Volvo Trucks rewarded for diversity initiatives

Yesterday, Anders Olausson factory manager at Volvo Trucks, received the ‘Competence Award for Diversity Initiatives’ for his work on increasing the proportion of women in Volvo’s Tuve assembly plant in Gothenburg, Sweden.

The Tuve factory assembles the company’s heaviest and most complex trucks, and since its inception in 1982 has been strongly male-dominated. It has 2,500 employees, including just over 400 women, encompassing around 40 nationalities.

Anders Olausson’s strong commitment is entirely in line with Volvo Trucks’ over-riding ambitions regarding diversity issues. It is an approach that also puts the spotlight on integration as a means of promoting diversity.

More women
Anders Olausson, who sees considerable advantages in having a workplace with greater diversity, has worked consistently to increase the proportion of female employees. He represents a strong determination to see more women in managerial positions, as well as more female assembly workers. The aim is that one out of every three new recruits should be female; an aim that has increased the proportion of women by 70 per cent – from 237 to 407 – in just two years.

“We can see that our business results benefit through greater diversity, not least through better balance between the genders in all jobs,” adds Anders Olausson. “We currently have 15 per cent female employees, of whom 8 women are in managerial positions. These are figures we aim to improve still further.”

“Furthermore, if we are to have more women in managerial positions, it is important to attract more female assembly workers since managers are usually recruited internally from within the factory,” he continues.

Apart from establishing clear-cut goals regarding new recruits, all the members of the executive management group at Tuve have undertaken the ‘Partnership for Success’ training course, an EU project whose aim is to boost the number of women in leading positions. All managers at the level below the executive management group will also participate in the course in order to acquire greater awareness and practical experience of this issue.

Clear results
“We can see increased awareness regarding attitudes changes at all management levels and our business results speak clearly. In 2007, for instance, we set a new productivity record and achieved the best-ever result in the factory’s annual attitude survey among employees,” explains Roland Gertmo, human resources manager at Tuve.

Anders Olausson has worked at Volvo Trucks for 25 years and has been the Tuve factory manager since 2004. He concludes: “I’m immensely proud of this award and I hope this recognition will give added momentum to our ongoing diversity drive.”

The Competence Award and the annual Competence Gala is an event arranged by ‘Manager’, the Swedish management magazine. The theme for this year’s gala was ‘Sustainable Leadership – Managers who dedicate themselves to a better society’.