Renault steps up diversity initiatives in Algeria with Women@Renault

Diversity in general and the place of women in the workplace in particular is one of the top priorities in Renault’s corporate social responsibility policy. “ With Women@Renault the idea was to help employees and managers understand what women can bring to business performance, as part of an equal opportunities approach ,” says Claire Martin, CSR Director at the Renault group.

The social network is a real lever for improvement at the company, helping to change HR processes and mentalities through its impact on recruitment, pay, professional/personal life balance and career paths. Because networking is essential to professional success, Women@Renault fosters the development of female talent and prepares women for managerial positions with training, diversity interviews, mentoring and personal development.

The social network enables members to dialogue, publish posts, take part in forums, and organize conferences, lunches, sports and association activities (including the “La Parisienne” race) and development workshops.

Women account for 35% of the workforce at Renault Algeria, considerably higher than the national average. The subsidiary also leads the other carmakers in the country on diversity and has one of the Group’s highest women-to-men employee ratios. “This is because we receive more applications from women and they have the right skills for the job,” says Stéphane Galoustian, Managing Director of Renault Algeria.

The subsidiary’s marketing team is all-women (apart from one man) and the Management Committee is 50% female. The supply chain department is headed by a woman, as are the marketing, human resources, communication and internal audit departments. “ And the same applies in the network, with women accounting for 50% of salespeople,” says Stéphane Galoustian. “This is a clear advantage in a country where women are the pillars of each household and as such play a leading role in car-buying decisions .”

“ We hope that Women@Renault will make as much impact in Algeria as it has in Brazil, Romania and South Korea,” says Claire Martin. “I am impressed by the high profile of women at this subsidiary and I am counting on its maturity on this issue to help other subsidiaries – including in France – to make progress and get a firmer grasp on the benefits of increased diversity .”

Key figures for Women@Renault since launch in June 2010:

-          2010: Launch in France, Romania and Brazil

-          2011: South Korea, Spain, Turkey, Morocco, Argentina, Colombia

-          100 blog posts a year

-          1 newsletter a week

-          2 online forums, with more than 260 ideas

-          18 lunches organized, with 200 participants