FOCUS ON DIVERSITY inclusion commitments as a company , in 2021 AkzoNobell tasked each executive leadership team with driving a specific business unit- or function-level action plan aimed at strengthening gender diversity in their department .
AkzoNobel has also signed a pledge to # EmbraceDifference and has committed to increasing female representation at the senior executive level to 30 % by 2025 .
■ Align values with recruiters . “ Our main partners for recruiting know that we believe in diversity and we do not exclude candidates on the basis of gender ,” concluded Dani . “ This was a challenge at the beginning because we had to break many stereotypes to create the welcoming environment we wanted to have at our site . Now it ’ s our normal . We ’ ve moved on to promoting female operators into supervisor positions . It takes time , but gender diversity is now part of our DNA at Vilafranca .”
Hiring targets at AkzoNobel overall include reaching a 50 / 50 % gender balance in new hires for middle management and executive levels .
Other AkzoNobel initiatives include the fourteen Brazilian women who recently made up the first graduating class of the “ Mulheres na Cor ” ( Women in Colour ) vocational course who are now empowered to switch careers , embrace new opportunities , provide for their families and rebuild their lives . The programme has made it possible for women facing a difficult labour market to find a path to work .
“ After completing a rigorous ( and fun ) 300 hours of theory and practice in automotive preparation , refinish , polishing , colorimetry and tools , all participants are now fully qualified for work in vehicle refinishing ,” said the company .
Putting people first
One of the top challenges for manufacturers over the past several years has been finding and retaining talent . The retiring baby boomer generation is only adding to this burden . Some 3.5 million manufacturing jobs are expected to be needed over the next decade , and two million of these jobs are estimated to go unfilled due to the skills gap . The talent gap is not only hampering manufacturers ’ digital transformation agendas but is also losing them competitive advantage .
With this in mind , it becomes even more important to dive into the sea of talent traditionally under-represented in manufacturing ( such as women , minorities and other groups ). Diversifying teams does more than just solve a shortage of workers ; it also makes good business sense .
New digital technologies , such as Artificial Intelligence ( AI ), the Internet of Things ( IoT ), robots and cobots , augmented and virtual reality , are transforming the world of
Make UK is encouraging more women into manufacturing .
Make UK apprenticeship initiatives .
production . They are enabling more efficient processes and generating added value , not just for industry but for local communities and the environment . We are also moving towards a green revolution , as the transition to a more sustainable economy takes pace and manufacturing finds itself optimising efforts to become more energy-efficient and sustainable .
“ This transformation will need more highskilled employees that can respond to these opportunities and challenges . If businesses are to capitalise on these opportunities , they must put people at the top of their agenda – all people . This means creating a truly diverse and inclusive workplace ,” said Make UK ( the UK manufacturer organisation ) in its report , ‘ Manufacturing Our Recovery Through Inclusion ’. The report makes it very clear that there is ‘ a very long way to go to achieve this goal with major longstanding challenges facing the sector in terms of age , ethnicity and gender balance ’.
The report also highlighted that , on average , under a third of the manufacturing workforce ( 29 %) is made up of women while 18 % of the workforce are from ethnic minorities . Greater occupation segregation is apparent with women comprising just 8 % of professional roles such as chartered engineers , whilst ethnic minority groups make up on average just 5 % of Board roles .
“ To ensure that the right strategies and policies are in place , manufacturers need to embed equality , diversity & inclusion ( ED & I ) across all business units . Fortunately , more and more manufacturing business leaders realise that they need to include the people element into their business strategies . Over a third ( 36 %) of manufacturers have said they already have an ED & I strategy within their business and a further third ( 31 %) are in the process of introducing strategies . Manufacturers agree that giving equal rights and opportunities to all people is simply the right thing to do ,” it explained . ■
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