GENEVA and WALLDORF,
Germany, Sept. 13, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- SAP SE (NYSE:
SAP) today announced that it is the first multinational technology
company to be awarded the worldwide Economic Dividends for Gender
Equality (EDGE) certificate, recognizing its global commitments and
actions in achieving and sustaining gender diversity and equality
in the workplace.
The EDGE Certification is the premier standard and methodology
for evaluating a corporate commitment to gender equality. Launched
at the World Economic Forum, the EDGE assessment methodology is
distinguished by its rigor and business impact.
SAP's worldwide certification process began in March 2016 — after it became the first tech
company in the United States to achieve EDGE Certification earlier
this year. Global certification, which requires that countries that
comprise 80 percent of an organization be included, was awarded
after a third-party review of company data, gender practices and
employment policies, and employee survey results in an additional
12 countries: Australia,
Brazil, Canada, China, the Czech
Republic, France,
Germany, India, Ireland, Japan, Singapore and the United Kingdom. Criteria examined in the
review include recruitment and promotion, leadership development
training, mentoring, flexible working and company culture.
"SAP must be at the forefront to take businesses beyond bias,"
said Bill McDermott, CEO of SAP.
"This global certification marks a major milestone in our ongoing
efforts to eliminate bias in the workplace. We are very proud of
our investments in technologies and programs to drive inclusion.
This certification is another step in our leadership on this
critical issue, all geared toward helping the world run better and
improving people's lives."
SAP has a board-level commitment to reach 25 percent of its
leadership positions filled by women by the end of 2017. This
commitment has been reinforced by action. As of Q2 2016, women make
up 24.1 percent of the company's leadership and 32.5 percent of all
employees.
SAP's actions to achieve gender equality extend beyond
employment totals. Last month, SAP conducted a pay equity analysis
on its U.S. employee base, proactively increasing the compensation
of employees that lacked pay parity. Additionally, SAP announced a
machine-learning tool that, among other capabilities, detects
biases in job postings.
"Gender equality is not a corporate social responsibility
initiative or simply a cultural benefit," said Stefan Ries, chief human resources officer, SAP.
"It's a strategic differentiator, a source of innovation and
revenue driver for our company. We are proud of the recognition
we've achieved, but we remain committed to creating a culture where
employees of all backgrounds can thrive. We want to be the role
model in the technology industry for providing opportunities for
women, as well as for all underrepresented groups, and we hope that
others in our market will follow our lead."
"The technology industry is home to the world's innovators,
which is why diversity is of special importance. While the tech
community overall has historically received low scores on gender
equality, SAP is leading its peers worldwide through not only its
strong public commitment but the impactful programs and efforts
taking place on the ground every day," said Aniela Unguresan,
cofounder, EDGE Certified Foundation. "Through this global EDGE
Certification, SAP continues to set the standard for gender
equality in technology. We applaud their efforts to promote a
workforce that facilitates a culture of diversity, inclusion and
equality."
About EDGE Certification
EDGE is the leading global
assessment methodology and business certification standard for
gender equality. EDGE Certification has been designed to help
organizations not only create an optimal workplace for women and
men but also benefit from it.
EDGE stands for Economic Dividends for Gender Equality and is
distinguished by its rigor and focus on business impact. The
methodology uses a business, rather than theoretical approach that
incorporates benchmarking, metrics and accountability into the
process. It assesses policies, practices and numbers across five
different areas of analysis: equal pay for equivalent work,
recruitment and promotion, leadership development training and
mentoring, flexible working and organization culture.
EDGE Certification has received the endorsement of business,
government and academic leaders from around the world.
The EDGE assessment methodology was developed by the EDGE
Certified Foundation and launched at the World Economic Forum in
2011.
For more information, visit www.edge-cert.org or follow EDGE on
Twitter at @EDGE_CERT.
For more information about SAP, visit the SAP News
Center. Follow SAP on Twitter at @sapnews.
About SAP
As market leader in enterprise application
software, SAP (NYSE: SAP) helps companies of all sizes and
industries run better. From back office to boardroom, warehouse to
storefront, desktop to mobile device — SAP empowers people and
organizations to work together more efficiently and use business
insight more effectively to stay ahead of the competition. SAP
applications and services enable approximately 320,000 business and
public sector customers to operate profitably, adapt continuously,
and grow sustainably. For more information, visit www.sap.com.
Any statements contained in this document that are not
historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the
U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such
as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast,"
"intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "should" and "will"
and similar expressions as they relate to SAP are intended to
identify such forward-looking statements. SAP undertakes no
obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking
statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to various
risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ
materially from expectations. The factors that could affect SAP's
future financial results are discussed more fully in SAP's filings
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including
SAP's most recent Annual Report on Form 20-F filed with the SEC.
Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these
forward-looking statements, which speak only as of their dates.
© 2016 SAP SE. All rights reserved.
SAP and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as
their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of
SAP SE in Germany and other
countries. Please see
http://www.sap.com/corporate-en/legal/copyright/index.epx#trademark
for additional trademark information and notices.
For customers interested in learning more about SAP
products:
Global Customer Center: +49 180 534-34-24
United States Only: 1 (800) 872-1SAP (1-800-872-1727)
For more information, press only:
Andy Kendzie, SAP, +1 (202) 312-3919,
andy.kendzie@sap.com, ET
Rajiv Sekhri, SAP, +49 6227 77-4871,
rajiv.sekhri@sap.com, CET
SAP News Center press room; press@sap.com
Adam Novak, PAN Communications, +1
(617) 502-4300, anovak@pancomm.com, ET
Lucy Jay-Kennedy, EDGE, +41 41 530
11 49, lucy.jaykennedy@edge-strategy.com, CET
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