Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion

Diversity is not a goal, but a way to reach our goals. Diversity of thought and perspectives is important in creating an accomplished, successful, and sustainable business. We achieve diversity through our aim of being an inclusive employer embracing people with different backgrounds and personal experiences. We are committed to providing an enriching working environment for all, which allows individual skills, strengths, and perspectives to be heard, used, and amplified, regardless of gender, age, sexual orientation, religion, physical ability, or nationality.

This chart shows people working at Royal HaskoningDHV or one of its subsidiaries, including our employees as well as external staff such as agency workers and trainees. There is a small percentage (2.5%) of our external staff whose birth date is not registered in our systems. This group is not depicted in this chart.

26% of our employees are female and 74% male, remaining stable from 2021. Our definition of employees is based on the number of employees as of 31-12-2022, including staff with a definite or indefinite contract, employed directly by Royal HaskoningDHV or one of its subsidiaries.

Over 2021, we reported on our ambition to increase the percentage of female employees to 35% by 2025. We updated this in 2022 to a more realistic, yet still quite ambitious, target. We now aim to increase the percentage of female employees to 28% by 2025 and 32% by 2030.

In 2022, we continued to raise awareness and encourage open conversations around various equality, diversity and inclusion topics. Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (ED&I) is now a standing agenda item in all company-wide, management and team meetings. Our directors and managers regularly address important issues in their communication with the business and welcome direct feedback from colleagues on issues of concern or areas of improvement. Executive sponsors and allies drive impact throughout our business, striving towards progress and change to ensure inclusivity for all.

In February we celebrated the UN International Day of Women and Girls in Science alongside our own inspiring women. We are proud of our colleagues and shared their stories about what a career in science, tech, engineering, and maths has brought them.

Our Learning Week in March provided a chance to celebrate International Women’s Day together. Our theme was Celebrate the Other Perspective. We had a live kick off for all colleagues, regardless of how they identify. During the day, activities were organised to strengthen networks, align with female colleagues and build capabilities. This was followed in June by International Women in Engineering Day, celebrating the work of our female engineering heroes around the world in Enhancing Society Together. 

We are committed to decreasing the gender pay gap and are proud of the progress we have made towards gender pay equality. Reporting for the United Kingdom is available in our UK Gender Pay Gap Report which reflects our progress. We will continue to build on this for the United Kingdom and for our company in general.

Working with the Refugee Talent Hub, we set up the Women’s Mentoring Program. A number of enthusiastic female colleagues completed a workshop on how to be a mentor and have been matched with female refugees to provide help with formulating career goals, creating concrete next steps, improving CVs and LinkedIn profiles, and preparing for possible job interviews. The six-month journey between mentor and mentee began with a kick-off event in Amersfoort in September.