Sándor Fasimon, President of Management Board, INA

Considering INA™s D&I strategy and continuous work related to this issue, we can say that every month is diversity month in INA. When I first came to Croatia, I was truly amazed by the positive atmosphere, high professionalism and diversity of our colleagues at all levels and in various business segments of the company. We will, of course, celebrate this special occasion appropriately by giving it the importance it deserves.

Could you share with us some key milestones in the D&I journey of your company? Diversity has always been one of the main characteristics of INA, given that we employ many employees of different ages, genders, professions, levels of education, nationalities, etc. In everything we do, people always come first. In accordance with that, there is awareness in the company that building a culture in which people feel accepted, respected, involved and affiliated provides greater company and individual performance of each employee, as well as a positive, successful and stimulating work environment. A key milestone was achieved in October 2017 when INA signed the Diversity Charter, committing itself to implementing a policy of diversity and non-discrimination in its work and business environment. Following the signing of the charter, a document was published in which the companies of INA Group, as signatories of the Diversity Charter, established a strategy for diversity management, acceptance of differences and non-discrimination as the organization's systematic and planned direction to attract and retain employees of different profiles through processes such as hiring, rewarding, performance appraisal and employee development, all with the purpose of developing an organizational culture based on mutual respect and appreciation of diversity and achieving both competitive advantage and business results. What aspects of diversity management have the highest priority in your company? At INA Group, diversity is represented by all visible and invisible differences and all HR-related documents contain a D&I clause, clearly stressing the organization™s permanent commitment to diversity and inclusion. Regardless of our identity or background, we all deserve the opportunity to develop our skills and talents to our full potential, work in a safe, supportive and inclusive environment, be fairly rewarded and recognized for our work and have a meaningful voice on matters that affect us. The moral case for building fairer and more inclusive workplaces is indisputable: people matter, and organizations must ensure their people management approaches do not put any group at a disadvantage. In order to achieve this, our strategy is focused on four diversity areas in particular: age, gender, wellbeing and disability. Which D&I activities have been implemented in your organization so far? For several years now, INA has been actively developing the Diversity & Inclusion strategy and I believe that we have already succeeded in encouraging our colleagues to think, understand and accept all possible differences between people. Through educational initiatives, training sessions, conferences, lectures by experts, and sharing of the various experiences of our colleagues, we strive to create a culture in which differences are respected and everyone feels equally involved. In order to be as realistic as possible in setting diversity and inclusion management goals, get a clearer picture of where we are on this issue and learn in which areas we can improve, several external and internal surveys were conducted based on which action was taken. We regularly track key performance indicators, listen to the needs and opinions of our employees and revise and adjust action plans on an annual basis. In your opinion, what are the biggest challenges faced by the industry sector in creating a diverse and inclusive workforce? Generally speaking, the global O&G industry already passed the period of trying to increase awareness “ we are already aware of the D&I benefits. Currently the greatest challenge is to form an organizational culture which supports respecting diversity. For example “ we are part of the O&G industry, a tech-oriented company, but how do we perceive people who are creative, maybe not so detail-oriented, but full of great ideas, innovative and ready to go farther in their actions? How do we perceive people who are parents and sometimes have to go on sick-leave because their child is ill? Do we appreciate foreigners “ do they feel personally accepted in this company? I think that implementing different positive and publicly promoted practices, as well as implementing a managerial style in all people-related processes, will lead to the recognition of the importance of D&I as well as the complete inclusion of all diverse groups. We in INA are already on that path. What business benefits do you see as a result of increasing D&I? It is my personal view that D&I practices can have positive effects on the company results in the long term. Having a workforce comprised of people with different backgrounds, experiences and skills means that the ideas and solutions generated by these teams won™t be homogenous “ they™ll be innovative and creative. Fifteen years from now this direction will show that INA is a truly modern company which cares about future generations, attracting hundreds of fresh graduates from all over. A company we can continue to be proud of. Can you name three diversity challenges that companies have to pay attention to? Men or women, race, age “ is not the main issue. What is more important is how we create the right culture and processes that can inspire all employees to work and engage with integrity, have trust and commitment to achieve the best results for their company. In the business environment, the manager™s main task is to treat their colleagues as equals and include them in all activities. I think in this context, I do not even have to emphasize that all forms of discrimination are strictly forbidden. What do you do to convince your colleagues to see the value in diversity management, or even more to truly get them on board? Leadership should, through all its actions toward employees, customers and all our stakeholders, show deep respect for personal differences. It is very important to get all key stakeholders in one place to make them feel that they are part of the culture that aspires to become more intuitive about diversity and inclusion. So when we launched the comprehensive strategy in 2017, the idea was to create a relaxed atmosphere to foster new ideas and open all employees up to diversity and inclusion, with the help of internal and external experts on this topic. We also organized workshops for management and employees that aimed to raise awareness about our unconscious biases, about diversity and respect for colleagues. INA is the only company in Croatia that organized this kind of event that gave managers the opportunity to practice activities that aim to develop skills and awareness in this area, but also to learn from experts on this matter. Following this, a diversity charter was signed at the initiative of the management. That required INA to implement diversity and non-discrimination policies in its working and business environment. Any plans for the upcoming #EUDiversityMonth this May? Considering INA™s D&I strategy and continuous work related to this issue, we can say that every month is diversity month in INA. When I first came to Croatia, I was truly amazed by the positive atmosphere, high professionalism and diversity of our colleagues at all levels and in various business segments of the company. We will, of course, celebrate this special occasion appropriately by giving it the importance it deserves.     This interview was produced with the financial support of the European Union (project Workplace Inclusion Champion WIC). Its contents are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Union.