Mario Aguilera
Juan Vargas
Lucia Alvarado Tlaque
Universidad Popular Autónoma del Estado de Puebla
Crishelen Kurezyn Díaz
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Petróleos Mexicanos (PEMEX), one of the largest companies in Mexico, is a great example of inclusion and diversity. PEMEX has a specific area and different programs that deal with issues related to gender equality, equity and work well-being, which has brought great benefits to its employees.
Melissa García Godínez, Inclusion Manager at PEMEX, tells how in 2015 a complete area was created to take care of the welfare of the company's workers. This initiative was based on the publication of the new organic status of the company as a result of the energy reform in Mexico.
In the transition to becoming a productive state enterprise, they realized that they needed to pay special attention to production, quality and welfare, due to the competition that entered the country. This was beneficial because before, being the only oil company in Mexico, they did not worry so much about these aspects.
It is for this reason that in that same year the inclusion area was created that deals with issues of inclusion, equality and non-discrimination. The executives of the company met, read and analyzed the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, and devoted themselves to generating strategies that were aimed at achieving them.
This department seeks to improve the institutional environment in order to maintain their psychological well-being; as well as, generate inclusive work spaces, free of discrimination.
Her first step was to work on the normative part, where policies and procedures were included to deal with possible cases of discrimination, labor harassment and sexual harassment. Because none of this existed within the company.
As a next step, a diagnosis was made to know how the issue of inclusion in PEMEX was. According to the data, they saw the need to create strategies to sensitize people. Thus, training for workers was initiated throughout the company, where they are taught both the concepts of inclusion, work harassment and sexual harassment, and the policies and processes that have been generated to address these issues.
As of November 2017, they have created six awareness programs. An example of this is a fair that takes place in the company's facilities, where through games, workers are taught the basic points of inclusion such as: inclusive language, sexual diversity, gender equity and people with some disability. This strategy was quite successful.
They also have twelve ongoing awareness campaigns on different topics, where infographics, videos, posters, among other materials are placed in the work area, on social networks, and other spaces in the company. Among the most successful strategies deals with the inclusion of people with disabilities.
The Manager, Melissa, projected for us a video that is sent to the workers, where they give some advice that facilitates the interaction with disabled people. One of them is to change the words with which they refer to these people, instead of saying "they are handicapped, sick, crippled, paralyzed, or people with different or special abilities", because they can be offensive, "the best way to refer to them is by the person's name, remember that respect begins with words," concludes the video.
There are 140 thousand workers in PEMEX, and in the office of inclusion management there are seven. One challenge they face is that 80% of the staff is operatives who do not have computers. This makes it difficult to get the information to all the facilities in the country. To solve this, they created a table of inclusion, equality and non-discrimination in which there is a representative of each of the facilities, to whom they send all the material so that they can share it with their staff. This program is called "multipliers", because specialized training is given to the representatives of each facility, who then share it with their colleagues.
So far, they have three networks: the network "include me", the network for diversity and a group of women leaders. With regard to the latter, a study is being carried out about women in senior management positions in the company, to learn how they managed to ascend to a managerial position and serve to generate new strategies that help increase gender equity in the company. As of now 27% of management positions held by women.
Similarly, they will launch a campaign to encourage high school girls to consider careers such as oil engineering or technical careers, and thus increase the number of women in management positions in the company.
Melissa García has a dream that inspires her to continue generating strategies that promote the well-being of her company's workers. "I am very aware of the fact that we can make a positive change in people's lives," she says with great enthusiasm.
In a meeting she had with the members of the diversity network, they came up with the idea of participate as a company to support the gay pride march that takes place in Mexico City. At first, they saw it a bit difficult, since this has never happened with government companies. However, they did not give up and got the CEO to give them the green light to bring a contingent to march in this event.
When speaking with the social communication department, they agreed that for the staff to be encouraged to attend, they should record a video that had the objective of inviting the workers to join the cause. This video shows the members of the diversity network, among which there are not only homosexuals and lesbians, but also transvestites and heterosexuals who seek inclusion in their company.
In this video we present the cases of people who have same-sex couples and have managed to register them without any problem in the medical services that the company provides to the spouses. In addition, they relate the acceptance they e in their respective areas of work and the respect that exists between colleagues.
After uploading the video to the company's social networks, it was an instant viral success. They began to receive calls and emails from the most important media outlets in the country, asking them for interviews, in addition to another government company, Public Service, asking them for permission to replicate the same with their workers.
Be part of the paradigm shift in the country, is a motivator that does not allow them to surrender and they are determined to continue generating strategies that lead PEMEX to the complete transition of a company that promotes the welfare of its people and that contributes to Mexican society.
Melissa has the dream and does not lose hope that PEMEX will continue to support this type of strategies and that the day will come when these issues are so deeply rooted in people that there is no need to generate awareness campaigns or that you do not have to create a network of diversity because they are already known topics and accepted as normal both in the company, in the country and the entire world.
Melissa is concerned that workers exposed to situations of discrimination, harassment and sexual harassment, can reach a state of crisis from the stress to which they are subjected in their workplace. However, she has noticed that with the simple fact that there is an institution within the company that listens to them and where they can denounce abuses, it helps them to change their attitude and feel stronger to face the situation in which they find themselves. In addition, psychological support is provided, which has helped them improve their performance in their daily tasks.
On the other hand, having created an instance of inclusion within the company and that also works under the UN 17 Sustainable Development Goals, has given them the opportunity to identify changes and updates that should be made in policies and standards, to assure the welfare of workers.
Since the beginning of the area of inclusion, they have received letters of congratulations and thanks from the workers, who have found a light of acceptance in a company that they perceived as very traditional.
There are even collaborators who have written that they no longer had the desire to go to work and thanks to the inclusion initiative, they have again found motivation in their activities and commitment to the company.
The first campaign they launched on sexual diversity caused a lot of resistance among the workers, as they received some negative comments, since the company was based on very traditional bases and was founded at a time when these issues were taboo.
However, they were firm and constant to achieve their goal; dissenting workers are given freedom of opinion, as long as within PEMEX they respect their colleagues and the institution, because "here, respect and tolerance towards differences are promoted, that is, equal treatment," explains Melissa.
Over time, complaints have been decreasing and every time there is a positive change in the culture of the company, "I've felt a change in which people are more sensitive about it," she says.
In 2016, they carried out a survey on climate and organizational culture, carried out by the Ministry of Public Administration. Melissa states that in the results obtained, the change is notable, since in 2015 gender equity was 73% accepted, and in 2016 it rose to 82% acceptance by workers. Regarding the issue of equality, PEMEX went from 79% to 89% acceptance in its organizational culture.
In the case of harassment and sexual harassment at work, complaints are received and a multidisciplinary group is created, which is responsible for investigating and determining if workers need psychological support, and channel them to the corresponding health area.
These strategies have impacted the workers positively, since they have noticed a change in their work performance and psychological well-being. Melissa fondly remembers the case of a worker who wrote an email to thank them for the trainings they provided at their workplace on sexual diversity; the message read: "A few days ago my son came to me to tell me he was gay. At that time I rejected him, but thanks to the talks you gave us, my perspective on the subject changed and now I feel calm and proud of my son ".
As mentioned before, PEMEX, through inclusion management, has different programs that support both workers and society. Melissa is open to make her strategies known, so that others can replicate them and help to have a better world.
From 2015 to 2017 the changes within the company have been very positive, because the environment of the different areas of work has been filled with more trust and security, bearing in mind that the company can support them in any issue of harassment.
Having the right information for the processes they have to follow gives them more peace of mind. PEMEX Diversidad has managed to reduce the cases of harassment and discrimination with one of the campaigns: "No es No". As well as several more campaigns provoke a better work environment and growth and development in one of the oldest and largest companies in Mexico.
Several organizations and companies have begun to replicate the campaigns, videos and trainings for their staff, seeking to raise awareness of issues of ethical care and dignity of people for who they are.
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