Gender Equality Statement

Gender equality and balance

The table below shows the gender balance in the company, as well as women's share of men's salaries in per cent, as of 31^st December 2022.

Results

The gender balance in House of Control was 34% women and 66% men. This is an increase of 5% in the proportion of women in the organization from 2021. As per the table above, women in House of Control had 87% of men's base salary in 2022. This is a decrease from the previous year by 2%. In the company, there are more men than women in leadership roles.  This is something we are focusing on and will return to later in the report.

Job levels and salaries

It is important for House of Control to offer employees an attractive salary that matches market levels and is perceived as fair. In this connection, we have partnered with Korn Ferry to create a salary benchmarking framework for the various roles in the company. This has given us a total overview of roles, levels and grades, across our locations. This framework provides predictability, both for the employees and the company, and helps to attract and retain talent. The data matches salaries for similar grades and roles against the rest of the market, giving us further control over equal pay. The process with Korn Ferry was finalized at the beginning of Q2 and laid the foundation for the salary process in 2022.

Gender balance – temporary employees, part-time employees, parental leave and recruitment 

The table below shows the gender balance in employment, parental leave and recruitment in 2022, and as shown, we make little use of part-time employees. The exception in 2022 has been two part-time positions, customized to the employees’ needs.

During 2022, women on parental leave took an average of 16 weeks, whereas men in the company took an average of 4 weeks. We will return to the measures we have implemented to ensure that men take their share of parental leave under sections 2.3 and 2.4.2.

In 2022, four women and twelve men were hired. During the year, several measures were implemented to recruit women to the company.  The reasons for why we did not succeed as desired will be commented in section 2.2.

Salary differences between woman and men at different job levels in per cent 

The company's salary grades are based on the Korn Ferry framework. A thorough process and review of all roles in the company was carried out, based on the complexity, competency requirements and responsibilities in the roles. The company's managers were included in the process for their respective teams, and the grades were set based on the expertise and experience of Korn Ferry's consultants, in collaboration with the managers.

As Table 1 below shows, women in House of Control have higher base salaries than men in five out of twelve grades. In some of the grades there are only men or women (see Table 2), and information on the pay gap is not relevant.

Table 1

In Table 2 it becomes clear that there are fewer women than men in the highest grades in the company. This is linked to the fact that there is a higher proportion of men in leadership roles. What we see as a risk in connection with this and how we will work with this going forward will be presented in sections 2.3 to 2.4.2 of the report.

Table 2

Our work for equality and against discrimination

Principles, procedures and standards 

At House of Control, we aim to develop and attract the most talented people. This means that we will recruit employees who reflect the society we live in, regardless of gender, background, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion, identity, age or disability. We have zero tolerance for discrimination, and our efforts to promote gender equality shall be reflected in all our personnel processes, including recruitment, promotion, pay and working conditions, development opportunities, and work-life balance. 

How we work to promote equality and prevent discrimination is anchored in our values, ethical guidelines, LMS and measurement systems, personnel handbook, payroll processes and HSE procedures.

How we work to ensure equality and prevent discrimination in practice

We have a strong focus on increasing the proportion of women at all levels of the company. In 2022, we increased the proportion of women in the group management team from 25 per cent to 40 per cent. Elsewhere in the organization, we have not succeeded in recruiting women to the extent desired. In some of the roles, men were recruited to balance the proportion of women and men in the team. Also, historically, it has been difficult to recruit women to certain parts of the organization, as at times there have only been male applicants.

This was also evident in the processes in 2022, despite a greater focus on increasing the proportion of women, both internally in the organization and with our partners. Among other things, we entered into a collaboration with AiJob, a company that uses artificial intelligence in its candidate database, where we as a hiring company do not gain insight into the candidate's gender, age, ethnicity, etc. until a job interview has been arranged. Unfortunately, the outcome was not as desired as the database was too narrow for our purposes.

A meeting was also held with NAV in connection with a cooperation on inclusive working life, where the aim is to help more people into the labour market. Due to changes in the market, the company implemented a hiring freeze for a period of time. Contact with NAV will be resumed when it is possible for the company to hire again.

The psychosocial working environment is important to us, and we work continuously to improve our processes in this area. In 2022, the working environment committee held quarterly meetings where key figures and action plans for both the physical and psychosocial working environment were reviewed. Regular safety inspections are also carried out to ensure the physical working environment. The work in the committee is continuous, and the current members will serve until 31 December 2023. 

In Q4 2022, we implemented a new system (Peakon) for conducting pulse surveys in the organization. Through bi-monthly surveys, employees can to a much greater extent influence and give their feedback anonymously in the system.  The surveys contain several questions, with gender equality and diversity being two of several topics. Based on direct feedback from all employees, we gain insight into what employees think about management, the working environment, their own motivation, development opportunities, job satisfaction and commitment. This enables us to react proactively and ensure that plans and initiatives are implemented on a regular basis in response to relevant feedback. The outcome of the surveys is worked with on an ongoing basis by both managers and HR, through reviews at monthly HR meetings and workshops in the teams. The results are on the agenda at committee meetings, in addition to being communicated to the entire organization.

House of Control is a flexible workplace with a good work-life balance, including the possibility of working from home when needed and flexible working hours. 

Our culture is characterized by a high degree of trust, influence, openness, and good employee relations, regardless of what role you hold in the company. Our culture is closely linked to the values that are important to us. In April 2022, a workshop was organized for all employees to take part in developing the company's core values. With over 300 contributions, we came up with four pillars that say a lot about who we are, how we work and, not least, what we stand for. We are the Yes-team who believes in growth, with a power of action built on confidence. Our values implies how we should treat each other, that there should be equal opportunities for professional growth, opportunity to influence at all levels, and not least that everyone should be confident that they can speak their mind and be 100% themselves. Our values also describe the attitudes and behavior expected in the workplace, and they are binding both internally within the organization and externally towards our customers, partners, and owners.

As mentioned in sections 1.3 and 1.5, we have established a framework for salary benchmarking in the company. The grades will be reviewed annually with the managers and Korn Ferry's consultants to ensure that each role is at the correct grade. The agreement with Korn Ferry is currently valid throughout 2024. To ensure that we continue to have an overview and control of equal pay going forward, it is preferable to continue the co-operation.

As mentioned above, we have procedures and guidelines regarding our work to promote equality and prevent discrimination. In addition, we have an anonymised whistleblowing procedure that provides a safe framework and the opportunity for employees to report unacceptable behaviour. Our procedures are available on our Sharepoint and are clearly communicated to all employees. They are also reviewed in the onboarding programme for all new employees.

How we will ensure equality and prevent discrimination going forward

As of today, we have 11 different nationalities in the company. Diversity goes far beyond nationality, and we want to increase our focus on diversity and gender equality in our recruitment processes. We have introduced a proposal to inform our recruitment partners that we do not want information on age, gender or ethnicity when we receive candidates. This will enable us to work even more targeted to promote diversity in our processes. This will be included in our advert templates, making it visible to all applicants.

Furthermore, we will continuously work with the results of the pulse surveys to ensure transparency and inclusion in our processes. This is also something we are measured on by our owners, and which we are obliged to follow up on. The working environment committee will continue to hold its quarterly meetings, where the pulse surveys and regular statistics, as well as any issues related to the physical and psychological working environment, will be part of the agenda.

We will work more actively with our values as a tool for promoting desired behavior and as a guide when we work with each other and external parties. We will do this through our new LMS system "Visma Dialog", where behavior related to the values is one of several things all employees are measured on. In addition, the values will help us to place an even greater focus on diversity and attitudes. However, there is still a risk that our unconscious biases characterize our attitudes. A course in "Unconscious bias" is therefore planned for 2023, to raise awareness and reduce the likelihood of bias influencing our decisions.

We want a broad perspective and representation of employees, customers and the market among our managers. Not least, diversity among managers is important for the company's reputation and the ability to attract and retain skilled employees. In Visma Dialog, we will increase focus on employee development through a competence and development module. In addition, it will be possible to carry out a strategic assessment and development of employees towards future leadership roles, where leadership talents will be mapped. The aim is to focus on female management talent, to ensure gender equality in promotions and newly created management roles.

At House of Control, we will continue our co-operation with Korn Ferry to ensure equal pay and prevent discrimination. As in previous years, this will form the basis for our yearly salary processes. 

Regarding parental leave, House of Control has not covered salary beyond the coverage rate from NAV. To ensure that men also take full parental leave, and thus also as a step towards ensuring that women return more quickly and are not left behind in terms of career and salary, full salary will be paid during parental leave from 1 January 2024.

We have identified the following risks of discrimination and barriers to equality

• The survey showed that the proportion of women in the higher salary grades is lower than the proportion of men. Initiatives to promote female leadership talent will be implemented to ensure gender equality in promotions
• Men took an average of 4 weeks of parental leave in 2022. There may be a risk that men do not take full parental leave, as the company does not cover salary beyond 6G. This will change as of 1 January 2024
• Unconscious bias can influence our decisions. Raising awareness through a course for all employees can help to ensure that this is handled in a good manner

The following measures to prevent discrimination and promote equality have been implemented

• Continuous review of statistics, physical and mental working environment in the Working Environment Committee

• Pulse surveys are conducted every other month, to ensure transparency and inclusion. All employees have the opportunity to provide feedback on how they believe the company prioritizes diversity and whether they experience discrimination. Regular workshops, action plans and initiatives based on the results of the pulse surveys are carried out on a regular basis

• Actively work with our values, which focus on inequality, attitudes and behaviour

• Salary references from Korn Ferry to close any gaps and ensure equal pay
• Anchoring in processes and procedures

In addition, we regularly map the status of gender distribution in the company. 

Upcoming initiatives and planned activities

• Inform our partners that we do not want access to age, gender or ethnicity of candidates. The exception will be where it is appropriate for the gender balance in the department that gender is biased

• Continue communication with NAV regarding inclusive labour market

• Full coverage during parental leave

• Promote female leadership talent through a competence and development module  

• Course in "Unconscious bias" for all employees

• More activities in the offices to focus on diversity

In addition, we will increase the visibility of measures and planned activities through communication on the shared platform Workplace and at general meetings.

Results of the work so far and expectations going forward

We are proud to have increased the proportion of women in the Group management team to 40

per cent. As mentioned in the report we have some areas for improvement and things we need to focus more targeted on going forward. The way we work with equality and non-discrimination today, in addition to the implementations and further plans, will lead to an even greater commitment and focus on equality, diversity and diversity and gender balance in the company.