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On March 17, 2012, six teams from the Women@Renault network will line up for the start of the 22nd Aïcha des Gazelles rally.
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This year, the two-women crews will take to the Moroccan desert behind the wheel of four Dacia Dusters in the SUV class and two in the 4×4 category.
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This all-female rally provides an opportunity to promote the Women@Renault plan, which aims to empower women in the workplace.
Underscoring its belief that diversity is a cornerstone of company performance, Renault is actively promoting the role of women in the workplace, in particular through the Women@Renault plan and its community network, both launched in March 2010. All the applicants who volunteered to compete in the 2012 Aïcha des Gazelles Rally are members of the Women@Renault network. Some 220 women took part in the selection process.
Renault organised a weekend event to select the competitors. Applicants were given a real taste of what the event involved. They were put to the test in sports and technical competitions in rally-like conditions and attended selection interviews with panels of interviewers.
Once the six teams were selected (four in the SUV class and two in the 4×4 category), the competitors did two training courses in orienteering and sand-driving techniques in order to test their ability to withstand and adapt to the harsh conditions – and put the vehicles through their paces prior to the actual event.
The 12 participants are from Brazil, Mexico, Poland and France. Of varying backgrounds, the women work in a range of functions, from engineering to manufacturing and sales. “During the selection process, the women also demonstrated that their commitment to this tough event was firmly anchored in Renault’s core values, which underpin the Women@Renault plan, namely determination, professionalism, team spirit and solidarity,” said Claire Martin, Renault’s Vice President of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Women@Renault: a global plan to empower women in the workplace The Women@Renault plan focuses on three key areas to promote women within Renault:
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Addressing gender equality in HR processes
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Promoting women’s talents and skills
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Changing mindsets and closing the gender gap
The plan includes recruitment targets: 30 percent women in engineering positions and 50 percent women in sales and marketing functions. And for each management position to be filled, at least one women is in the applicant pool. The plan also aims to improve women employees’ work-life balance throughout their career.
To enlist employee support for the plan, Renault’s Corporate Social Responsibility Department set up a community network via a Web 2.0 platform: Women@Renault. Today, this is the company’s biggest social network, with more than 3,000 members – both female and male – in nine countries.
Carlos Tavares, Chief Operating Officer, Renault
“At Renault, we believe diversity is key to our competitiveness. The Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles Rally is a unique event and a highly demanding exercise in navigation. It calls on very similar qualities to those which enable the women who work for Renault to deal with the challenges they face on an everyday basis in our industry.”
WOMEN AT RENAULT: KEY FIGURES (End-2011)
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17,3 percent of Renault employees are women (10 percent in 1999).
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30 percent women on the Group Executive Committee.
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17 percent women on the Renault Management Committee (12 percent in 2009).
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34 percent of new car sales representatives in the Renault network in France are women (30 percent in 2010) and 29 percent in Europe (23 percent in 2010).
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43 percent of Dacia brand new car sales representatives are women.
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50 percent of employees working on the Twizy EV assembly line in Valladolid, Spain, are women.
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Recruitment: gender equality in support functions, 24 percent women in engineering and technical functions (France).
DACIA: DARING AND PASSION
Dacia, a Renault group brand, has caused a real stir in the motoring world. The Dacia brand has grown consistently and become a key player on the automotive market. Dacia vehicles boast a clever design, a spacious cabin and unbeatable value for money with no compromise on reliability. Dacia has emerged as a major success.
Duster: from strength to strength Launched in April 2010, the Dacia Duster off-roader – the sixth vehicle in the range – was an instant hit. To date, Duster registrations stand at more than 250,000 units worldwide. Duster is the brand’s flagship sports model, competing in France’s Trophée Andros ice-racing series driven by Alain Prost, the 2011/2012 champion, and the Rallye Aïcha des Gazelles (2nd and 3rd places in 2011). This daring and ambitious brand has a true passion for motorsport.
