fostering equality in techedge-cert.org/.../uploads/2018/12/leading-the-way-at-sap.pdfto qualify for...

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1 | FOSTERING EQUALITY IN TECH: LEADING THE WAY AT SAP

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Fostering Equality in Tech:

Leading the Way at SAP

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3 | FOSTERING EQUALITY IN TECH: LEADING THE WAY AT SAP2 | FOSTERING EQUALITY IN TECH: LEADING THE WAY AT SAP

Several factors were critical to the success of SAP’s gender

equity initiative and EDGE Re-certification. First, strong and

very public support of the promise to advance gender equality

and support of the certification from the company’s CEO. This

was instrumental in creating a culture that is open to change.

Second, harmonized and consolidated data for analysis. This

provided the insight needed to prioritize what has to transform

for SAP to meet its goals. Third, the centralized, global team

provided governance and coordination among the 14 countries,

creating shared ownership for galvanizing change at both the

local and global levels. In each of the countries that advanced

significantly, a holistic plan – that focused broadly on culture

and incorporating strategic communications, impactful

programming, and leadership support – proved most successful

in advancing gender equity goals.

Since it first broke ground two years ago by being the first

globally certified technology company, SAP has now turned

the tide on industry norms by demonstrating unprecedented

progress towards achieving workplace gender equality. This

success was due to unwavering top leadership support,

accountability and transparency, and the use of the certification

to drive strategic transformation. One country in the group has

moved from the first level of certification, EDGE Assess, directly

to the third level of certification, EDGE Lead — a global first.

Meanwhile a third of all countries assessed progressed to the

second certification level, EDGE Move. This proves where there

is a will there is a way.

Executive Summary

Fostering equality in tech: leading the way at SAP

EDGE Certification: an important lever for change

The rigorous and holistic EDGE Certification process

Showcasing progress through measurable evidence

Lessons learned: the critical success factors

Reaping the wider benefits of EDGE Certification

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Contents

“”Aniela Unguresan, Co-Founder, EDGE Certified Foundation

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4 | FOSTERING EQUALITY IN TECH: LEADING THE WAY AT SAP 5 | FOSTERING EQUALITY IN TECH: LEADING THE WAY AT SAP

The information technology sector remains one of the most

unequal workplaces for women worldwide. While women

represent a notably lower share of management positions

than they do in the total workforce across sectors (Figure

1); the information technology sector displays an even more

modest number of women in management positions, 18% as

compared to 31% in the total workforce. It is the second lowest

representation of women in management positions across all

sectors represented in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, only

two percentage points above the weakest performing sector1.

Fostering equality in tech: leading the way at SAP

1 Gillenwater, S. “Chief Information Office: Fortune 500 Female CIOs in 2017”, Boardroom Insiders. 6 Sept 2017. https://web.boardroominsiders.com/chief-information- officer- fortune-500-female-cios-in-2017.2 Sector taxonomy refers to the Global Industry Classification Standards (GICS).

Figure 1 Percentage share of women in total workforce and in management positions across sectors of activity2

SHARE OF WOMEN IN TOTAL WORKFORCE

SHARE OF WOMEN IN MANAGEMENT

17%16%

31%18%

23%19%

26%19%

24%22%

41%23%

34%26%

37%28%

71%33%

50%34%

48%38%

ENERGY

CONSUMER DISCRETIONARY

REAL ESTATE

INDUSTRIALS

TELECOMMUNICATION

FINANCIALS

UTILITIES

CONSUMER STAPLES

HEALTH CARE

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

MATERIALS

Year after year, many big companies in the industry have published their numbers, deploring the lack of progress in making them evolve. The justifications invoked for failing to attract, retain, develop, and motivate female talent include the comparatively lower number of women in STEM, and their lack of interest in pursuing technology-related jobs, as well as the lack of role models, all reasons which experts have refuted.

It is in this overwhelmingly gender unbalanced sector, that SAP, the world’s largest business software company employing more than 90,000 employees across 180 countries of operation, has set the pace for change, by pursuing EDGE Certification for workplace gender equality as part of their strategy to further women in leadership. As a result, SAP was the first technology company to be awarded EDGE Certification at the global level in 2016, and the second company worldwide to obtain, in 2018, the highest level of certification in one of its countries of operation, evidencing overall gender equality.

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EDGE – which stands for Economic Dividends for Gender Equality – is an independent third-party certification which uses an analytical and holistic approach to assess where organizations stand in terms of gender balance across four pillars: gender balance across their talent pipeline, pay equity, the effectiveness of their policies and practices to ensure equitable career flows, as well as the inclusiveness of their culture.

Organizations can become certified at one of three certification levels: EDGE Assess, which celebrates commitment to progress; EDGE Move, which recognizes progress; and EDGE Lead, which rewards success in fostering workplace gender equality.

SAP’s global certification at the EDGE Assess level in 2016 recognized the compa-ny’s commitment to closing the gender gap through these four fundamental pillars of EDGE Certification. It also recognized the company’s commitment to implement and to be accountable for the results of a clearly defined action plan to further progress across each of these four pillars.

In 2018, two years after the initial EDGE Certification at the EDGE Assess level, SAP underwent re-certification. The results of this recent assessment demonstrated tre-mendous progress, paving the way in closing the gender gap for SAP globally and more remarkably for the tech industry overall.

All entities which were re-certified at EDGE Assess demonstrated remarkable im-provements in their final scores. In addition, SAP’s operations in Canada, Hong Kong, the United Kingdom, and Brazil were in fact granted the second level of certification EDGE Move, a certification level that only 19 companies worldwide currently hold. Fi-nally, SAP’s operations in China became the second entity worldwide to become cer-tified at the highest level of certification EDGE Lead, demonstrating overall success in fostering workplace gender equality.

This white paper reveals SAP’s motivation in pursuing this certification at the global level, the certification process, the progress achieved since its first certification, the key success factors in enabling such progress, and the main outcomes that make EDGE Certification an effective instrument to foster gender equal workplaces.

EDGE Certification: an important lever for change

Certification systems have been proven to be effective tools for achieving sustainable progress because they are based on objective and measurable evidence that not only allows organizations to measure where they currently stand but also to track progress against clearly defined standards of performance. They are known to catalyze positive wholesale change across entire industries and geographies while simultaneously ensuring transparency and accountability for progress to both internal and external stakeholders.

EDGE Certification is a system which provides organizations with a robust workforce analytics approach to investigate: in which types of roles women and men are along the talent pipeline; how the organization hires, promotes, and retains men and wom-en in similar or different ways; and the underlying causes that produce this dynamic along the talent pipeline. It also allows organizations to benchmark their performance against their industry peers as well as against the EDGE Standard, and to define an impactful action plan to further progress.

SAP’s Global Head of Gender Equality and Intelligence, Shuchi Sharma, pointed out that in addition to the above-mentioned elements, the universal applicability of EDGE Certification across industries and geographies provided an effective solution to com-pare SAP’s demographics, employee experiences, and policies and practices across countries with widely different societal norms and public policies on workplace gender equality.

Furthermore, the ability to systematically and consistently compare progress across different SAP entities provided rich guidance on where to drive the organization for-ward and where to shift directions to achieve progress.

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GERMANY

US

CANADA

BRAZIL

FRANCE

IRELAND

UK

JAPAN

PHILIPPINES

AUSTRALIA

CZECH REPUBLIC

SINGAPORE

1%

1%

1%

1%

2%22%

24%

2%

2%

3% 2%

3%

CHINA

INDIA6%

13%

Figure 2 Share of SAP employees by country office taking part in the EDGE Certification process

A rigorous and holistic process

To qualify for EDGE Certification on a global scale, SAP

undertook the EDGE Certification process in each of

the countries that together constituted 80% of its global

workforce (Figure 2). This included 13 countries of operation

in 2016, and 14 entities across five continents in the 2018

analysis, covering a total of 73,951 employees, of which 33%

were women and 67% were men.

PAY EQUITY

2

GENDER BALANCE AT ALL LEVELS

1

AN INCLUSIVE CULTURE

4

THE EFFECTIVENESS OF POLICIES AND PRACTICES TO ENSURE EQUITABLE CAREER FLOWS

FOR WOMEN AND MEN

3

Each of these 14 entities were individually measured on their status with respect to the four fundamental pillars of the EDGE Standard:

To assess these four pillars, EDGE Certification gathered information on a coun-try-by-country basis from the following three sources:

STATISTICALDATA

EMPLOYEES’EXPERIENCES

INFRASTRUCTURE

Review of implemented policies and practices that effectively level the playing field for men and women in terms of career opportunities

Data disaggregated by gender and by level of responsibility

Both men and women – when it comes to their career development opportunities

These three sources of information were compared and contrasted to measure alignment and hidden disparities between what the organization believes it does, what employees know about those efforts, and how effective organizational policies and practices are in creating equitable career flows for men and women. This gap analysis was critical in defining a highly effective action plan.

Because of the structured and systematic nature of the assessment, the EDGE Certification process fosters a culture of continuous improvement and sustainable progress. After two years, companies are required to undergo re-certification, applying the same robust analytical framework to measure the four pillars. Even more importantly, companies can evaluate the effectiveness of their interventions by comparing re-certification measurements with results from the first certification.

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In 2016, only France was found to have a policy on non-discriminatory recruitment and promotion practices which explicitly included gender. In 2018, eight additional countries had incorporated such a policy as a cornerstone of their talent strategy, including: Australia, Brazil, Canada, the Czech Republic, Germany, India, the UK, and the USA.

In conjunction with these measures, since 2016, SAP has adopted numerous practices aimed at securing the effectiveness and the success of such policies across its operations. Nine countries have, for instance, implemented gender sensitive language and visuals in job advertisements as well as promotion and recruitment videos. As of 2018, all countries except one make systematic use of gender sensitive human resource materials.

The analysis also found that in 2016, only four countries required gender diverse candidate pools for all management positions, a practice acknowledged to help overcome unconscious biases and to foster a better gender balance across organizations3. The analysis conducted in 2018, however, revealed that five additional countries had begun to adop that practice.

Showcasing progress through measurable evidence

The individual assessments conducted in 2016 in each of the

13 entities of SAP’s operation revealed notable disparities

across operations, providing SAP’s Chief Diversity and

Inclusion Officer and her team with the evidence needed to

implement course corrections, capitalizing on best practices.

The 2018 analysis largely confirmed the effectiveness of

those interventions, as evidenced by positive upswings in the

company’s numbers and improvements in satisfaction.

3 Johnson, S.K.; Hekman, D.R., and Chan, E.T. “If There’s Only One Woman in Your Candidate Pool, There’s Statistically No Chance She’ll Be Hired”. Harvard Business Review, 26 April 2016. https://hbr.org/2016/04/if-theres-only-one-woman-in-your-candidate-pool-theres-statistically-no-chance-shell-be-hired.4 Sutton, S. “Women in Leadership at SAP: The Journey to 25%”. SAP News Center. 21 July 2017. https://news.sap.com/women-leadership-sap-journey-to-twenty-five-percent/.

The 2018 analysis revealed that those efforts had resulted in a dramatic improvement in gender composition across SAP operations at all levels of responsibility (Figure 3), thereby bringing the company closer to its global target of 30% of women in leadership positions by the end of 20224.

SAP’s efforts were also reflected in higher employee ratings regarding equal opportunities for hiring and promotion. On average, 5% more women and 7% more men responded positively on the question of equal external hiring opportunities, while women and men responded 6% more positively about equal promotion opportunities.

Since 2016, SAP has also made notable efforts to foster an inclusive culture favorable to gender equality. In fact, every single country of operation has made gender equality part of its strategic goals. The result is that as of 2018, all but two entities have dedicated resources within the company to implement gender equality.

This internal commitment was reflected in the 2018 finding that all local top leadership teams were committed to achieving gender equality, and that an average share of 92% of women and 87% of men surveyed in each of the countries viewed gender equality as important for SAP to remain competitive in the market, demonstrating a remarkable alignment of the entire organization behind the goal of gender equality.

Figure 3 Average growth in the share of women by level of responsibility since 2016

JUNIORMANAGEMENT

MIDDLEMANAGEMENT

UPPERMANAGEMENT

TOPMANAGEMENT

OVERALLWORKFORCE

9.7%

4.5%

14.3%

6.3% 6.5%

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Convinced by the research demonstrating that firms with more gender balanced teams generate stronger market returns, there is no doubt that SAP’s CEO Bill McDermott’s commitment has played a pivotal role in making EDGE Certification a key priority for the organization.

Also critical to the success of the process was the central coordinating team of experts put in place to deal with the complexities of preparing such a large and complex corporate structure for global certification.

The team in charge of the EDGE Certification process in 2018 included Anka Wittenberg (former Chief Diversity Officer of SAP) as executive sponsor, Shuchi Sharma, Global Head of Gender Equality and Intelligence, as the global lead, and Stephanie Redivo, Senior Project Manager, Global Diversity and Inclusion, who managed the project. The project team also included global counterparts in human resources, legal, communications, and data/security, along with a lead from each country undergoing certification.

The global team met regularly to review progress, discuss next steps, and address any outstanding issues. Their support throughout the certification process was not only key in liaising between the different business operations and the EDGE team, but also in sharing information and lessons learned across SAP entities.

Central coordination was particularly crucial, as SAP’s fast rate of expansion through corporate acquisitions made SAP’s global objectives a constantly moving target - especially when it came to gender equality and SAP’s global brand. The need for alignment behind global objectives was a key priority.

Lessons learned: the critical success factors

Shuchi Sharma, SAP Global Lead of Gender Intelligence

There were a few essential elements that enabled SAP

to succeed in its pursuit of EDGE Certification: a strong

commitment from the very top of the company, a highly

effective global project coordination team, and the

rigorous implementation of a global action plan to help deal

with the complexities of a certification at a global scale.

Last but not least was SAP’s commitment to equal pay for equivalent work. Since 2016, all 14 entities have been found to conduct gender pay gap assessments and to implement corrective measures to different extents.

The 2018 analysis in China illustrated the positive outcome of those practices, when the results of a rigorous regression analysis, accounting for both base salaries only and pay including cash benefits, found no risk associated with gender pay equity in the country’s operations. These positive results elevated SAP China to become the second company worldwide to be certified at the EDGE Lead level, demonstrating its overall success in fostering a gender equal workplace.

Finally, the action plan, which is required as part of the certification process, united the participating countries behind a set of common goals, including meeting the global targets for gender representation and fostering an inclusive culture favorable to gender equality.

After the first certification, the central coordinating team concentrated not only on maintaining the focus of its action plan but also consciously designed shared ownership and accountability into the implementation process. This was accomplished by: ensuring that different people were responsible for different components of the roadmap; by tracking progress and discussing it on a regular basis; and most importantly, by providing updates every six months, to ensure that the project maintained momentum.

Bill McDermott, SAP CEO

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SAP’s employees themselves have rewarded SAP’s efforts and progress on gender equality with very positive feedback. Numerous women and men across geographies responded in the 2018 EDGE employee survey that they were extremely proud to work for a company that distinguished itself through its public commitment to foster gender equality in a traditionally male-dominated industry.

The results from the employee survey also found that an average of 88% of employees across operations agreed or strongly agreed that they would highly recommend working at this company to a male friend or colleague, and 87% of employees across geographies would highly recommend working at SAP to a female friend or colleague. These findings further illustrate employees’ overall satisfaction with SAP as an employer, a perception which has repeatedly been associated with higher business performance.

Finally, in terms of external credibility and reputation, the company’s efforts to build a culture of inclusion through EDGE Certification and other efforts have earned SAP North America recognition by Fortune and by Great Place to Work as one of the best workplaces for women.

Reaping the benefits of EDGE Certification

In addition to supporting SAP’s efforts in fostering a more

gender equal workplace, EDGE Certification also helped the

company to gain internal and external recognition as well

as enhanced its reputation as an employer of choice in the

technology industry. ”

”

I feel that SAP does a very good job at being “gender

blind” and I am very proud and grateful to work

for SAP. I only wish that I worked for SAP earlier in

my career when I had kids at home - it would have

made my work-life balance so much easier.

I work a reduced work week of 32 hours which is

invaluable to my work-life balance and does not

at all effect my ability to get great performance

reviews, raises and desirable projects. It makes

me more productive and dedicated to SAP. I am

proud to tell people I work for SAP.

“”

Gender equality and providing equal opportunities

is taken very seriously here. Since there are less

women in the workforce in general, SAP is putting

in a lot of effort towards providing a good platform

for women, which is very motivating.

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16 | FOSTERING EQUALITY IN TECH: LEADING THE WAY AT SAP

EDGE is the leading global assessment methodology and business certification

standard for gender equality. It measures where organizations stand in terms of gender

balance across their pipeline, pay equity, effectiveness of policies and practices to

ensure equitable career flows as well as the inclusiveness of their culture. Launched

at the World Economic Forum in 2011, EDGE Certification has been designed to help

companies 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. EDGE Certification is currently working with

nearly 200 organizations, in 50 countries and 23 industries.

As market leader in enterprise application software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to storefront, desktop to mobile device – SAP empowers people and organizations to work together more efficiently and use business insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP applications and services enable more than 404,000 business and public-sector customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and grow sustainably.

For more information, visit www.sap.com. Read SAP’s press release celebrating re-certification here: https://news.sap.com/2018/10/sap-edge-recertification-drive-gender-equality-tech/

About EDGE Certification

About SAP

EDGE Strategy

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6300 Zug, Switzerland

+41 41 530 11 49

[email protected]

LinkedIn: edge-cert

Twitter: EDGE_CERT

Facebook: EdgeCert

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