Full steam ahead: Incorporating women in the Transport division’s core operations

Full steam ahead: Incorporating women in the Transport division's core operations 6th October 2022

In this day and age, diversity and inclusion are considered key drivers for a healthy business. Organisations have successfully started to implement unbiased recruiting processes, talent retention programmes and other measures to improve workplace conditions, climate and culture, while incorporating new and different options to maximise performance.

In 2018 Antofagasta launched its Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, aiming to increase the participation in its workforce of women, people with disabilities and those with international experience. Looking to contribute towards a more developed and equitable country, the company focused on accelerating the rate of female participation in all areas and responsibilities, including in its Transport division, The Antofagasta-Bolivia Railway (FCAB), which provides transport services to the mining industry.

At FCAB, the policy was implemented from the very top of the company with the appointment in 2019 of Katharina Jenny as CEO, the first woman to lead the company.

"Being in charge of FCAB is always a challenge. However, it is a priority for me to continue working on reinforcing a culture that recognises the skills and professionalism of each person regardless of other differences," Jenny says. "Diversity and the inclusion of women continues to be a priority at FCAB. Enabling spaces for women in different roles in the organisation, especially in traditionally male positions, has motivated us and we will continue on that path."

Currently, northern Chile's leading freight transport company has a female workforce of over 16%. "At FCAB we have an ambitious Diversity and Inclusion plan, with the goal of reaching a female participation target of 20% by the end of this year and 30% by 2025," adds Jenny.

According to Danica Vicelja, Human Resources (HR) Manager at FCAB, the fact that there is a woman leading the company says a lot about the organisation. "Our recruitment processes are based on the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, with equal opportunities, and being able to reconcile work and family life at the same time as providing significant career development opportunities for women," she says, noting that currently female executives represent an impressive 36% of the company.

The secret to reaching or even surpassing hiring targets, while also retaining existing talent, is achieved by providing opportunities, training and professional development, Vicelja adds. When women come on board, they do not necessarily have experience in railways, so FCAB has developed apprentice programmes exclusively for women, recruiting females from universities, technical schools and professional institutes.

Last year there were two such programmes - one for maintenance and one for operations - and this year the company opened another 45 positions for women, which has been very well received in the host communities of Antofagasta and Mejillones, she notes, with 136 women applying in just one week. "The women who have already gone through the apprentice programme are our best ambassadors as through their own experience, they motivate their sisters, friends and neighbours," the HR manager says.

The training programmes are bearing fruit: in April, Elizabeth Castillo became FCAB's first-ever female train conductor, having worked her way up from when she entered the company as an operations assistant in 2020. "I dreamed of being Antofagasta Transport division's first female train conductor, and I worked hard to achieve it. This is also an achievement for the company that has decided to transform, modernise and prioritise gender diversity," the female trailblazer says. "I trusted in my abilities, but in this process I also had very good colleagues and expert mentors to whom I am grateful."

As is the case with Castillo, women are increasingly contributing at all levels of FCAB's core business. The operations area has reached double digit participation with an 11.4% share of women employed; in maintenance that figure reached 21.8%. In the more corporate functions such as human resources, finance and commercial operations, FCAB has achieved a 44% share of female employees.

For FCAB, implementing the Diversity and Inclusion Strategy creates value improving safety and service delivery, as well as other benefits. "In 2022, we will transport 6.7 million tonnes of cargo, a record for the last four years. In addition, we have had no fatal accidents for four consecutive years and have reduced high-potential incidents by 68% in the last two years," says FCAB's CEO.

"We are convinced that through our Diversity and Inclusion Strategy we are contributing to the development of a culture that stands out as being flexible, collaborative and fair, and this allows everyone who works for us to reach their full potential. Together we build more collaborative and better teams, that allow us to continue growing and positioning ourselves in the region, as we have done for more than a hundred years" concludes Jenny.