“Everybody Should Feel They Have the Same Opportunities” – ABB CEO Björn Rosengren on Women in Engineering
June 28, 2022
On this year’s International Women in Engineering Day (INWED), ABB CEO Björn Rosengren and Chief Human Resources Officer Carolina Granat discuss the importance of fostering an inclusive culture and encouraging diversity in the latest episode of the ABB Decoded podcast.
The INWED aims to encourage and support young women in building their careers in engineering. This ambition is strongly reflected in ABB’s 2030 sustainability strategy, which has driving social progress as a key strategic pillar, with gender equality being an important element. As part of this strategy, ABB aims to double the number of women in senior management roles to 25 percent.
Being a global technology company, with engineering at its core, ABB has a long history of promoting STEM education and careers, especially for girls and women, in line with ABB’s 2030 Global Diversity & Inclusion Strategy. ABB has partnered with more than a hundred universities across the world and offers numerous mentoring and scholarship programs.
In the new episode of the ABB Decoded podcast, Björn Rosengren shared his views on the way forward for empowering women and attracting the best talent in the market. “We talk about diversity, but to create that, it is actually the inclusivity, which is important – that people feel that they are part of the company and have really the same opportunities,” Rosengren said.
ABB recently adopted the United Nations Women’s Empowerment Principles (UN WEP’s) in order to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment in the workplace, marketplace and community. The UN WEP’s are a primary vehicle for corporate delivery on gender equality dimensions of the 2030 agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
“From my perspective, I think it’s important that ABB will always attract the best competence in the market. And when I’m saying that, it means that we need to have a broad recruitment base. That is important. So people working in the company should have the same opportunities, but also people who would like to join should feel that ABB is a company you can succeed in. Performance is what counts, and that gives you the opportunities,” Rosengren added.
ABB CEO Björn Rosengren.
Diversity outperforms homogeneous teams
The latest episode of the ABB Decoded podcast also explores why gender diversity is crucial for the success of ABB.
“I truly believe that diverse teams outperform homogeneous teams and I think that’s extra-important when you are a company where innovation plays an important part, which is truly the case for ABB,” Carolina Granat said. “International Women in Engineering Day gives us an opportunity to discuss what are the elements in our culture that might be obstacles to allowing everyone to have a career and for all of us to ask: ‘what could I do differently to support this?’ It’s also an opportunity to feel supported as an employee.”
Chief Human Resources Officer Carolina Granat.
In the context of this year’s International Women in Engineering Day, ABB is re-emphasizing the need to further strengthen gender equality both within the workplace and in society, and to raise awareness among its employees against unconscious bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. Already more than 7,500 senior managers at ABB have taken part in unconscious bias training.
