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The “International Community” was set up in order to help these colleagues from other countries gain a foothold
in Austria and provide them with a platform for mutual networking. This initiative was independently established
by employees and mostly involves colleagues who themselves relocated to Austria in the past. The goal is to
render real assistance and provide new employees of RBI AG with important information on topics of everyday
life. This includes, for example, information on finding an apartment, learning German, administrative processes,
medical care, childcare facilities, and schools. The opportunity to build up a social network should also make it
easier for colleagues from abroad to find their way around in a new environment and to help them adapt to the
new culture.
The now long-standing tradition of the International Dinner was continued in 2018. New colleagues from various
nations and colleagues from other areas of the bank can be met at this gathering over dinner. The relaxed,
informal atmosphere is not only a good setting for talking about the cuisines and cultures of different countries
but also helps new colleagues from other countries to integrate more easily.
The area of migration and integration is one focus of our Corporate Volunteering activities. Read more about our
activities in this area on page 139 onwards.
“Diversity 2020” initiative
RBI AG launched the “Diversity 2020” initiative in 2016. The goal is to better promote
and take advantage of diversity in the company through professional diversity
management, thereby making a positive contribution to the corporate results.
Organizational anchoring of the topic was taken into account by nominating a
diversity officer and establishing a diversity committee. Furthermore, in order to include as many perspectives as
possible, around 20 diversity ambassadors were appointed from all executive areas. These ambassadors
cooperate with the diversity committee and are tasked with strengthening diversity in their area as well as
planning and implementing the measures.
One important factor that hinders diversity in companies and thus, among other things, hinders attempts to
increase the appointment of women to management positions, is unconscious bias. There have already been
“Sensitization Training Courses” in groups in which employees could participate voluntarily. Managers are
currently being offered online training on this topic. Additional training and information formats are intended to
increase awareness and knowledge around the subject of diversity (see page 91).
The first comprehensive package of measures related to the empowerment of women and was launched in
2016. It aims to sustainably increase the proportion of women in higher qualified positions. We believe it is
essential to directly target HR processes in order to have a sustainable effect. For internal vacancies, the
decision was made to include a waiting period in the appointment process in order to have enough time to
find qualified female applicants. In addition, qualified female candidates are being actively approached by
HR employees. Documents are „anonymized“ for interviews and hearings so that there is more objectivity in the
selection process. We also consider it important to change the structural conditions within the company to
encourage women to apply for management positions. In 2017, RBI set a Group-wide overall target quota of
women on the Supervisory Board, Management Board and in second level management of 35 percent by
2024. Mentoring for women is seen as an essential instrument for increasing the share of women in management
and will therefore be continuously expanded. An in-house training course on “Empowerment of Women” is
also offered; this was completed by twelve talented young female employees in 2018. (Further information on
talent management measures can be found on page 88.)
Raiffeisen Bank International | Sustainability Report 2018