OEC’s Diversity Actions the highlight in Communication and Corporate Strategies Congress

On August 19th, OEC was at the 25th Mega Brazil Communication Congress. Ludmila Lavigne, Director of Personnel and Planning, spoke on the panel on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion with moderator Marco Ornellas, Márcia Rocha, lawyer and founder of Projeto Transempregos, Wallace Faria, Communication at SAP Brazil, and Carolina Figueiredo, Strategy Director at Philip Morris Brazil.

In a conversation that brought several reflections on the actions of companies to attract, identify, and promote diversity and inclusion of people from minority groups in their businesses, there were also talks about the evolution of companies in the fight against prejudice and discrimination.

By bringing OEC’s experience to the audience, Ludmila explained that the company’s goal is to make people aware that we are part of an evolving world and that the OEC is increasingly committed to promoting a diverse and welcoming work environment, with respect for others, guaranteeing human rights and, ultimately, the company’s own growth – also promoted by diversity. “Diversity, equity and inclusion are business decisions, and there is no room for doubts about their importance for companies’ results anymore” she said.

According to Ludmila, the OEC intends to train more and more women for leadership positions, which is in line with the business’ commitment to plurality and the company’s DNA of constantly evolving and training people.

OEC is part of a historically male sector, however, a growth is seen in female representation in the company, which now has almost 16% women. As a comparison, this rate is well above the heavy construction sector in Brazil, which is only 9%. “Within our industry, we want to act as an agent of transformation and promotion of Diversity and Inclusion,” said Ludmila.

Diversity in Practice

Are you familiar with the OEC’s Diversity and Inclusion initiatives? Check out some actions below:

– Changing the safety signals on construction sites, updating a classic model to a version that better represents the diversity of the company. Now, instead of “Men Working”, the OEC uses “People Working” signs on its construction sites. “We see the action as extremely important for the sense of belonging of female workers, who also count on specific valorization actions such as the Women at the Worksite program,” said Ludmila.

– We prioritize minority and underprivileged groups in the Holidays Internship Program, which had more than 7,000 applicants for 63 positions. For the first time since the beginning of the program the company hired more women (34) than men (29), the majority of which comprises young people from families with incomes of up to 4 minimum wages and the first transgender man identified by self-declaration. The performance of these young people was excellent and recognized by the leaders who hired them.

– To ensure that the evolution will occur, in addition to the change to the hiring policy that should be reflected in other OEC selection processes, the company is structuring a diversity census, which will be carried out periodically, to truly measure the progress achieved and indicate which challenges still need to be overcome;

– A mentoring plan for women will soon be launched to develop, empower and diversify our leadership.

– Still in the diversity field, a Diversity & Inclusion Committee is under development, as well as Affinity Groups, strengthening the message of intolerance to prejudice.

– OEC moves are related to the business strategy. Within the company, it is understood that working with more diverse teams is necessary to promote plurality, but also to generate a more innovative, motivating, productive, and pleasant environment.

– OEC should incorporate a broad representation of the communities where it operates, for that it will seek to be a source of value generation and development.

The Communication, Innovation, and Corporate Strategies Congress, organized annually by Mega Brasil, was held on August 17-19. During the event, other round tables brought up themes such as “Diversity, environmental respect, and reputation: the business saga to humanize capitalism” and “Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, and Data Driven – The world of data has reached communication”.

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Besides the exchange of knowledge, the congress also included tributes to Communication professionals. OEC member Marcelo Gentil won 1st National Place in the Corporate Communication Executive category.