L’Oréal becomes first company in Russia to receive EDGE gender equality certification

As a result of the certification, the company subsidiary has created a customized roadmap towards continued progress in gender equality, which includes a broader adoption of flexible work arrangements and continued leadership development training and mentoring across both genders.

The EDGE certification recognizes companies with exceptional gender practices. It is the only universal business certification that addresses gender; and L’Oréal’s accreditation in Russia follows the example set by its US subsidiary, who obtained the certification last year.

“We are proud to be the first company in Russia certified by EDGE. Gender equality is one of the top local priorities in our Diversity action plan together with Disability and Social and Ethnic origins,”​ says Valentina Rumyantseva, L’Oréal Russia Diversity Champion.

“We create innovative solutions and manage this with transparency which is extremely important for our employees.”​

Commitment​

The commitment to this certification saw the company take part in EDGE’s certification process for the past six months, including a comprehensive review of the company’s gender policies and practices and a deep analysis of gender data across the entire Russian workforce of 1,500 employees.

As part of the evaluation, L’Oréal surveyed more than 43% of employees on gender equality as it pertains to recruitment and promotion, leadership training and mentorship, flexible work, company culture and equal pay for equivalent work.

“By becoming EDGE Certified, L’Oréal Russia is adopting a holistic approach to workforce gender equality and is actively working towards building a gender-balanced talent pool at all levels of responsibility in the organization and an inclusive culture,”​ says Aniela Unguresan, co-founder of EDGE Certified Foundation.

“In addition to being the key global certification system in workplace gender equality, EDGE is a robust workforce analytics tool to inform company’s gender equality strategies and priorities. It is a concrete roadmap for companies to understand the dynamics in their talent pipeline through a gender lens as well as their underlying causes.”​

EDGE certification​

Since its launch at the World Economic Forum in January 2011, more than 100 companies in 30 countries, and 17 industries use the EDGE assessment methodology and certification process to create an optimal, balanced workplace for men and women.

The methodology and standard enables a company to accurately assess how it performs both at a country and a global level.  The EDGE Certification was granted to L’Oréal Russia after an independent verification of the findings by a third-party auditor.

It is another positive move for L’Oréal as it makes an effort to ensure good corporate gender practices, though EDGE warns that this cannot end with just one company, as women's empowerment requires a much more comprehensive, global perspective on the sourcing of materials and labour.