Company of the Year: Equal Opportunities 2012 - Results

COMPANY OF THE YEAR: EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES has been awarded by the Gender Studies NGO since 2004. The goal of the competition is to motivate companies to view equal opportunities as an important principle of corporate development and employee growth and to apply it in their HR policies. Gender Studies offers experience and specialized consultancy in this area.

The results of the awards competition were announced at a Gender Studies conference "Balancing Work and Care: NEW PERSPECTIVES," held on October 18, 2012 at the premises of the last year's winner Česká spořitelna, a.s., in Rytířská Street in Prague.

1. place: T-mobile Czech Republic, a.s.

2. place: GE Money Bank, a.s.

3. place: Průmstav, a.s.

Small and Mid-Size Companies: mamacoffee, s.r.o.

Special Award by Gender Studies and PROUD for LGBT-friendly company policies: GE Money Bank, a.s.

COMPETITION RULES:

The application form covers several areas of gender equality – equal remuneration, work-life balance, the position of women and men in the company and marketing. If a company has competed for the award in the past, it is expected to demonstrate progress since its last participation. Winners may not compete in the year following the year in which they received the award.

All applications go through a two-tier point-based evaluation process. In the first round, Gender Studies experts assess the applications and recommend companies for the second round, in which a panel of five independent experts determine the winners.

JURY:

This year, the panel included these experts:

Hana Maříková - sociologist, Institute of Sociology, Czech Academy of Sciences

Ilona Švihlíková - economist, Chair of Department of Political and Social Sciences, College of International and Public Relations Prague

Tomáš Jindříšek - marketing expert, Dark Side agency

Michael Tauš – Social Dialogue Coordinator, Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions

Magdalena Klimovičová – Director (at the time when the jury decided about the winners), Gender Studies NGO

JURY’S REASONING:

T-mobile Czech Republic, a.s. 1.place

T-mobile adopts a complex approach to equal opportunities and since its last participation in the contest, the number of women in management positions has grown. T-mobile has also improved its flexible work arrangements measures with the help of a complex system of maternity and parental leave management. Finally, T-Mobile promotes equal opportunities in a conceptual and strategic manner.

GE Money Bank, a.s. 2.place

The jury appreciated the company's long term CSR commitments to new and established businesswomen. In GE Money Bank, women also represent a large proportion of the employees across all levels, including high management. Finally, the Bank provides its male employees with a benefit of a five-day paid father leave after the birth of their child and recently, it has also introduced a diversity program "GE Diversely".

Průmstav, a.s. 3.place

Considering that Průmstav is a construction company, which is an industry where gender equality is particularly difficult to reach, the jury valued the company's successful start in the area of gender equality and its conceptual and systematic approach. Every year, Průmstav, a.s. introduces and promotes new aspects of gender equality. For example, after conducting an internal survey, the company implemented a special scheme for employees on maternity and parental leave.

mamacoffee, s.r.o. (Category of Small and Mid-Size Companies):

The jury was impressed that a company as small as mamacoffee had undertaken a gender audit in order to improve its systems and policies. mamacoffee also runs several CSR programs and strives to be a role model in this area. The company also takes care to promote diversity in hiring policies and the gender composition of the staff is well-balanced. As they stated in their award application: "We understand women are often discriminated against as potential mothers – so we strive to be extra-friendly (towards them)."

GE Money Bank, a.s. Special Award by Gender Studies and PROUD for LGBT- friendly company policies:

PROUD and Gender Studies appreciate the well thought-out system of internal rules and policies, which explicitely prohibit discrimination and address potential bullying and harrassment on the basis of sexual orientation. The awarded company also seems to show more respect than usual toward same-sex couples in registered partnership and views them as if they were married despite the legal differences of these unions. We recommend GE Money Bank to be even more proactive in supporting its LGBT staff (by establishing an informal LGBT community in the company, for example) and to promote its image as an LGBT-friendly company openly and publicly (ie. by sponsoring LGBT events).