"Equal Opportunities, a shared path". - Encarna Piñero, CEO de Grupo Piñero

Palma de Mallorca, March, 2020 

Women have made undeniable advances in business and in leadership, but there still is a long way to go on the road to equality between men and women in the workplace. Several studies show that the number of senior management positions held by women remains low, including one in 2019 by Grant Thornton that said it was just 30 percent. Despite being still too low, it was an improvement of three points over 2018. 

Statistics can sound an alarm bell, but real progress toward equal opportunities requires social and cultural change—a change in the idea of how far women can go and what they can bring to the business world. It is a transformation that must be promoted from the earliest ages and accompanied by a consistent and committed educational model. 

As a businesswoman, I believe it is important to promote a calm and serious conversation about this issue, but I also believe strongly that the discourse must be accompanied by a real, shared societal commitment to openness and inclusivity. This is critical to achieving greater representation in the world in general, and in business in particular. For this, we must reflect on our attitudes and place a bet on higher levels of female leadership. 

Since the beginning of its journey, Grupo Piñero has always been a reflection of our family’s values and principles. Now, my sisters, my mother and I continue the proud task of my father's legacy, but more committed than ever to a more inclusive and egalitarian corporate culture. We want women and men committed to our project to succeed on equal terms so that their merit determines their professional development. I am convinced that women's access to corporate leadership makes us all better and brings efficiency and resilience to our companies. 

We achieve this through both external and internal processes. Externally, we must support all measures that, from both public and private institutions, are developed to enhance real equality and eliminate harmful practices for women in the workplace. 

Along these lines, collaboration between the private and public sectors is essential. Women will not be able to have access to leadership positions on equal terms without an open and strategic collaboration between public authorities and companies. 

Internally, our effort involves actively including women in our companies, giving them positions of responsibility and offering opportunities to advance. This includes finding ways to make the best use of talent in our organizations, including in senior management positions. 

Here at Grupo Piñero, 54% of senior management are women. For our workforce in Spain, the number of women and men are equal. We are proud of that, and we continue to work on equality and diversity, which we firmly believe are two of the keys to our success. 

For my mother, my sisters and me, getting even more involved in what had been my father's life project brought the assumption of a lot of responsibility. But, over time, we began to understand that it also offered us the opportunity to work for our own dreams. With determination, perseverance, confidence and the ability to plan and reconcile, we have been able to advance our business, not by ourselves, but with each and every one of the thousands of women and men who work with us. At our core, we promote a socially responsible business that believes in equal opportunities and rejects any type of discrimination. 

I wish you all a very happy International Women's Day.