SWEB

Commitments

Commitment #1:

Diverse interview partners during recruiting process

We appreciate that our biases – even if they are only unconscious one’s – carry the risk to trigger decisions that would contrast the goal of guaranteeing a diverse work environment. That is why we commit to include as many diverse interview partners as possible in all interviews conducted during our recruiting process. This includes interview partners on the employer’s side that are part of Underrepresented Groups themselves, including but not limited to women.

Commitment #2:

Minimum representation of women on all levels

SWEB monitors its efforts towards a more gender diverse workforce with the help of data obtained through its HR department files and through an annual anonymous employee survey. Said data is used to analyze the current status, as well as the growth of our ED&I efforts in regard to gender diversification. The data obtained is shared with staff on a yearly basis within a month after the data has been made available to local management.

The monitoring of our ED&I progress is conducted on the level of WEB Group. The larger team of WEB Group handles this monitoring because our Canadian and US employee bases are considered too small to allow for meaningful conclusions around gender diversification to be drawn, without exposing our employees to the risk of disclosing their identity when trying to give anonymous feedback.

At the end of December 2021, the percentage of women employed by WEB Group was 37.23%. Given the technical nature of a lot of positions within a renewable energy company, WEB Group is proud of this high percentage of women on staff.

At the end of December 2021, one third of all employees in managerial positions (the level of department-head/country manager) identified as female.

Given the current level of representation within our group of companies, SWEB is committed to provide its share to ensure at least 40% representation of women on all levels within WEB group.

Commitment #3:

Promotion and documentation of the benefits deriving from inclusivity

We commit to promote our approach to equity, diversity, and inclusion and the benefits deriving therefrom

• internally and externally;
• on a regular basis;
• by highlighting the role of Underrepresented Groups within our ranks; and
• by including the promotion of ED&I in our internal procedures and policies.

The regular collection of data allows us to improve, adapt, and modernize our approach and measure the success of our efforts.

The following efforts have been made in the past to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion within our organization and shall serve as an example for further activities:

One of the best practices to minimize misgendering, as well as being an important strategy towards inclusivity, is to add gender pronouns in an email signature.^{Footnote 1} Doing so promotes ED&I by sharing our values with our team internally, as well as with our external business partners.

That is why we have invited – and will continue to invite - all SWEB employees to include their gender pronouns in their company email signatures. Please note that we italicized the word invite. This is because SWEB does not enforce, but rather invites our team members to share their pronouns. This optional invitation is to ensure that no one gets accidentally, or forcefully outted.

Promoting ED&I requires us to highlight the success stories of Underrepresented Groups, including but not limited to women, within our own organization. Doing so offers role models for members of said groups that hesitate to join SWEB or join our industry due to experience and fears of continuing marginalization.

We are proud of what our team members have achieved, irrespective of their race, gender, age, sexual orientation, ethnicity, socio-economic status, religious beliefs, age, physical abilities, political beliefs, or other ideologies.

This is why our approach of promoting ED&I includes regular public relations efforts to allow our team members to take a curtain call.

Examples of such efforts can be found under the links below (in German only):

Magazine of the Austrian Wind Energy Association (IG Windkraft) - Portrait of the female Head of WEB Group Legal Department:

www.igwindkraft.at/mmedia/download/2021.03.08/161522369269483.pdf  (Page 20)

Online News-Article of the Austrian Wind Energy Association (IG Windkraft) - Portrait of female Senior Operator WEB Group Control Center:

https://www.igwindkraft.at/?mdoc_id=1034504

Similar efforts as mentioned above are conducted on a regular basis through our social media channels and through our internal company newsletter.

Commitment #4:

Transparency on pay scales and career trajectories

We are committed to ensure equal payment for equal positions within our organization.

The effort to provide equal payment for equal positions is objectivized and monitorable through the usage of an objective classification and ranking of positions and employees within our company.

Said classification and ranking is based on the standardized job matching methodology provided by a known global consulting firm. The methodology allows our managerial team and HR department to classify and rank positions and employees by defining career levels, career bands, and job levels. In order to use said classification and ranking for its equality efforts, WEB group purchased data which shows salary bands for comparable career levels and job levels. Said data is used to ensure equal payment for equal positions during the yearly salary reviews.

An international and diverse grading committee that is independent from executive management monitors the classification and ranking as well as gives recommendations on compensation and benefit issues. This allows for any personal bias between team members to be removed from the salary rankings and discussions.

Commitment #5:

Active promotion of work life-balance

We are committed to respect the private life of our employees. In order to ensure a healthy work-life balance, we have implemented the following measures:

• Flexible working hours while respecting private life

SWEB allows flexible working hours for all of its employees. However, we don’t want our team to feel obliged to be available 24/7. This is why we promote work-life balance within our organization and express our work-life balance priority towards our business partners. We want to make it very clear, that we do not expect anyone to be available around the clock.

As proof that we promote work-life balance, SWEB’s management has included the following message into its e-mail signature and has invited its team to follow their example:

“My working day may not be your working day. Please do not feel obliged to reply to this email outside of your normal working hours.” 

• Parental Leave

We grant an additional 5 days paid leave to any statutory parental leave regulations applicable to our employees, thus supporting a positive work-life balance.

We consider all of our employees as team members, irrespective of whether they are currently on parental leave or actively working on our projects. This is why employees that are on parental leave are invited to all social events organized by the company.

• Home office arrangements

SWEB allows all of its employees to opt for home office arrangements, thus allowing employees with obligations towards their families to share their time efficiently between their work and personal lives.

SWEB’s and WEB Group’s efforts in connection with flexible working hours and home office arrangements are tracked with the help of the yearly employee survey conducted within our group of companies. Having such data available to us, helps us improve our daily operations in regards to an equitable, diverse, and inclusive work environment.

Commitment #6:

Work environment free of discrimination and harassment

We are committed to a work environment free of discrimination and harassment. This is why our employee handbook includes an Anti-Harassment Policy (the “AH-Policy”), committing to a harassment-free workplace, including but not limited to any harassment based on race, national or ethnic origin, colour, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, martial status, family status, disability, or pardoned conviction.

Harassment is not tolerated. Employees who are found to have harassed another individual may be subject to disciplinary action. This includes any employee who: interferes with the resolution of a harassment complaint; retaliates against an individual for filing a harassment complaint; or files an unfounded harassment complaint intended to cause harm.

The policy applies to all current employees of SWEB, including full and part-time, casual, contract, permanent, and temporary employees. The policy also applies to all job applicants.

The policy applies to all behaviors that are in some way connected to work, including during off-site meetings, training, and on business trips.

Our AH-Policy asks all employees to immediately report any Harassment or Sexual Harassment to SWEB’s HR department (male and female contacts available upon personal preference.).

Further, SWEB is participating in the cultural ambassador program of its parent company. Employees are invited to submit complaints to, or communicate through, said cultural ambassadors. This allows for communication of issues without having to disclose a specific employee’s identity to the HR department or to management.

Commitment #7:

Promotion of our Commitments & regular reports

We want to be held accountable for our commitments. Therefore, they shall be public. We chose the campaign Equal by 30 to promote our commitments and endorse the campaign’s principles. In coordination with the Equal by 30 campaign managers, we want to implement regular reports on our efforts.

Further, these commitments and the activities related to it shall be communicated through our internal communication channels.