SAP’s worldwide certification process began in March 2016 — after it became the first tech company in the United States to achieve EDGE Certification earlier this year. Global certification, which requires that countries that comprise 80 percent of an organization be included, was awarded after a third-party review of company data, gender practices and employment policies, and employee survey results in an additional 12 countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Criteria examined in the review include recruitment and promotion, leadership development training, mentoring, flexible working and company culture.
SAP has a board-level commitment to reach 25 percent of its leadership positions filled by women by the end of 2017. This commitment has been reinforced by action. As of Q2 2016, women make up 24.1 percent of the company’s leadership and 32.5 percent of all employees.
“Gender equality is not a corporate social responsibility initiative or simply a cultural benefit,” said Stefan Ries, chief human resources officer, SAP. “It’s a strategic differentiator, a source of innovation and revenue driver for our company. We are proud of the recognition we’ve achieved, but we remain committed to creating a culture where employees of all backgrounds can thrive. We want to be the role model in the technology industry for providing opportunities for women, as well as for all underrepresented groups.”
About EDGE Certification
EDGE is the leading global assessment methodology and business certification standard for gender equality. EDGE Certification has been designed to help organizations not only create an optimal workplace for women and men but also benefit from it. EDGE stands for Economic Dividends for Gender Equality and is distinguished by its rigor and focus on business impact. The methodology uses a business, rather than theoretical approach that incorporates benchmarking, metrics and accountability into the process. It assesses policies, practices and numbers across five different areas of analysis: equal pay for equivalent work, recruitment and promotion, leadership development training and mentoring, flexible working and organization culture.