Today we’re turning the spotlight on an Italian green energy company called Enel. They have a rare disclosure that we are excited to share with you all.
The Enel 2022 Sustainability Report (a nearly-600-page document) breaks down their commitment to ESG at large, with emphasis on DEI. Enel is a very transparent company overall – with strong disclosure across the board, and an admirable commitment to sustainability and diversity in general.
We’ll be focusing specifically on their disclosure of, and programs for, integrating employees and customers with disabilities.
Disability disclosure is relatively uncommon when compared with other categories.
Enel has placed a concerted effort on building a business that is inclusive to not just employees, but also customers with disabilities.
DEI is built into the business’s Principles of Conduct, alongside the rest of the core operating values that businesses often have which guide decision making.
PRINCIPLES OF CONDUCT
Make decisions in daily activities and take responsibility for them.
Share information, being willing to collaborate and open to the contribution of others.
Follow through with commitments, pursuing activities with determination and passion.
Change priorities rapidly if the situation evolves.
Get results by aiming for excellence.
Adopt and promote safe behavior and move proactively to improve conditions for health, safety and well-being.
Work for the integration of all, recognizing and leveraging individual diversity (culture, gender, age, disabilities, personality, etc.).
Work focusing on satisfying customers and/or coworkers, acting effectively and rapidly.
Propose new solution and do not give up when faced with obstacles or failure.
Recognize merit in co-workers and give feedback that can improve their contribution.
Inclusivity for their customer base:
Here’s what they’re doing to support their people of all ability levels in their customer base: (Page 65)
Enel promotes the dissemination of innovative and inclusive products and services, such as automatic payments, e-billing, the “slow shopping” method (aimed at creating meaningful experiences for customers with disabilities through specific dedicated channels, using accessible apps and digital services).
Enel monitors the rate of customer satisfaction in every country in which it operates through specific surveys and analysis of customer feedback.
So they’ve built infrastructure specifically to serve a customer base representative of people of all abilities, and they monitor their CSAT scores according to these specific goals – considering catering to a customer base of all abilities as a “material topic” for shareholders.
And they consider how inclusive their physical products are for people with disabilities:
Inclusive products and services (including standard charging points for electric vehicles also prepared for people with disabilities; adaptation of electric buses for people with disabilities)
Increasingly inclusive mobility (Page 184)
There is no real revolution in mobility if it is not truly accessible to everyone. That is why we promote and devise solutions that solve all mobility needs, so that even people with disabilities or reduced mobility conditions can benefit freely and independently from the opportunities offered by modern e-mobility, starting with the charging infrastructure. Our charging points dedicated to electric vehicles can now also be used to charge electric wheelchairs, thanks to our Enel X Way Wayability device, a charging cable that enables use of the same infrastructure dedicated to electric cars. In this way, can take advantage of any charging point by booking through our app in the same way as for electric cars.
They also have special training for employees who interact with customers with disabilities. (Page 161)
238 Enel people in our shops trained to welcome customers with disabilities in Romania, Peru and Colombia
Inclusivity for employees
Enel has created special programs with the objective of hiring and retaining employees with disabilities.
The value of disability (227)
Enel is committed to ensuring the full inclusion of every person, in line with the approach indicated by the relevant UN Convention and with the Enel Valuability© model, according to which inclusion generates innovation and increases the possibility of attracting and valuing people by innovating processes and products.
Globally, there are 2,129 colleagues with disabilities, more than 70% of whom are in Italy. Enel provides tools, services, working methods and initiatives to create an inclusive working and relational context for all, which allows work activities to be carried out in full autonomy, regardless of any disability. In particular, there is a focal point for Enel people with disabilities in all countries and 2022 saw the launch of new global initiatives, including:
Activation of Inclusive Travel services to ensure accommodation and travel experience for colleagues with disabilities;
Launch of the Inclusive Internship project with the activation of internships in Italy;
These efforts are part of a larger, international organization for driving this specific type of diversity forward (Page 373):
Our commitment to inclusion, as defined in our Human Rights Policy, relies on considering proactively the needs and priorities of individuals and society at large.
In addition to ensuring that no one is left behind, this approach encourages the generation of new ideas and is an essential condition for creating sustainable value in the
long term.
Since 2019, we are part of Valuable 500, a global organization involving 500 CEOs and their companies, whose mission is to drive lasting change for more than 1 billion people around the world who live with a disability.
In 2020, therefore, we launched the Enel Value4Disability global project, which aims to empower Enel people and customers with disabilities, enable the environment of startups dealing with assistive technologies and make digitally accessible both the main web portals used by Enel
people/customers and the software application development, testing and release processes.
In 2022 we achieved important results:
What’s important to note here is that they disclose disability by not just gender, but also age (Page 483). We typically see (when there is disability disclosure at all) disclosure centered around the entire workforce.
There are very few companies in the US that break it down any more granularly than x% of all employees identify as having a disability. Even then, the response rate tends to be rather low so it’s not representative of the true number.
It’s rare to see intersectional data at all, let alone broken out across both gender and age.
To learn more about our international coverage, schedule time with us here.