Women’s Empowerment Principles: opting into an international community to promote gender equality

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It’s bigger than my philosophical belief in a fair and just society, and bigger than social justice by itself: I see gender diversity as an asset that will change the way VINCI Construction Grands Projets does what it does: it will work more harmoniously, of course, but also more efficiently and effectively. This is why I wholeheartedly endorse the United Nations’ Women Empowerment Principles.
Patrick Kadri, Managing Director, Major Projects Division, VINCI Construction

Endorsing the WEPs sends a strong and inspiring message that reaches around the globe

VINCI Construction Grands Projets embraced the Women’s Empowerment Principles in December 2023. The WEPs were established by UN Women and UN Global Compact, which VINCI has endorsed since 2003.

By signing the WEPs, the company has reasserted its commitment to gender equality and empowering women in the workplace.

VINCI Construction Grands Projets was the first building and civil engineering company in France to endorse the WEPs and its goal – besides advancing gender equality among its own employees – is to use its operations in a variety of countries to further this cause beyond France’s borders.

The seven Women Empowerment Principles

A community encompassing more than 9,000 businesses and organisations has embraced the WEPs, reflecting their strong commitment to gender equality in general and professional equality in particular. This network is driving progress in workplaces and beyond them, following the seven Principles:

High-level corporate leadership
Treat all women and men fairly at work without discrimination
Employee health, well-being and safety
Education and training for career advancement
Enterprise development, supply chain and marketing practices
Community initiatives and advocacy
Measurement and reporting

Inspiring meetings and conversations

“The welcome from the WEPs leaders was very enthusiastic. They actually asked us to join straight away. When we presented our Grands Projets au féminin (Major Projects, the feminine way) initiative, the organisers and other members were glad to see that we had been committed to this cause for a long time. They were especially impressed by the unprecedented move to involve women and men employees in mapping out and rolling out the action plans,” says Eric Chambraud, a member of the Grands Projets au féminin steering committee.

“Beyond fulfilling the pledge we made when we signed up, it is very inspiring to share first-hand experiences and best practices with other businesses. This is where we see why it is so important to exchange ideas with other people who believe in and are actively promoting the same values, to make tangible progress regarding the situation of women,” emphasises Sophie Labbe, another member of the steering committee.

Lastly, the Gender Gap Analysis Tool associated with the WEPs will guide the company as it fine-tunes its upcoming action, reinforce action it is already taking and provide a yardstick to measure progress.

Why this initiative is fully aligned with Grands Projets au féminin

The WEPs blend seamlessly into VINCI Construction Grands Projets’ broader strategy for progress – which is already particularly proactive when it comes to gender diversity.

VINCI Construction Grands Projets started up its Grands Projets au féminin initiative in 2019 to heighten employee awareness of the issue and to take high-impact action to bring about tangible change.

This initiative, which is unmatched in our industry, is led by a 14-employee steering committee (7 women, 7 men) representing the company’s full diversity (some work in operations and others in support functions, some are based in France and others abroad, some are young and others more mature, and they come from various levels of management).

The steering committee suggests concrete action aimed at lastingly solidifying gender diversity in the workplace, the executive committee reviews its proposals every two years, and the steering committee then implements the selected initiatives.

Several of these initiatives have proven immensely popular. Examples include posters, films (such as Did You Say Stereotypes?, which won the Jury’s Choice award at the Deauville International Responsible Film Festival), podcasts (such as the gender-neutral Epicène), benchmarks and S’engager pour la mixité day-long awareness-heightening seminars (with 47 events reaching over 700 employees so far).

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