The analysis carried out by Red Acoge on the performance of the company gives it a high and above average assessment in the prevention of discrimination and in addressing issues such as gender, age or disability in the workplace.

Aquona, a technology company for the integral water cycle that serves more than one million inhabitants in Castilla y León and Castilla-La Mancha, stands out for its commitment to diversity, equal treatment and labor inclusion. This is recognized by the 2020 Diversity and Inclusion Index prepared by Red Acoge, a federation of NGOs focused on social integration and that measures and analyzes the involvement of Spanish companies with a work environment that respects diversity.

According to the Red Acoge report, Aquona obtains a score of 63.9 points out of 100, well above the average of the rest of the companies in all the sectors analyzed, which is 44.5. The study analyzes the attention to issues such as gender, age, disability, sexual orientation or ethnocultural diversity within the company's activities, offering a very satisfactory result on the continuous care that Aquona provides to these social aspects.

"AQUONA maintains a firm corporate commitment to diversity and inclusion from a broad perspective," indicates the study, which also highlights that the inclusive policies implemented by Aquona "seek to have an impact within an extensive scenario of action that connects the interests of the company with those of society ”.

Since 2018, Aquona has been a member of the Red + D, Network of Companies committed to Diversity, thus showing its public commitment to creating an inclusive work environment free of any type of discrimination.

Belonging to this network also implies submitting to an external and independent inspection to assess the degree of progress of these policies. In this sense, the study prepared by Red Acoge states: “Aquona has participated in the last three editions of the D&I Index in 2018, 2019 and 2020. In all of them it has had a good position, which indicates unequivocally that the commitment to managing diversity and equal treatment is firm and defining of its business culture. This commitment is materialized in policies and concrete actions that seek to generate a more inclusive labor context ”.

Corporate policy with commitment

The evaluation carried out in the Diversity and Inclusion Index 2020 is divided into four areas: corporate policy, internal measures, external measures and diversity map.

In terms of corporate policy, the report highlights the existence of internal protocols that explicitly include the policy of non-discrimination, the communication of these values ​​to the entire workforce and the fact that personal and financial resources are allocated to the development of diversity management policies.

In the section on internal measures, the study also gives an outstanding mark to Aquona. And it is that the company has active numerous initiatives to promote equality, combined in a Strategic Equity Plan that sets five main objectives in terms of gender balance, co-responsibility, equitable communication, respect and a culture of equity. equity to our organizational culture, ”says Laura de Vega, Aquona's Director of Sustainable Development.

As the Aquona spokesperson explains, the starting point was the approval of measures to promote equal opportunities, increase the number of women in leadership positions and people with disabilities in the company, and other measures related to communication have continued. such as the creation of the equity network, the dissemination of content in this area in the internal newsletter, the publication and subsequent dissemination of the inclusive language manual or the holding of workshops on unconscious biases in both gender and disability to middle managers.

The report highlights many other measures carried out by Aquona, such as the reconciliation initiatives between personal, family and work life and the company's dedication to establish mechanisms for the prevention of conflicts for discriminatory reasons.

Regarding external measures, this section analyzes the mechanisms that the company puts in place to engage with stakeholders. The report highlights that Aquona transmits and shares the principles of non-discrimination to all its stakeholders and interlocutors in the 130 municipalities where it is present.

The company is a very active social actor that maintains alliances and agreements with a multitude of entities such as the Red Cross, the ONCE Foundation or the Food Bank. In addition, it carries out dozens of actions each year to support and sponsor local entities in areas such as support for inclusive sports, education or care for the elderly. Initiatives that are reinforced by corporate volunteering, which also collaborates in these areas.

Regarding diversity, the study highlights that Aquona has "a great female force at all levels of the organization and a significant presence of women - 33% - in positions of responsibility".

In addition, people with functional diversity represent 2.5% of the total workforce, exceeding the minimums established by the General Disability Law for companies with more than 50 workers.

As Laura de Vega, director of Sustainable Development of the company, explains: “The management of diversity within Aquona is aligned with corporate values ​​and amplifies the legal requirements regarding inclusion and non-discrimination. In all areas of our organization we promote a culture that guarantees equal opportunities for all people ”.