Achieve gender equality, promote employment and decent work for all e reduce inequalities are three of the sustainable development goals proposed by the United Nations 2030 Agenda.

What role can companies play in this agenda? The way they select, promote and manage their human resources is essential to contribute – or vice versa – to the achievement of these objectives.

As the General Labor Organization (ILO) underlined in its recent report “Transforming Businesses through Diversity and Inclusion”, “Employees need to feel valued, respected, treated fairly and empowered through inclusive business practices, an inclusive organizational culture, and inclusive leadership.”

This approach, the same report states, “significantly contributes to the company’s overall performance.” As an inclusion study by consulting firm McKinsey shows, “the relationship between the diversity in executive teams and the likelihood of superior financial performance It has gotten stronger over time.”

However, a PWC survey on ‘Diversity in Organizations’ in Argentina demonstrated this 70% of respondents did not have a corporate diversity policy.

The program

In this context, the Undersecretariat for Inclusive Development of the Ministry of Economic Development and Production of the City Government has launched a Inclusive business programme (PEI) which began with its first edition in March.

The Undersecretariat has already developed programs aimed at people’s employability, but this is the first training that has audiences in the areas of Human Resources, Sustainability and Corporate Social Responsibility of Buenos Aires companies. The idea is that companies are more open to employability by dealing with problems gender, age and disability.

The program works with a theoretical-practical methodology. Each meeting is divided into two hours of lessons and two hours of workshops, during which the participants concretely develop the topics, in order to arrive, at the end of the program, at produce the design of an inclusive talent management plan and designing a report on diversity, equity and inclusion.

The proposal also provides for work with mentorswhich will accompany the companies for another two months, once the program ends in June.

In total, the 22 companies participating in this first edition will have 26 hours of theoretical training, 26 hours of practical application workshops and 8 hours of webinars (weekly or bi-weekly).

These webinars are responsible for different management areas of the city government, presenting the programs and management tools available. In addition, there will be one from ManpowerGroup Argentina on inclusive leadership.

The thematic axes are: Fundamental notions of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), Strategic formulation of the inclusive management plan, Implementing models and regulations, Business and human and labor rights, DEI in the value chain, Diversity and gender perspective, Social inclusion, Disability, Sustainability reports, DEI indicators for sustainability, DEI report: definition and communication strategies.

One of the characteristics of these courses is to provide training and information to companies on how to access different sources of funding from multilateral organizations, which have credit lines available to assign to companies that meet the “inclusive talent” requirements.

Face-to-face meetings take place at the UBA Faculty of Economics and at the Professional Council of Economics of the City of Buenos Aires. More information: [email protected]