents for diversity, and it is the responsibility of everybody to do so.

As lawyers, we have to work hard in order to be close to the business, because we want to be involved at all stages of the business cycle – we want to be business partners, and not just ‘a stage’. That gives us opportunity, visibility, and experience – we gain space, and we gain relevance and importance for the business. Also, lawyers must be open-minded, and not think only about the legal issues, but mix our legal knowledge with business knowledge, which is great for the growth and professional career of the lawyers. We are working to be more flexible, especially in terms of digitalisation tools, because to be one step ahead, you have to have the agility, versatility and the digital knowledge that nowadays is required to be on the cutting-edge.