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We are committed to creating a workplace that values differences. A diverse workforce can better understand customers and stakeholders. An inclusive workforce is more motivated and able to bring their talents to bear. We have three targets in this area:
- Increase the proportion of women in senior management to a minimum of 20%. In 2006, we made good progress, with the proportion of women in top positions rising to 11.6%, up from 9.9% in 2005. We have increased our effort to attract women candidates and introduced development and mentoring programmes targeted at female staff. Nearly 30% of new staff in 2006 were women.
- Have local people fill more than half the senior management positions in every country we operate in. In 2006, 25% of these countries achieved this, compared to 36% the previous year. This decline came mainly from a small number of staff changes in countries with few senior management positions.
- Improve staff perceptions of the inclusiveness of their workplace, as measured by the Shell People Survey. In the 2006 Survey, 64% of employees were positive about inclusiveness in their part of Shell.
We are committed to equal opportunity in recruitment, career development, promotion, training and reward for all employees, including those with disabilities. All job applicants and employees are assessed against clear and objective criteria.
Diversity on the forecourt
Shell is the only international energy company licensed to build and operate service stations in India. We have brought our environmental and social standards with us, including our commitment to diversity and inclusiveness. Our quickly growing network of service stations has made a special effort to hire women, people with disabilities, and disadvantaged members of society.
It started with listening carefully to ensure we understood their specific needs.
For female employees, this meant installing separate changing and bathroom facilities. They work only the daytime shifts, so they do not have to work or travel after dark. Local NGOs have helped convince families that our service stations are appropriate places for women to work. As a result, there were on average 17 women employed per station by the end of 2006.
For people with disabilities, we made our sites accessible, for example by installing wheelchair ramps. At each station, there is a supervisor who knows sign language. By the end of 2006, on average four disabled people were working at each station.