5.4.1.3 ITCo

ITCo is an IT services provider that is active in three countries in Europe. It is listed on the Dutch stock exchange. The management board of ITCo is gender balanced with one woman and one man. The supervisory board includes two women (40 percent) and three men. In 2020, women represented 29 percent of the executive committee. Within the rest of the organization the percentage of female employees was 20 percent in 2020 and is currently (2021) 19 percent. When only taking management into account, the number of female managers was 31 percent in 2020.

At the time of the interviews, ITCo had not yet formally implemented any interventions but was in the process of drafting a policy for interventions that are going to be implemented. All the interventions discussed below are either included in that draft policy or had already been implemented without having a specific policy in place.

Eleven interventions were identified at ITCo. An intervention specifically aimed at increasing gender equality for women is a numerical target of 30 percent women throughout the whole organization. This target must be met in 2030. ITCo further aims to implement interventions to eliminate biases in the workplace, such as providing unconscious biases training, having a (gender) diverse panel for selection and promotion procedures, and the intervention that at least one woman should be included on the shortlist for all management positions. Another intervention is expressing specific hiring preferences for women, which was for instance the case when the company specifically looked for a woman to fill a vacancy for a boardroom position.

ITCo implemented two interventions that aim to support (wo)men in the organization and outside of the workplace. A women’s network is in place which is primarily intended for women, but men can also join. The women’s network was initiated by employees. Family supportive interventions include the possibility of working part-time and the possibility of taking fully paid paternity leave (six weeks). ITCo also has a leadership program, which is in part dedicated to inclusive leadership.

An intervention that aims at realizing an inclusive workplace (gender related and otherwise) is the intervention that ITCo uses gender neutral terms in its hiring campaigns.