Prague University of Economics and Business Faculty of International Relations
Gender Equality reflected in CSR of key financial institutions in the Czech Republic
Author: Anna Gluško
Thesis instructor: doc. Ing. Zuzana Křečková Kroupová, M.A., Ph.D.
Scholar year: 2020/2021
Declaration:
I hereby declare that I am the sole author of the thesis entitled “Gender equality reflected in CSR of key financial institutions in the Czech Republic”. I duly marked out all quotations and all the literature and sources used are stated in the attached list of references.
In Prague on 30. 04. 2021 ...
Anna Gluško
Acknowledgement
I would hereby like to express my sincere and deep gratitude to my thesis supervisor, doc. Ing. Zuzana Křečková Kroupová, M.A., Ph.D. for her professional guidance and support throughout my work on this project.
Table of Contents
Introduction ... 1
1. Corporate Social Responsibility ... 3
1.1. Evolution of CSR ... 3
1.2. Defining CSR ... 4
1.3. CSR in the Czech Republic ... 5
1.3.1. CSR reporting ... 6
2. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development ... 7
2.1. United Nations Millennium Development Declaration ... 7
2.2. Sustainable Development Goals ... 8
2.3. Sustainable Development Report 2020 ... 11
2.4. Social SDG’s and the Czech Republic ... 11
2.5. National attitude ... 14
3. Gender Equality ... 16
3.2. Pay Gap ... 18
3.3. Glass Ceiling ... 20
3.4. Gender Indices ... 20
4. Key financial institutions in the Czech Republic ... 23
4.1. Česká spořitelna, a. s. ... 25
CSR Strategy ... 25
Gender policies and their outcomes ... 25
4.1.1. Erste Group Bank AG ... 27
CSR Strategy ... 27
Gender policies and their outcomes ... 27
4.1.2. Summary ... 28
4.2. Československá obchodní banka, a. s. ... 29
CSR Strategy ... 29
Gender policies and their outcomes ... 30
4.2.1. KBC Group ... 30
CSR Strategy ... 31
Gender policies and their outcomes ... 31
4.2.2. Summary ... 32
4.3. Komerční banka, a. s. ... 33
CSR Strategy ... 33
Gender policies and their outcomes ... 33
4.3.1. Société Générale Group ... 34
CSR Strategy ... 34
Gender policies and their outcomes ... 35
4.3.2. Summary ... 37
4.4. Conclusion ... 38
5. Own research ... 41
5.1. Methodology ... 41
5.2. Research sample ... 41
5.3. Key findings ... 42
Comparison of the theoretical basis and key findings ... 46
Suggestions ... 48
Conclusion ... 49
List of Tables Table 1. Millennium Development Goals: (2000–2015) ... 7
Table 2. Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2030) ... 9
Table 3. Gender Equality Indices ... 20
Table 4. Top financial institutions in the Czech Republic by number of customers ... 23
Table 5.Top financial institutions in the Czech Republic by net profit in billions of CZK ... 24
Table 6. International Financial Groups ... 24
Table 7. Comparison of proportion of women in Erste institutions ... 28
Table 8. Comparison of proportion of women in KBC institutions ... 32
Table 9. Comparison of proportion of women in Société Générale institutions ... 37
Table 10. Comparison of Czech financial institutions ... 38
Table 11. Summary of incentives applied by Groups' ... 39
List of Figures Figure 1. Socially oriented SDGs ... 12
Figure 2. Which factors are the most important in employer? ... 42
Figure 3. A company, that has gender equality policies in its CSR agenda, is more attractive as an employer. ... 43
Figure 4. What is your estimate of the average pay gap in the Czech Republic? ... 44
List of Abbreviations
CSR Corporate Social Responsibility EEA European Economic Area
EIGE European Institute for Gender Equality FI Financial Institution
MDG Millennium Development Goal MIT Ministry of Industry and Trade
OECD Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development SDG Sustainable Development Goal
UN United Nations
UNDP United Nations Development Programme WEF World Economic Forum
1
Introduction
Gender in/equality has been a very topical issue of the last two decades. This tenacious problem is present everywhere in the world, concerning even the most developed countries. Moreover, inequality touches upon every field of our lives and is clearly visible in the economic, educational, political and social sphere. Since the beginning of the new millennium, the emphasis on diversity has grown significantly. Despite the continuous progress and numerous studies conducted on the benefits of gender equality for society, the world is still far from equal. Simultaneously, the corporate sector’s increasing influence on the planet, society and overall prosperity is undeniable. Enterprises are indeed the ones accountable for women’s economic empowerment. Thus, this thesis aims to examine the Corporate Social Responsibility strategy and activities towards gender equality of key financial institutions in the Czech Republic. Furthermore, to evaluate their approach to gender diversity in comparison to their multinational groups. Lastly, to determine whether such policies attract future university graduates as their potential employees.
In order to achieve these primary goals, the following research questions are used.
1. How are selected institutions contributing to the movement towards reaching gender equality in the Czech Republic?
2. What is the position of companies within gender equality measures in the Czech Republic compared to their foreign financial groups?
3. Are companies with gender equality policies more attractive as employers to students in their last year of studies?
This thesis consists of four core parts - theoretical background, practical part, conducted research and key findings.
The theoretical background is covered in chapters 1. – 3. It tackles each essential aspect reflected in the practical part and the conducted research, starting with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). The concept of CSR is thoroughly described together with an insight into the Czech Republic’s attitude to sustainability and corporate responsibility. A significant part of the theoretical section is dedicated to the 2030 Sustainability Agenda and its seventeen Sustainable Development Goals (SDG). Czechia’s progress in key societal goals is examined to reaffirm the urgency of the selected topic. Furthermore, gender equality at a workplace,
2 including major discriminatory areas in remuneration and promotion, is explained. In order to understand how gender diversity is measured six indices, from the most influential international organizations are compared.
The practical part in the 4th chapter focuses on the CSR strategies of key financial institutions.
Above all, examining gender-related policies, rules and targets disclosed by the institutions in their non-financial reports. Continuously the results of such activities, reflected in their employee gender proportion, are evaluated. Each institution is a part of a different multinational financial group with a foreign parent company. Hence, the Czech institution is compared to the rest of its financial group, focusing primarily on the parental company or the headquarters.
Finally, a survey among university students was conducted to ascertain whether policies towards gender equality attainment attract future graduates more. Simultaneously, general knowledge of areas described in the theoretical part is tested. The outcomes are presented in the final 5th chapter.
Overall summary, suggestions and a conclusion are disclosed in the final part.
This thesis’s primary focus is on gender equality as it is defined in the fifth Sustainable Development Goal – “Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls” (SDG5).
This goal covers a very complex area, including physical and mental health, violence, sexual harassment, civil rights and other issues. All these matters are touched upon in the theoretical section only. The main emphasis is laid strictly on equality at a workplace, thus, on crucial dimensions as the Gender Gap, Gender Pay Gap, Glass Ceiling and Gender Indices.
3
1. Corporate Social Responsibility
From the beginning of all times, profit has been the most crucial goal for a company to pursue.
With the invention of serial production and consequent development of large corporates, the only concern simply could not have remained on profit maximisation. The corporate sector’s influence on the economy, environment and people increased significantly. Trade unions laid a large emphasis on employees’ rights and overall well-being. Competition grew swiftly, and today we are witnessing oversupplied markets where success depends on the captivation of costumer’s interest.
This pressure led to a shift of responsibilities that the management of a company bared, from owners to the stakeholders, affected by the company’s economic performance (Wasieleski &
Weber, 2019). The strategic response to this was anchored in corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities. Aiming to maximise the shareholder’s value by embracing responsible products and services (Paine, L., 2003 cited in Wasieleski & Weber, 2019).
1.1. Evolution of CSR
The first incentives of CSR are witnessed centuries ago, back in the Industrial Revolution.
However, the modern perception of responsibility of a business to society based on written evidence is a phenomenon of the second half of the 20th century (Carroll, 2008).
Carroll (1999) sets the beginning of what today is widely known as Corporate Social Responsibility in the 1950’. The reason is, Howard Bowen’s book Social Responsibilities of a Businessman (1953) which acknowledged the impact large businesses have on society, considering it as a responsibility of the businessmen rather than the corporation. Bowen defined the term as an obligation of a businessman to seek policies, make decisions and act in compliance with the values of our society (Caroll, 1999, p. 270).
Interest in Social Responsibility grew in the following years alongside countless definitions and publications (Carroll, 1999). Progress in definition setting was made by Archie B. Carroll in 1979 when he used some previously acknowledged definitions of social responsibilities and linked them into four categories incorporated into a company’s decision-making process.
The following fields: economic, legal, ethical and discretionary (or philanthropic), were later formed into Carrol’s famous CSR pyramid (CHAKRABORTY, 2015).
4 In the 1980s, more concepts like CSR were developed and defined, for example, business ethics, corporate social responsiveness or stakeholder theory (Carroll, 2008). The stakeholder theory, which is also part of many CSR definitions today, emphasises the importance of people with a “stake” in the company besides the shareholders (Melé et al., 2008 cited in CHAKRABORTY, 2015). Moreover, the release of “Our common future”1 in 1987 shifts the focus of CSR towards environmental issues by defining the concept of Sustainable Development and stressing its importance (CHAKRABORTY, 2015).
According to Carroll (2008), the most significant outcome of 1990’ was the development in the CSR business practice. Foremost the formation of companies specialised in consultancy on the successful way of running a business, which complies with the CSR concept. In this decade, businesses were built upon a thriving reputation achieved via CSR practices, which also became a trend for years to come (Carroll, 2008).
At the beginning of the new century, CSR gained popularity, made space for new department creation and brand-new business fields such as CSR-related consultancy. CSR reporting became an integral part of a business course (Carroll, 2008). Sustainability gained importance, especially after the United Nation’s (UN) Millennium Development Declaration was published.
1.2. Defining CSR
Although the perception of a business’s corporate social responsibilities has existed for decades, there still has not been developed one common definition of what CSR actually is nor clearly set areas that it concerns.
One of the most recognised definitions of corporate social responsibility is the one from the European Commission, defined as “the responsibility of enterprises for their impact on society” (European Commission, 2016). In compliance with this, companies are expected to follow the law and simultaneously run their businesses sustainably by “integrating social, environmental, ethical, consumer, and human rights concerns into their business strategy and operations” (European Commission, 2016).
1Publication of the Commission of United Nations lead by Gro H. Brundtland focused on Sustainable
Development. United Nations General Assembly. (1987) Report of the world commission on environment and development: Our common future. Oslo, Norway: United Nations General Assembly, Development and International Co-operation: Environment.
5 1.3. CSR in the Czech Republic
Czechia defines Corporate Social Responsibility as the voluntary commitment of a company to embrace the needs of their customers, suppliers, employees and other figures, affected directly and indirectly by their economic activity, into their daily decision-making process (Quality Council, n.d.).
The main accent is made on voluntariness, while there is no specific law, bounding companies to act sustainably. Ministry of Industry and Trade (MIT), as a guarantor of CSR in the Czech Republic, has developed the National Action Plan for CSR (MIT, 2014). This Action Plan addresses all the stakeholders of the country. Firstly, the government and ministries are expected to promote CSR and develop a proper environment for cooperation in this sphere.
Furthermore, education about the social responsibilities and a research field is to be supported by the government with the engagement of the private sector. Action Plan suggests self- regulation for companies that decide to act upon the recommendations since it is not enforced by law. Active participation and promotion shall be rewarded and recognised. Hence, both the public and corporate sectors may be awarded in all CSR key pillars (environmental, economic, social). The Quality Council complements the Czech Republic’s National CSR Award yearly in cooperation with the international initiative “Committed to Sustainability”. (MIT, 2014).
Besides the MIT and the Quality Council of the Czech Republic, public organisations actively participate in CSR promotion and help companies with their strategy enhancement. Worth mentioning are the following establishments:
• Association of social responsibility that profiles in CSR and the SDG’s2, with the primary goal of incorporating CSR and sustainability into prioritised agendas of all businesses in Czechia. Since 2017 they announce SDGs Awards and contribute to many charitable causes through their Giving Tuesdays (A-CSR, n.d.).
• Business Leaders Forum promotes CSR and helps in the strategy development for business.
• Business for Society3 consults and helps to interpret sustainable development and CSR strategies through innovation, human resource development, and transparent,
2 Sustainable Development Goals 2030, United Nations
3 Byznys pro společnost
6 sustainable business. Their initiative #responsibly 20304 connects plenty of companies in the Czech Republic to pursue sustainability together as one country with the help of the SDG’s (Business for Society, 2019).
In conclusion, CSR is actively promoted within corporate, private and public sectors in the Czech Republic.
1.3.1. CSR reporting
The Czech Republic has implemented the EU’s directive concerning Non-financial reporting in 2016. It obliges each publicly traded subject with gross revenue exceeding 40 billion euro to publish their non-financial results together with their financial statements every year (European Parliament and the Council, 2014). For this purpose, businesses may use various tools provided form international organisations such as EMAS or ISO 26000. This directive aims to increase the transparency of environmental and social activities of the corporate sector.
4 #odpovědně2030
7
2. 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development
The 2030 Agenda is the main strategic plan of the United Nations developed after the expiration of Millennium Development Goals (2000-2015) in September 2015. The full titled publication Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was presented after three years of negotiating as an enhanced build up to the previous scheme.
The Agenda is a “plan of action for people, planet and prosperity” (Rosa, 2017), intended to be implemented by all countries within the organisation. Seventeen sustainable development goals (SDG’s) and 169 targets have been developed in order to seek and achieve sustainable development in the economic, social, and environmental dimensions in the short term of 15 years. On that account, the publication’s title represents the final deadline for the goal’s realisation and stability attainment. SDGs are balancing the three dimensions of sustainable development – economic, social and environmental. Fields of improvement are broadened further into sections dedicated to People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership (Rosa, 2017).
2.1. United Nations Millennium Development Declaration
At the beginning of the new century, the world was still forming and adjusting after the transitions caused by the collapse of communism and several financial crises during the 1990’. Ever since the world began to transform and financial globalisation gained speed, the inequalities within and among countries rose significantly.
Thus, after series of summits and conferences, the United Nations world leaders came up with the United Nations Millennium Declaration in September 2000 (United Nations, 2000).
Table 1. Millennium Development Goals: (2000–2015) MDG Goal’s specialization
Goal 1. Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger Goal 2. Achieve universal primary education
Goal 3. Promote gender equality and empower women Goal 4. Reduce child mortality
Goal 5. Improve maternal health
Goal 6. Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases Goal 7. Ensure environmental sustainability
8 Goal 8. Develop a global partnership for development
Source: (United Nations Development Programme, 2015)
This was a new concept by accepting which countries committed to the global cooperation to improve the worldwide situation by the year 2015. The outcome of this declaration was eight Millennium Development Goals (MDG) which were offering a solution to urgent problems of humanity. Particularly, the main concern was extreme poverty, in which 1.9 billion people were living in 1990 (United Nations Development Programme, 2015). Besides poverty, the goals focused on preventing child mortality and maternal health improvement in developing countries. Fight against severe diseases that in developing countries caused rising death rates such as Malaria or AIDS. Simultaneously they aimed to improve literacy, particularly in developing countries, by ensuring universal primary education and promoting gender equality and women empowerment (United Nations Development Programme, 2015).
Finally, to achieve all of these and maintain a sustainable world, it is essential that countries cooperate and therefore, the last goal is targeted on global partnership in development (United Nations Development Programme, 2015).
The MDG’s were indeed successful. In 2015 extreme poverty was reduced by more than a half.
The number of children enrolled in primary educational institutions in developing countries rose significantly, and maternal and child mortality fell by half (Way, 2015). Despite these and other wildly successful outcomes described in the 2015 Millennium Global Report, the world was far from closing the matters. Nevertheless, the report confirms that such goal setting is effective and might eradicate poverty and other global problems if the initiative continues.
Thus, a solid basis was created, which resulted in the new Agenda with new and more elaborated targets.
2.2. Sustainable Development Goals
The seventeen goals for Sustainable Development (SDG’s) represent a very ambitious plan emerging from cooperation and three-year lasting work of Head of States, Government and other country representatives in cooperation with experts, in order to transform our world into a better place in all of the areas mentioned above. “The SDGs are integrated and indivisible, targeted globally and developed to be applied so, with respect to the national policies and priorities” (Rosa, 2017).
9 Table 2. Sustainable Development Goals (2016-2030)
SDG Goal’s specialization
Goal 1. End poverty in all its forms everywhere
Goal 2. End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture
Goal 3. Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages
Goal 4. Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all
Goal 5. Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls
Goal 6. Ensure availability and sustainable management of water and sanitation for all Goal 7. Ensure access to affordable, reliable, sustainable and modern energy for all Goal 8. Promote sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and
productive employment and decent work for all
Goal 9. Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Goal 10. Reduce inequality within and among countries
Goal 11. Make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable Goal 12. Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns
Goal 13. Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts
Goal 14. Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources for sustainable development
Goal 15. Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
Goal 16. Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
Goal 17. Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
Source: (Rosa, 2017)
Apart from much detailed and broad plan, the SDGs, unlike the MDG’s do not concern developing countries only. They head towards inclusiveness by using the expression “for all”, which is present in the names of six of the new goals (Palmer, 2015).
The first two goals are the very ground of the Agenda, while they represent the most urgent and vital global challenge the human race is facing. When compared to the Millennial Development Goals (MDG’s), where MDG1 “Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger” was
10 broadened to “End poverty in all its forms everywhere”, moreover, a single SDG2 dedicated just to hunger elimination emerged. On the contrary, goals that were namely focusing on illnesses and diseases, child mortality, and maternal health, were combined in SDG3 and extended to the point to provide medical resources for all (Palmer, 2015).
The only goal persisting is the one concerning gender equality; nevertheless, it is broadened to empowerment and equality for not only all women but all girls as well. Furthermore, equality is not intended to be just promoted, as in MDG4, but actually achieved. The scope of equality matters was extended to SDG10, which is focused on inequality reduction within and among countries.
The environmental pillar obtained crucial improvement in the SDG Agenda. Three goals are explicitly targeted on the environment, ensuring that all areas and species (air, seas and oceans, soil, fauna and flora) are protected and managed sustainably. A special goal is dedicated to climate change and the urgency of the issue and its impacts, including the plan to implement the commitment to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change to collectively contribute $100 billion annually by 2020 (Rosa, 2017).
The economics targeted goals, namely SDG 8 -12, consider promotion and improvement within the main macroeconomic indicators. Furthermore, stressing infrastructure, sustainability in industrialization, and the importance of constant research and innovation.
Finally, above all, it is vital to cooperate and maintain peaceful relations among countries and maintain just societies without violence and war. “There can be no sustainable development without peace and no peace without sustainable development.” (Rosa, 2017) Hence, SDG16 aims to reduce all forms of violence and subsequent death rates globally by protecting essential freedoms, strengthening national institutions and reducing corruption, providing equal access to justice and promoting discrimination-free laws (Rosa, 2017).
SDG17 again follows on the previous MDG8, “Develop a global partnership for development”, and broadens it with the division of the cooperation scope into the following sections: Finance, Technology, Capacity-building, Trade and Systemic issues (UN General Assembly, 2015). All in all, the aim is to increase international cooperation in financing and fundraising, increase and promote international trade based on universal, open and non-discriminatory systems and provide access to technology, science and information for all. This shall be done with respect
11 to each country’s domestic law in order to establish such policies for sustainable development.
Lastly, it is worth mentioning that this goal addresses not only states and government institutions but also multinational enterprises (Palmer, 2015).
2.3. Sustainable Development Report 2020
The SDG measurement and implementation are complex processes conducted on a voluntary basis (Sachs et al., 2020). To evaluate how countries stand in goal achievement, Sustainable Development Report is conducted yearly since 2016. The 2020 Sustainable Development Report (SDR 2020) has been broadened by a section dedicated to Covid-19 (its impact on the SDG’s and recovery from this extraordinary situation). Data from the first half of 2020 are used to assess the SDG index; hence the impact of pandemics is not fully visible in the research outcomes (Sachs et al., 2020).
The report includes country ranking, which is based on the overall SDG fulfilment. In other words, the overall score equals the average score of all 17 SDGs, individually 100 points means the full achievement of a specific goal and vice versa. According to this ranking, the Czech Republic dropped by one rank compared to the previous (2019) year and took 8th place out of all 193 UN members (Sachs et al., 2020). European countries occupy the first 15 spots in the ranking. Top 10, apart from Czechia, consists of the Nordic and western European countries with more robust social security policies and high confidence in their government (Sachs et al., 2020).
2.4. Social SDG’s and the Czech Republic
Although all the goals are closely interconnected, and the three pillars influence one another, the social pillar is clearly emphasized more. Not only by the order in which the SDGs are presented, starting with five social goals, but the whole publication begins by acknowledging the most significant global challenge – poverty eradication. Thus, to support the selection of the SDG5 as the main examined goal of this thesis, goals improving societal issues5 are described in the following chapter. Data from the new SDR 2020 are used to reflect Czech Republic’s position.
5 Societal issues are projected in several goals; hence, the arrangement of socially oriented goals varies
depending on the focus of the particular paper. For this thesis’s purposes, only the first five SDGs are described in the following chapter accordingly to the subcategory “People” from the UN 2030 Agenda.
12 Figure 1. Socially oriented SDGs
Source: (United Nations, 2020a)
As mentioned, SDG1: “End poverty in all its forms everywhere” follows on the MDG1 and sets more precise targets. Furthermore, SDG1 unlike the previous goal, aims to reduce extreme poverty, which is globally set up as living on less than $1.25 a day, as well as for all people living in poverty according to national definitions (Rosa, 2017). In the European Union poverty is described as living with less than 60% of the country’s median disposable income (Eurostat, 2020). According to this statement, 9.6% of people in Czechia are endangered by such poverty, which is actually one of the EU’s lowest, therefore, one of the best results among the countries (Eurostat, 2020).
In order to achieve this, the goal ensures equal rights and social protection for all, especially for those in need. Again, international cooperation is stressed, which shall secure resources to the less developed countries and herewith come closer to lowering the global gap among rich and poor countries (Rosa, 2017). Indeed, according to the SDR 2020, Czechia has fully accomplished SDG1 by 2020 (Sachs et al., 2020 p. 190-191).
SDG2, “End hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition and promote sustainable agriculture”, promotes hunger eradication for all human beings, specifically stressing the significance of nutritious food for children, adolescent girls, mothers and elderly provided regularly throughout the year (Rosa, 2017). Moreover, it is essential to support agriculture and support even small producers, consequently avoiding food waste. The goal aims to keep diversity in food production and breeding. The international partnership shall secure technology development in production as well as in agriculture, enabling each country and producer to a sustainable way of management (Rosa, 2017).
When it comes to the undernourishment of both children and adult inhabitants, Czechia has fully achieved this goal. However, throughout the years, obesity of the population, which is described as higher body mass index (BMI) than 30 kg/m2, has crucially worsened(Sachs et al., 2020 p. 190-191). This concerns especially children, from whom 18.5 thousand suffer from
13 moderate or severe overweight 6 (United Nations, 2020b). Thus, it will still take some time to achieve SDG2.
The importance of the SD3 “Ensure healthy lives and promote wellbeing for all at all ages”
has grown significantly in the past year due to the COVID-19 pandemic that struck the whole world. This has changed the course of improvement within the goal and worsened the conditions for the goal’s accomplishment. (United Nations, 2021)
The SDG3 is set very ambitiously; it aims to reduce and prevent maternal and child mortality and to improve reproduction health. Furthermore, it namely stresses the end of epidemics such as AIDS, malaria, tuberculosis and other frequent diseases spread worldwide (Rosa, 2017).
Traffic accidents were set to be reduced by half until the end of 2020. This has been successfully achieved by most European countries (Czechia included), Northern America, Australia and Japan (WHO, 2018). Overall wellbeing shall be achieved through access to essential healthcare services, medicine and vaccines for all. Which is interconnected with proper education and overall awareness. Finally, the goal appeals to a worldwide financial boost to prevent outbursts of epidemics (Rosa, 2017).
Sustainability and prosperity cannot be achieved without an educated society. Thus, SDG4 was developed as a single goal to “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” (Rosa, 2017).
The aim is to secure primary and secondary education for all boys and girls. SDG4 also points out the importance of availability and affordability of pre-primary care for all children.
Inequalities of all sorts in the academic field have to be eradicated in order to provide safe and relevant education. Less developed countries are to receive financial help for proper equipment of the educational facilities but also scholarships or new technology. International cooperation of teachers is encouraged, especially for developing economies (Rosa, 2017). As regards Czechia, SDG4 shows signs of rather an improvement, however, the scope is not sufficient yet to achieve the goal entirely. However, there are no signs of significant issue identified in the 2020 report (Sachs et al., 2020 p. 190-191).
6 Data from 2018
14 In the last few decades, gender equality has become a topic frequently discussed and raised to the public. Therefore, the UN summit set the very ambitious goal to “end all forms of discrimination against all women and girls everywhere” (Rosa, 2017). The reasoning has been developed in the UN Women, 2013 saying that firstly, inequalities and inequity are a global issue occurring in every country in the world. Secondly, equality between the genders accelerates overall development, governance and environmental sustainability. Thirdly, MDG’s confirmed the positive effect of such a goal existence on implementation and attention from the country representatives (Razavi, 2016).
The goal considers the fundamental human rights for women by setting targets to eliminate any violence, and sexual abuse on women and girls, one of the subgoals, namely, aims against child marriages and human trafficking. Furthermore, to provide and promote equal opportunities with equal legal rights and access for women in all the spheres of action and promote efficient strategies to empower women (Rosa, 2017).
SDG5 has worsened in several measured categories, the ratio of women in politics is still meagre, ration men-to-women education achieved (in years) has plummeted and finally the pay gap remains one of the greatest among European countries (Sachs et al., 2020 p. 190-191).
From what has been said so far, it is evident that the Czech Republic is not in a critical position, however, there are still significant steps to be taken, and the current global situation is toughening the situation for the whole world in each pillar. Out of the five goals described above, Czechia is the most distant from reaching the SDG5.
2.5. National attitude
Although the 2030 Agenda offers a thorough list of objectives to achieve, national implementation of the goals is crucial for successful attainment. The authors themselves appeal to the countries’ representatives to incorporate these recommendations in its national development plan and simultaneously conduct regular country-led inspections of progress (Rosa, 2017).
In cooperation with the Department for Sustainable Development, the Czech Government created two key publications, first “Strategic Framework Czech Republic 2030”. The Strategic Framework is a compilation of principles and advice aimed to be implemented on national,
15 regional and local levels to achieve sustainable growth in the long run. The framework is divided into six parts accordingly to the object of the matter. The six groups based on the three pillars of sustainability and the 2030 Agenda are: People and society, Economic model, Resilient ecosystem, Municipalities and regions, Global development and Good governance (Kárníková, 2017).
The Czech Republic 2030 came into force in April 2017 as a pivotal tool for the public and private sector’s SDG implementation (Sustainable Development Department, 2017).
Consequently, for the purposes of the Voluntary National Review (VNR)7, the second key document “National Report on the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development”, was published. As its name prompts, it is a summary of the implementation strategy of SDGs. This report is a build-up to the strategic framework, it explains the vision of the country’s future development, tools recommended to achieve this and the summary of the situation at the starting point (Sustainable Development Department, 2017).
7VNR is a suggested initiative from the UN in order to trace performances on the national level, meant to be reported at the high-level political forum (United Nations, n.d.)
16
3. Gender Equality
Gender (in)equality is a very topical issue of the twenty-first century, particularly of the last two decades. Inequal opportunities and requirements between the two sexes are present in every society in the world. Moreover, inequality touches almost every field of our lives and is clearly visible in the economic, educational, political and social sphere. Many developing countries still face gender inequality in the ground areas such as the fundamental human rights where women are perceived as inferior and treated inhumanly. Thus, SDG58 very ambitiously tickles every aspect in which women are underprivileged and further aims to eradicate such inequalities. Achievement of gender equality is essential for a prosperous and sustainable future for all.
After the fundamental human rights, significant importance lies within the field of education.
The last decades show substantial progress of many countries world-wide towards gender equality in education. Girls are granted with equal possibility to educate and are encouraged to do so. However, this advance is worthless if women are still not getting opportunities and salaries equal to those of men, which also leads them to experience poverty more likely than men (OECD, 2012). The discrimination often begins with uneven work distribution within a household and roots in a lack of flexibility at the workplace (EIGE, 2020).
For purposes of this thesis, economic and employment-related inequalities between the genders are highlighted and discussed predominately.
Economic empowerment for all women, covered in the SDG5, touches upon equal remuneration, diversity and equal opportunity, women in leadership and childcare services and benefits. These are present, namely in targets 5.5., 5.a. and 5.b. see Annex 1. SDG5 targets.
The following subchapters cover the most significant areas of inequity.
8 Goal 5: Achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls.
17 3.1. Gender Gap
World Economic Forum (WEF) describes the gender gap as: “the difference between women and men as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, or economic attainments or attitudes” (WEF, 2017). In other words, it represents all the inequalities and inequities between the two sexes in day-to-day life.
To examine the gender gap, the WEF has developed Global Gender Gap Index, which measures the gap in four areas: Health and Survival, Economic Participation and Opportunities, Political Empowerment and Education Attainment. The emphasis on the inequality issue is laid not only due to the general injustice that no human should experience; But also due to the numerous research proving that gender equality contributes to economic growth (WEF, 2017).
For instance, McKinsey Global Institute, in its Gender gap or Women in leadership reports, has confirmed that the presence of women at the board and top management impacts a company’s financial results positively (Sancier-Sultan, Sperling-Magro, J., 2019). Moreover, research from 2015 has shown that closing the gender gap, meaning if women are fully incorporated into work as men are, would increase annual global GDP by USD 28 trillion in a decade (Woetzel et. al., 2015). In the present time, women represent about half of the working-age population, however, due to underpaid or even unpaid work, only 36 % of the worlds GDP is attributed to them (Woetzel et. al., 2015). Furthermore, despite numerous studies conducted by respected researchers on the direct correlation of the presence of women in leadership to its financial results, only 18 % of the world’s top management is occupied by women. A recent study from IBM has shown that even companies profiling as gender unbiased and women empowerees do not set gender equality within their staff as their priority (IBM, 2019).
The 2020 Global Gender Gap Report9 has shown some improvements and a continuous trend towards closing the gender gap. Globally countries still have to close up about 31.4 % of the gender gap on average as of 202010 (Schwab et. al., 2019).
The world is close to succeeding in two of the categories; first - Education Attainment, which overcame 96 % of obstacles from that the gap is created. The score calculation consists of a weighted percentage of enrolment in the primary, secondary and tertiary educational
9 WEF’s Global gender gap report 2020, insight report analysed and compared 153 countries in the 4 fields considered when conducting the Global Gender Gap Index (economic, political, health and education).
10 Global score is calculated using the population-weighted average.
18 system and the literacy rate (men/women ratio). Secondly, Health and Survival, which considers only the sex birth ratio and the life expectancy difference, leaves only 5 % of the gap unfulfilled (Schwab et. al., 2019).
The worst results are in the Political Empowerment field, where the gap is 76.4 % wide (Schwab et. al., 2019). Significant weight is dedicated to the indicator of “ratio of years with female head of state”. Simultaneously, most countries comprised in the statistics, including the Czech Republic, have not had any female leader of state yet. Thus, this could partially explain such poor performance globally.
The Economic and Opportunity category is still far from completion as well. On average, at least 40 % of the global gap is yet to be closed; however, this is hard to predict on the global level since differences among countries are enormous. This category comprises the most complex indicators consisting of the so-called pay gap, labour force participation, ratio of women in managerial positions, and professional or technical jobs (Schwab et. al., 2019).
Iceland, followed by other Nordic countries, has been leading this ranking for years now. What may come out as a surprise is that Nicaragua and Rwanda made it to the top 10 of this survey (Schwab et. al., 2019), simply for indicators do not consider countries economic state nor significance and focus strictly on equality between genders. The Czech Republic took 78th place, being in the slow lane behind all the V4 and other economically comparable countries (Schwab et. al., 2019). This alarms the importance for all the stakeholders in the Czech Republic to act immediately to ensure countries further development.
3.2. Pay Gap
One of the most significant and simultaneously one of the easiest to determine indicator in the economic area is the gender pay (wage) gap. It represents the difference in average wages or salaries between comparably skilled men and women for identical jobs in the same field. The size of the gap differs by various labour sectors, education level achieved or different management grades.
Discrimination in the remuneration system is usually distinguished by the initial source causing such difference, and these are as follows: horizontal (occupational), vertical (hierarchal) and nowadays perhaps eradicated within-job segregation (Barnes, 2019).
19 The horizontal discrimination developed mainly through stereotypes of male/female typical work fields. Meaning that men represent more vacancies in engineering, ICT, finance or business, which is perceived as a standard and encouraged by society. On the contrary, women are more suitable for socially oriented positions such as nursing, humanitarian fields and education on the primary or secondary level. This segregation increases the pay gap, most notably due to higher salaries in the men-typical fields and higher possibility of career development within the field (Barnes, 2019).
Vertical segregation focuses on authority recognition, where men are expected to represent managing positions more likely than women (Barnes, 2019). In essence, it is believed that women do not pursue authoritarian jobs due to their nature. Many argue that this is a natural side-effect of the historical labour market’s evolution, where men are simply more experienced.
However, in the 21st century, these arguments were proven wrong and should no longer be relevant. More frequently, candidates possess equal abilities and education, and still, certain bias overrules in favour of the male participants.
Wage discrimination is a significant issue without which gender equality in the economic area cannot be reached. Therefore, “equal pay for work of equal value” as the fundamental goal of the European Commission11 is incorporated into their new agenda: New vision of gender equality 2019 (European Commission, 2019). The latest statistics12 on the European Union show that the average wage gap of all its members is 14.8 %13. Meaning that women are paid on average almost 15 % less than men for an hour of work in gross income. This differs substantially while Romania, with the narrowest gap of 3 %, leads this chart; the vastest pay gap is in Estonia, reaching 22.7 %. The Czech Republic’s result is among one of the worst in the EU. On average, women get paid 18.9 % less than men for an hour of equal work. This escalates in the financial sector, where Czechia’s result is the worst in the EU. Women in Czech monetary sector earn 39 % less in gross earnings per hour when compared to the wage of men on identical posts. The financial sector suffers most from salary inequity across the EU, with the exception of Spain (Eurostat, 2020).
11 European Commission. 2016. Strategic Engagement for Gender Equality 2016-2019.
12 Eurostat 2020, data from 2018
13 „This is an unadjusted pay gap defined as a difference between the average gross hourly earnings of men and women expressed as a percentage of the average gross hourly earnings of men“(Eurostat, 2020).
20 To tackle this issue, the European Commission came up with a hypothesis that promotes pay transparency as a tool to eradicate unequal remuneration. Indeed, the creation of obligatory pay transparency measures has been set as a priority in its Gender Equality Strategy 2020-2025. It comprises pay transparency of starting salary for interested parties, employees' right to request a comparison of their salaries with the rest of the company, and the right of compensation if a gender-based pay injustice is proven. For enterprises, this would mean obligatory wage gap monitoring and reporting, being in charge of investigations of such allegations and potential indemnity settlement. Moreover, countries would have to implement this in their legislation, including sanctions in case of inactivity (European Commission, 2021).
Wage transparency has been already implemented in legislation of ten EU and some EEA14 countries. So far, this regulation was successful in Denmark, where the wage gap has been reduced by 13 % since its implementation (Houska, 2021).
3.3. Glass Ceiling
The concept of the so-called glass ceiling has been acknowledged for many years and is widely used in practice. It represents an invisible obstacle in a woman’s way towards promotion into higher managerial positions.
In order to smash the glass ceiling, the European Commission presented a directive that aims to increase the share of women at executive boards in both the public and private sector to 40
%. This directive would concern all the companies operating in the EU that are tradable on stock markets (Union, 2016). This directive was presented in 2012, however, it was blocked and never came into force. Ever since it is a part of the EU’s Gender Equality Strategy as a voluntary tool for enterprises to reduce inequality.
3.4. Gender Indices
In order to measure inequality between the two sexes, several indices have been set based on various key indicators. The most relevant are described in this chapter.
Table 3. Gender Equality Indices
Index Key dimensions Organisation n. of
countries Global Gender Gap
Index, GGI (2020)
• economy, education, health and politics
World Economic Forum (WEF)
153
14 European Economic Area – consist of EU countries and Lichtenstein, Norway and Iceland.
21 Gender Equality
Index, GEI (2020)
• work, money, knowledge, time, power and health
European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE)
28
Gender Inequality
Index, GII • health, empowerment, labour market
United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP)
162
Gender Development Index, GDI
Difference between men/women in dimensions of:
• long and healthy life,
knowledge, standard of living
United Nations Development
Programme (UNDP)
167
Social Institutions and Gender Index, SIGI
(2019)
• Discrimination in the family
• Restricted physical integrity
• Restricted access to productive and financial resources
• Restricted civil liberties
OECD 180
Bloomberg Gender Equality Index B-GEI
(2021)
• Female Leadership & Pipeline
• Equal Pay & Gender Pay Parity
• Inclusive culture
• Sexual Harassment Policies
• Pro-Women Brand
Bloomberg 44
Source: author’s analysis based on data from: Schwab, 2020; EIGE, 2020; OECD, 2019;
UNDP, 2020, Bloomberg, 2021.
The Global Gender Gap Index (GGI) from the WEF has been already mentioned in relation to the global gender gap, and the key indicators are thoroughly described in note 3.1. Gender Gap.
Gender Equality Index, assessed by EIGE since 2013, compares the EU countries exclusively and does so in compliance with the EU policy goals on gender equality. Initially, it focuses on six core domains - work (key indicators - work segregation and quality and involvement in full-time employment), money (financial resources and economic situation), knowledge (attainment and participation in schooling and segregation within the different levels of education), time (unpaid care activities vs time left for employment and social activities), power (participation in the political, economic and social field) and health (access to medical care, health status and patterns of health behaviour). These are not only the indicators meant to measure progress, but they also suggest ways of improvement and change. Additionally, violence committed on the weaker gender and other disparities alike are examined. Finally, the 2020 EIGE report also focuses its attention on digitalisation in the work sphere, which they
22 address as the future of gender equality and as a threat that simplifies misuse of information and harassment (EIGE, 2020).
UNDP’s Inequality Index (GII) difference from the other indices is that it calculates the loss humanity suffers due to a certain level of inequality. In other words, a higher score is an unpleasant result since it means a higher difference and, therefore, a higher loss on development. Base criteria for index are reproductive health (maternal mortality and birth rates), empowerment (women against men in parliamentary seats and share of women to men with at least secondary education) and economic status (share of the active working population) (UNDP, n.d.).
To calculate Gender Development Index (GDI), UNDP’s Human Development Index (HDI) proportion for both genders serves as the base. GDI measures the gap in human evolution in key areas – length and healthiness of life, length of education and GNI per capita (UNDP n.d.).
Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI) is one of the more complex indices directly connected to the SDG5 of the 2030 Agenda. SIGI profiles in 4 dimensions with 16 indicators and 27 variables. Discrimination in the family (from the basic rights to responsibilities and financial state), restricted physical integrity (including violence, genital mutilation or sexual abuse), restricted access to productive and financial resources (comprising employment and access to financial services, non-land and land assets) and finally restricted civil liberties (citizenship and political rights as well as basic freedoms of an individual) (OECD, 2019).
Bloomberg’s relatively new index differs substantially from the rest in several aspects. Most importantly, it examines the performance of publicly traded companies instead of countries. As of 2021, 380 enterprises worldwide, with market capitalization worth USD 14 trillion, were included (Bloomberg, 2021a). To become a part of the group, businesses have to meet the actual conditions of B-GEI and achieve a higher score than is the global threshold measured by Bloomberg. In return, after inclusion to Bloomberg’s index, the company will receive an exclusive framework on gender reporting and a detailed plan on how to measure ground equality indicators at a workplace (Bloomberg, 2021b). Data from key dimensions (see Table 3.) are continuously assessed in order to monitor progress and develop new strategies for improvement. To conclude, being a part of B-GEI comes with a certain status of being a gender- inclusive company.
23
4. Key financial institutions in the Czech Republic
A financial institution (FI) is described as a company that provides financial services such as loans, deposits, investments, savings accounts or currency exchange. In the Czech Republic, such institutions are regulated by the Czech National Bank (ČNB). To engage in the financial market in the Czech Republic, companies have to fulfil certain criteria regarding their equity, liquidity and legal inclusion. When all requirements are met, ČNB grants the company a licence that enables them to provide financial services.
For purposes of this thesis, companies are selected considering the net annual profit and number of customers. Considering that companies will publish their annual reports at the turn of April and May 2021, unaudited current year data published by the institutions on their official websites and data from the prior year are used for the selection.
As a result, Top 3 ranks are taken by the same three leading banks in the Czech Republic in both categories.
Table 4.Top financial institutions in the Czech Republic by number of customers
Financial institution 2019 2020
Česká spořitelna, a.s. 4.60 4.50
Československá obchodní banka, a. s. 4.24 4.23
Komerční banka, a. s. 1.66 1.64
MONETA Money Bank, a. s. 0.99 1.37
Fio Banka, a. s. 0.98 1.07
Source: Česká spořitelna, 2021; ČSOB, 2020; Komerční banka, 2021.
Regarding the number of customers, Česká spořitelna is the most important financial institution in the Czech Republic, with a total of 4.5 million clients as of year-end 2020. The second place is closely taken by Československá obchodní banka (ČSOB), with 4.23 million customers. As Table 4. implies, these two banks control a large part of the Czech monetary market, and the rest is redistributed within many other medium and small financial institutions. Komerční banka, a.s., placed third in this ranking. Its share of the market by the clientele is significantly smaller, with a total of 1.64 million customers in 2020.
24 The ranking remains almost the same for the three largest FI’s by net profit, varying slightly in these institutions order based on 2019 financial results.
Table 5. Top financial institutions in the Czech Republic by net profit in billions of CZK
Financial institution 2019 2020
Československa obchodní banka, a. s. 19.69 8.50
Česká spořitelna, a. s. 17.70 10.06
Komerční banka, a. s. 14.90 8.16
UniCredit Bank, a. s. 10.12 5.03
MONETA Money Bank, a. s. 4.00 2.6
Source: Česká spořitelna, 2021; ČSOB, 2020; Komerční banka, 2021.
In 2019 ČSOB generated the largest annual net profit out of all FI’s in the Czech Republic, reaching a total of CZK 19.96 billion. Due to the coronavirus crisis, the situation in 2020 changed significantly. The financial sector was impacted substantially by lowered interest rates and postponed instalments. Banks’ profit decreased by half or, in some cases, even more.
Reported data from 2020 changed the ranking in favour of Česká spořitelna, which overtook first place with a total net profit of CZK 10 billion. ČSOB’s profit plummeted by 57 % to CZK 8.5 billion. Komerční banka ranked third with its net profit of CZK 8.16 billion.
In the following chapters, each of the chosen banks will be examined on gender equality. The main focus is on gender-related policies, rules and targets used by the institutions in their CSR strategies and continuously on the results of such activities reflected in their employee diversification or awards achieved in this field. Each bank is a part of a different multinational financial group with a foreign parent company. Hence, the Czech institution will be compared to the rest of its financial group, focusing primarily on the parental institution or the headquarters. For the comparison, data published in non-financial and annual reports of the institutions were used.
Table 6. International Financial Groups
Top 3 Czech FI’s Group Group’s parental institution Česká spořitelna, a. s. Erste Group Bank AG Erste Bank Österreich, Austria Československá obchodní
banka, a. s. KBC Group NV KBC Bank NV, Belgium
Komerční banka, a. s. Société Générale Société Générale, France Source: own research
25 4.1. Česká spořitelna, a. s.
Česká spořitelna, a.s., (or “ČS”), the longest operating bank in the Czech Republic, has been present on the market for 196 years. ČS focuses on retail customers, small and medium enterprises, large companies and municipalities. The bank holds a leading position in mortgage and consumer loans, total deposits, insurance mediation and mutual funds distribution. In 2000 ČS joined European financial group Erste Group, and since 2018 Erste is the sole shareholder (Česká spořitelna, a. s., 2020).
The bank’s long-term motto is “building the prosperity of the country” (Česká spořitelna, a. s., 2020). Herewith the size and importance of this institution is emphasized. The bank is not only benefiting the country as the largest employer and taxpayer, but it contributes via its inclusiveness, educational programmes and innovation support which is also incorporated in their CSR agenda.
CSR Strategy
Česká spořitelna, a. s. builds its CSR activities upon its long-term presence on the market. ČS strives for prosperity for people and society. The bank cooperates with the Ministry of Industry and Trade on the National Action Strategy for CSR by bringing a stakeholder’s perspective. It also is an active partner of the Association of Social Responsibility and Czech Banking Society.
The CSR activities of the bank are divided into five major sections: Educational Support, Česká spořitelna is a good neighbour, Culture, Sport and Other projects (Česká spořitelna, a. s.,2020).
Gender policies and their outcomes
“Česká spořitelna is a good neighbour” comprises an important section focused on diversity.
ČS endorses diversity of age, culture, physical ability and gender as both employer and service provider. The bank promotes equal opportunities through the mediation of their Diversitas program. Diversitas is an initiative that was developed earlier in the last decade on an incentive of female employees who had experienced the “glass ceiling” effect during their career life.
The main aim was to reduce all forms of inequalities that the employees might experience.
The initiative is composed of 6 projects, representing groups that might be possibly discriminated; Transition – Without Barriers (inclusion of people with a handicap); the Stork (for employees on parental leave to maintaining contact with the bank); Healthy ČS (benefits focused on physical and mental health); Grant – Flexi Office (for work-life balance); Wise Owl
26 (to enable multigenerational experience distribution); and most importantly Gender – Equal opportunities (to enable women to acquire tools, experience and conditions needed to grow with their careers) (Česká Spořitelna, a. s., n.d.).
Regarding gender equality, Česká spořitelna points out the importance of equal opportunity and the reduction of inequalities between genders. ČS incorporates Erste Group Bank’s Diversity and Inclusion Policy. This led to a commitment of having at least 35% of Supervisory Board and top management seats (Board members, B-1 level managers) represented by women by the end of 2019. The latest official data published by ČS show that there is only one woman (out of 6) in the Board of Directors. B-1 management level position has 10 women (out of 57), which equals 17,5 % of women in top managerial positions. The Supervisory Board of ČS offers nine seats, two of which are occupied by women (approx. 22 %). This leaves Česká spořitelna far from achieving the Group’s goal set for the year. As of 2019, seventy per cent of all ČS’s employees (9 255) were women (Česká spořitelna, a. s., 2020). By and large, this means that ČS employ more women who are, however, dominating in lower non-leading positions.
In order to increase equality between the representatives of each gender in the ČS’s management, the bank has applied several measures. Firstly, it publishes all vacancies in the internal job offer system to encourage current employees to aim for higher positions. Two successors per position is one of the bank’s planned strategies to ensure future equal representation of genders. Regarding the top management positions, a list of potential candidates is continuously brought up to date with the condition that women represent at least one third. Males are predominant in the IT department of the bank. Hence, the bank offers educational programs and workshops in order to endorse their employee’s development.
Equilibrium, Satori and “Všem ženám” (“To All Women”) are programs that have helped women to develop their skills in order to transfer into higher positions in the past years. The bank initiates the “Stork” program for employees on parental leave, ensuring that the contact between the employee and the institution remains (Česká spořitelna, a. s., 2020).
Fair and equal remuneration is vital for the bank; thus, they observe its employees’ salaries and benefits to keep it fair for both genders and eliminate the pay gap. This was mentioned in the Annual Report 2019; however, there is no supporting documentation with more detailed statistics. Daniela Pešková, ČS’s Board member responsible for Retail Banking, stated on her
27 LinkedIn that the pay gap in Česká spořitelna is 8% (Pešková, 2021), which is significantly less than average of the country15, but still present in this women-predominant institution.
4.1.1. Erste Group Bank AG
Erste Group’s history goes back 200 years to 1819, when first Erste österreichische Sparkasse was established in Vienna. This savings bank followed a non-discriminatory rule for their clients from its very beginning. This aim for prosperity through the mediation of inclusion remained in the bank and spread across the Group. Nowadays, the original Spar-Casse Privatstiftung16 is the main shareholder of Erste Group Bank AG, owning 30.4 % of its shares.
The Group operates in 12 countries, 8 of which as a majority shareholder. The most influential subsidiaries are Erste (Austria), Česká spořitelna (Czech Republic), Erste Bank Hungary, Slovenská sporitelňa (Slovakia), Erste bank Croatia, BCR Romania and Erste bank Serbia (Erste Group Bank AG, 2020).
CSR Strategy
The Non-financial consolidated Report of the Group supports the 2030 Agenda and the 17 SDG’s and implements them in its CSR strategy. The relevant goals which the Group strongly impacts are chosen and further described in connection with Erste Group. The group touches upon SDG5 Gender Equality in the relations with its employees (Erste Group Bank AG, 2020).
Gender policies and their outcomes
Erste Group sets targets aimed at the entire Group, to achieve an equal work environment in every institution involved. The main goals are, therefore, similar to those in the Czech subsidiary Česká spořitelna. Firstly, to increase the number of women in managerial positions;
via Erste Women in IT to entice more women into this field; and promote LGBTIQ inclusion.
For these efforts, Erste Group has been included in the Bloomberg Gender Equality Index in 2019 (Erste Group Bank AG, 2020).
For 2020 Erste Group Bank set the following targets for the Group: minimum of 35 % women in top management positions (Supervisory Board, Board of Directors, B-1 management);
to develop strategies on supporting women in management; diversity promotion; and to monitor
15 described in chapter 3.2. Pay Gap
16 Erste’s monetary fund
