We believe in the power of diversity and inclusion, and want our workforce to be a reflection of society where everyone feels safe and accepted. We respect and value differences as it makes our organisation stronger, innovative and attractive. This is why we focus on diversity in different areas of our human resources processes. We proactively work on identity acceptation with a visible LGBTIQ+ community and create opportunities for people with a distance to the labour market. We are also taking a proactive approach towards this important topic through engagement with partners in our value chain.
Year ended at 31 December | 2020 | 2021 |
|---|---|---|
Share of female PostNL employees | 49% | 48% |
Share of females in operational management positions | 21% | 23% |
Share of females in middle management positions | 32% | 33% |
Share of females in senior management positions | 28% | 29% |
Share of females in management positions | 28% | 30% |
While the total share of female employees decreased slightly by 1 percentage point to 48% in 2021, we have been making progress on the balance between men and women in management positions at operational, middle and senior management levels.
“Our diversity index provides insight into 'acceptance', 'inclusiveness' and 'diversity'”
On 1 January 2022, the Netherlands introduced a new law requiring a mandatory gender diversity quota on the supervisory boards of Dutch listed companies, with new appointments contributing to a composition of at least one-third women and one-third men.
At the same time, companies such as PostNL were required to set gender diversity targets for the composition of their management board, supervisory board and senior management. In line with this, we have updated our policy on diversity at the top of the organisation.
For the Board of Management, we have set a target of at least one-third women and one-third men. At the end of 2021, our Board of Management had a 50/50 split, exceeding compliance with our target. Our Supervisory Board was composed of one-third women.
For senior management with an individual labour contract, we have a plan in place to reach our gender balance target of at least one-third women and one-third men by 2025. In 2021 we began implementing this plan, for example through coaching and succession planning aimed at talented women within PostNL. In the coming years, this will also involve filling a larger proportion of vacancies with women.
For the purpose of this law, we have defined senior management as employees who have individual labour contracts. This population represents a subset of employees covered by the indicator 'share of females in senior management positions' presented in the table above.
Given the company's relevance to society, we want to lead by example by sharing knowledge and experience with others. And through our role in society we want to connect people. We also value evidence-based policy, which is why we have our diversity policy independently assessed and benchmarked on a range of topics annually. For example, the Talent to the Top benchmark provides insights into the advancement of women. The Workplace Pride benchmark highlights progress around the acceptance of the LGBTIQ+ community within our organisation. And the diversity index we have developed, which provides insight into 'acceptance', 'inclusiveness', and 'diversity', is ahead of the curve in the Netherlands.
In 2021, the national statistics office, Statistics Netherlands (CBS), undertook a cultural diversity barometer which provided insight into the composition of our entire workforce with regard to Dutch, Western and non-Western backgrounds.
We also continued to run a scientific research project called More Colour at the Top. The aim of the research is to support and stimulate the potential of people from a multicultural background as they seek to develop a career, and remove any barriers they may encounter along the way.
Based on what we have learned from these projects, as well as the Diversity & Inclusion survey we carried out in 2020, we introduced a number of other important initiatives. One is a pilot project focused on professional behaviour in the workplace. Another is paying greater attention to succession planning and the promotion of multi-cultural talent, with distinct action plans established for Parcels and Mail in the Netherlands and a greater focus on gender diversity.
We are extremely proud of the headway we made within Diversity & Inclusion in 2021, and look forward to building on this progress going forward.
There are a number of networks active within PostNL, all aimed at further promoting diversity and inclusion. The Women Inclusion Network (WIN) has a proven mentoring programme, which includes senior management acting as mentors for talented and ambitious women to help them grow and prepare for taking senior positions within the company.
The PRIDE network actively campaigns for greater acceptance of the LGBTIQ+ community, while the Young PostNL network focuses on young talent within the company, and develops its own events aimed at developing young talent. We also believe in the importance of knowledge sharing, and actively work as a host with Diversity in Business, Talent to the Top, and Agora, which promotes cultural diversity.
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