focused on girls and young women at both professional and technical levels ; we ’ re preparing them for opportunities in the mining industry when they finish their studies ,” says Schlechter Kutscher . “ We ’ re also talking to young people at technical schools about gender balance and diversity in our industry , so we can encourage more talents to enter it , because the recent analysis from the likes of EY shows it has become increasingly difficult to attract younger generations into the mining professions . We must work to reverse that .”
Codelco ’ s diversity and inclusion department was originally created with a gender focused directive , but was expanded to include support for different generations , backgrounds and cultures . “ We are a reference point for the industry in Chile ,” says Schlechter Kutscher , who believes promoting these values is not only good for
business in the short term , but critical for its long-term sustainability . She believes that , as a state-owned company , “ Codelco has an ethical commitment to our society to do the right thing , be aligned with human rights and protect the working rights of every person ,” and that the policies Codelco is implementing are contributing to the transformation of Chilean culture . That pledge to transform has seen Codelco aim for new target of 14 % ( to further increase the number of women in decision-making roles ( today it ’ s 12.7 %) while setting a ‘ women in the workforce ’ target of 11 % by 2025 . “ We need to keep listening to both women and men , from all levels and generations , because this matter involves everybody ,” she says . “ Their input is essential to position the biggest copper company in the world as an example of how diversity fosters a high performance organisation .”
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