NCC becoming increasingly equal
Today is International Women’s Day, and the trend at NCC is toward a more equal company. If the shareholders vote “yes” at the Annual General Meeting, both the Executive Team and the Board of Directors will be completely equal. NCC’s management teams are 40 percent women and 60 percent men, but in total the company is 86 percent men.
In contrast to many other companies, NCC’s situation is the opposite as regards the representation of women: more equal at the top and on management teams, but only 14 percent women in total in the company, and as little as 3 percent among skilled workers.
“It’s important to have a large number of women on our Board of Directors and on the management teams, since they serve as examples and inspiration for other women. We know that equal groups promote better results,” says Christina Lindbäck, SVP Corporate Sustainability at NCC.
Even if the trend at NCC is moving in the right direction, and that NCC is more equal than the rest of the industry, there is still a long way to go from 86 percent men and 14 percent women in the company. The low total number of women is not a challenge just for NCC, but for the entire industry.
“We are faced with the challenge of finding the right competences, which is why attracting all target groups — both women and men — is important. Women are needed in production, and we know that diversity is important for the efficiency of the work group and, ultimately, profitability,” ways Marie Reifeldt, HR Director at NCC.
NCC’s long-term objective is for the company’s employees to reflect society in general. Another objective is more equal work groups, with no gender constituting more than 70 percent. Based on 29 management teams from the Group, business areas, divisions and support functions, there are 19 management teams who meet this goal.
Many initiatives for increased diversity and equality
NCC conducts numerous initiatives for increased equality and diversity at all levels, from management to production. Here are a few examples:
- In 2018, NCC launched a comprehensive initiative based on the Group’s values for the purpose of, for example, expanding employee knowledge and understanding concerning diversity. To date, ten management teams and 400 employees have taken part in various workshops and discussions, and the initiative will be also be conducted in other NCC countries.
- For the past 20 years, NCC has been running the women’s network Stella, which pursues the goal of more women executives. The network has 550 members in Sweden.
- The Strategic Leadership Program at NCC is attracting a larger proportion of women participants. In the next session, which begins in June, 34 percent of the participants will be women.
- The proportion of women in the trainee programs NCC offers is larger as well. In the NCC Master Trainee program, 40 percent are women, and in the NCC Candidate Trainee program, 50 percent are women.
- To get more young women interested in the construction industry, NCC has involved itself in “Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day” (IGE Day), where visitors are brought to NCC work sites to understand what working as an engineer is like.
- NCC has also recently introduced a three-year partnership with Fryshuset in Stockholm that will lead to inclusive construction sites, encourage young people to purse educational opportunities and promote integration in society.
- NCC is part of Dansk Byggeris Kvinderåd, a forum established to bring more women into the industry. The result of this partnership is an inspiration catalogue that contains proposals for how the construction industry can attract women.
- NCC in Denmark has conducted employee interviews to identify barriers preventing women from working in the construction industry. The initiative also has a broader perspective, looking at diversity from several aspects.
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NCC has a Diversity Committee tasked with advancing the company's diversity efforts. The Diversity Committee includes representatives from various parts of NCC.
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NCC started a Diversity Council in spring 2018. The Council drafts and proposes proactive measures related to diversity on behalf of the Diversity Committee.