Aqualia recibe el sello efr por su compromiso con la conciliación

Secretary of State for Social Services and Equality Mario Garcés awarded Aqualia the EFR certificate during a ceremony held recently at the Ministry building, during which he praised the progress in reconciliation that the company has made in the past year. Aqualia has stood out for its initiative and efforts in creating a corporate policy regarding family-professional reconciliation and for its commitment to maintain and continue pursuing improvements in this policy, thus becoming the first Spanish water utility to receive the EFR seal as a family-friendly enterprise. The company's senior management is the driving force behind this cross-cutting initiative. The HR department led by Carmen Rodríguez spearheaded the project with the involvement of all Aqualia departments and areas.

The awards ceremony was held in the assembly hall of the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality, with over 60 companies and entities who were certified in 2017 also in attendance. Juan Pablo Merino, Communications and SCR Director at Aqualia, had the honour of accepting this distinctive recognition and spoke on behalf of the companies distinguished in this event. During his talk, Merino pointed out that “the family-work balance is an important extra asset for companies, since it entails better time management, fosters personal skills such as leadership, negotiation and teamwork, and also helps develop qualities such as patience and empathy.”

He also stressed how important it is for companies to secure this certification. The gender salary gap in EFR-certified entities has significantly reduced by six percentage points. Moreover, EFR-certified entities have 5% more women on their boards of directors than the average Spanish companies listed on the IBEX 35.

Aqualia had already begun the EFR family-friendly enterprise certification process back in 2017, when it received recognition and certification from the Másfamilia Foundation, which is a benchmark in reconciliation. This certification, which was endorsed by AENOR, underscores Aqualia's strengths in creating the “aqualiaconcilia” (Aqualia Reconciles) trademark, drumming up a strong involvement from its personnel and achieving employee satisfaction and a good working environment. 

This time, the Ministry of Health, Social Services and Equality has endorsed the company through EFR certification. Aqualia now joins other organisations certified during 2017 such as Bridgestone, Santalucía and Edelvives and the over 600 certified entities and businesses working for the benefit of 500,000 employees and their families in Spain.

Aqualia intends on rolling out a series of new reconciliation initiatives within the next three years to reach a balance between the personal and professional commitments of employees at the company. The recent recognition and EFR certification attest to the efforts and progress made in the company to achieve excellence in striking a work-family balance and becoming a family friendly enterprise.