Cementos Argos and Celsia, companies of Grupo Argos, among the top 3 in gender equality.

Employer Brand | AUGUST 27th, 2019

• The cement and energy companies of Grupo Argos were in second and third position, respectively, among private companies with best practices in labor equity in the PAR Ranking.
• This ranking, in which 70 companies participated, is a measuring instrument that demonstrates the advances in gender equity of organizations in Latin America and was first carried out in Medellín.
• Aequales is the company that has been doing this kind of metrics for 5 years in countries like Colombia, Peru and Mexico.

Cementos Argos and Celsia, cement and energy companies of Grupo Argos, ranked second and third, respectively, in the Private Company category, among 70 companies that participated in the 2019 Medellin PAR Ranking, which measures the progress or closing gaps in terms of gender equity.

“This recognition fills us with pride and motivates us to continue deploying all the efforts and commitment of the companies of the Argos Business Group to promote cultural and geographical diversity as a strength and competitive advantage to continue growing and leveraging our strategy as an organization” Jorge Mario Velásquez, president of Grupo Argos.

Among the aspects in which the two companies of Grupo Argos stood out for recognition are:

Cementos Argos has implemented various practices and programs to contribute to the integral and harmonious development of labor relations. These include teleworking (77 collaborators), flexible working days, the extension of breastfeeding until the first year, the progressive return of women after their maternity leave, special leave for men the month following the birth of their children, staggered schedules and other measures, they seek generate a balance between personal life and working life. Likewise, the company currently has 70 women drivers and another significant number of women who hold positions that have traditionally been assumed by men such as maintenance officers, laboratory technicians, scale operators, among others.

Celsia has a gender equity and diversity policy, with selection processes that promote equity, compensation policies and valuation of positions, where there is no difference due to the fact of being a man or a woman. In addition, it offers special working hours, extended periods for maternity and paternity leave, mechanisms to prevent sexual harassment and a committee of equity and diversity, among other valuable tools.

This measurement has been led by Aequales in Latin America for 5 years and for the first time it was carried out locally with a methodology that takes into account several factors:

Management objectives: 30%. It measures the objectives, internal and external policies in gender equity and diversity.

Organizational culture: 25%. Evaluate the processes of selection and training of employees, in addition to the average remuneration.

Organizational structure: 20%. Analyze work practices that reconcile private life with work and the use of inclusive communications.

Talent management: 25%. It measures equity between men and women in leadership positions along with administrative, sales and plant positions.

“In Argos we always act with the conviction of promoting the construction of dreams of all our collaborators in the hands of inclusion and equal opportunities. We want to be an example of transformation and closing gender gaps in our country and the world, demonstrating that we can all achieve our goals regardless of our gender, origin, orientation, training and other factors that make us authentic. ” María Isabel Echeverri, Legal Vice President and Sustainability of Cementos Argos.

“We are happy with this recognition. It is a very important achievement because it shows that the good practices that we have been implementing in Colombia and Central America are effective. In Celsia we are convinced that equity is a sustainability factor for the organization, we have a policy of equity and diversity that is not only in one role, but that we live through all the processes we have”, Claudia Salazar, leader of Human, Administrative and Technology Management of Celsia