Sinéad Patton, Chief Financial and Commercial Officer, Veolia Ireland, was last night named as the Social and Equality Business Leader at the PwC Business Post Sustainable Business Awards.
The PwC Business Post Sustainable Business Awards celebrates companies and individuals adopting the principles of ESG and putting them into action. A key part of this is building a diverse and inclusive workforce that reflects the diversity of our society.
Why is equality and inclusivity important in Veolia?
At the core of our mission and ambitions lies our workforce, standing at the forefront of everything we do. It is our employees who will enable us to achieve our purpose of ecological transformation, and we are committed to ensuring they are in an environment in which they can succeed. That’s why we emphasise the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion.
Having a truly inclusive culture is about embracing and celebrating our differences and giving everyone opportunities in an environment where everyone feels respected, has a sense of belonging and has the opportunity to thrive.
Sinéad believes passionately in diversity being a critical component in the success and sustainability of a business and of a society.
What are we doing to improve diversity and inclusion?
Our 2023-2025 Inclusion Strategy, called Five by 25, focuses on five areas:
- Diversity action planning
- Attract and retain
- Opportunity and accessibility
- Inclusive leadership
- Impact and accountability
Veolia is a key member of the Business in the Community Ireland Leaders Sub-Group on Social Inclusion. Sinéad is co-chair of the Sub-Group leading
- the development and launch of the Inclusive Employer Blueprint in early 2019
- the development and launch of Elevate: the Inclusive Workplace Pledge
What challenges do we face?
A large proportion of our roles are technical in nature, such as technicians, engineers or technical managers, and a high percentage of those occupying these roles are traditionally male, which is representative of industry across Ireland.
To address this challenge we have ongoing initiatives to encourage females to consider working in technical roles in Veolia.
About the awards
The achievements of the best performing Irish businesses across a range of environmental, social and governance (ESG) categories were recognised at the third annual edition of the PwC Business Post Sustainable Business Awards in the Intercontinental Hotel in Dublin with over 350 in attendance.
13 winners were announced, selected from a shortlist of 66 entries which were drawn from a record number of more than 150 submissions from 100 businesses active in Ireland.
Congratulations to all those who were shortlisted and to the winners.
