New SELECTIO Indeks: Fewer women board members than last year! Croatia is again below the EU average

For comparison, the representation of women on the boards of the 350 most important companies on the London Stock Exchange according to the data of The Female FTSE Board Report for 2023 is 40% and shows a growing trend. According to data from the European Institute for Gender Equality from 2023, the share of women on the boards of the most important companies listed on stock exchanges in the European Union is 34.7%, and it also shows a growing trend.

The number of companies with female directors in the CROBEX index decreased from four to three compared to last year. Also, the percentage of companies, constituents of CROBEX, that do not have a single woman in their management, the so-called zero companies, increased by 11.7 p.p. compared to last year. There are currently 45% of such companies in CROBEX. For comparison, of the 100 most important companies in the London Stock Exchange, 94% of them have at least one woman on the board.

However, there are also positive trends in Croatia. Companies with the Employer Partner certificate, of which there are about a hundred, already have on average 41% of women in management positions and 49% of women in the talent pool. Also, the share of women in the management of companies awarded the Employer Partner certificate is 25.9%. Through the Employer Partner project, more than 20,000 HR system evaluations were carried out in some of the most successful organizations in Croatia, and a positive impact was achieved on over 200,000 employees in the region. Another positive trend could follow the introduction of the Equal Pay Champion certificate by which the SELECTIO Group recognizes companies that are leading the way towards equal pay. This certificate represents the first step towards equality, and on March 15th, at the ceremonial awarding of the first certificates, the first Equal Pay Champion winners in Croatia will be announced.

Why were the directives for transparency and equal pay initiated and what rules will every company in Croatia have to establish by 2026?

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