12 companies are competing for the prestigious Diversity at Work award, which is the latest category in the Annual Responsible Business Awards 2022. The prestigious national corporate social responsibility, sustainable development and equality competition is organised by the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum (BBLF) for the 20th year in a row. The winners and finalists, ranked second and third, will be announced on 14 March.
The anniversary edition of the Annual Responsible Business Awards saw a significant increase in nominations in the Diversity at Work category – the latest, seventh category introduced a year ago by the Bulgarian Diversity Charter* to recognise best practice in creating more diverse teams and inclusive working environments. As one of the Charter’s two co-founders BBLF introduced the specialised category in an effort to promote the benefits and encourage a culture of equality and respect in the workplace.
Now 12 companies are competing for the prominent accolade, or 25% more than last year, which is a clear sign of the competition’s trustworthiness, on the one hand and the significance of the diversity and equality issues for employers in the private sector, on the other.
Among the companies vying for the prestigious award are members of the Bulgarian Diversity Charter such as Shell, HPE, IBM and AstraZeneca. Interestingly, HPE are now defending their title from last year.
Other nominees include Accenture, Paysafe, Danone Serdika, Yettel, Imperia Online, Prestige-96, Solvay Sodi, Lidl.
The Bulgarian Diversity Charter would like to thank all entrants for sharing their D&I campaigns and projects! Certainly, your good example and success stories will motivate other companies and teams to realise the benefits of diversity and the importance of a culture of acceptance and inclusion both for the business performance of each individual company and for the promotion of a better social climate and tolerance in Bulgarian society.
Diversity at Work award winners are selected by an independent and objective jury panel of respected experts from the public and civil sector, and Diversity Charter Advisory Committee members based on the following criteria: specific benefit to society, working in partnership with other organisations, staff commitment to the project, duration and consistency of the initiative, innovation and public recognition.
BBLF has held the prestigious competition annually since 2003 to encourage best practice in social responsibility and to promote corporate programmes with the greatest impact. The competition mottoed Lead by Example is open to companies from all sectors of the economy
across the country irrespective of BBLF membership. The initiative thus provides a broad picture of the private sector’s commitment to solving a range of social challenges.
The winners of the individual categories and the runners-up and honorable mentions will be announced at an official high-profile prize-giving ceremony on 14 March 2023. The event features a presentation of all entries, and resumes will later be published in the Awards archive on the BBLF website.
For updates please follow us on social media: #bblfawards2022, #responsiblebusiness.
About the Bulgarian Diversity Charter
A joint initiative of the Centre for the Study of Democracy and the Bulgarian Business Leaders Forum aimed to promote diversity management in Bulgaria by developing, launching and implementing a national Diversity Charter.
The official launch of the Bulgarian Diversity Charter took place in September 2020, and Bulgaria was the 25th EU member state to join the EU Platform of Diversity Charters and benefit from the exchange of ideas, good practice and resources between the national charters.
Today, the Bulgarian Charter brings together over 50 signatories, mostly private companies but also NGOs covering their 5,000 employees. By signing the Charter, companies make a public commitment to recognize and embrace diversity, equal opportunities and social inclusion as part of their strategic policy and daily operations.
The Bulgarian Diversity Charter has launched several initiatives, i.e. Diversity at Work Award within the Annual Responsible Business Awards, annual Diversity at Work webinar, annual Membership certificate signing ceremony to encourage, promote, debate, exchange and disseminate diversity management policies and best practice.
Since 2021 the Charter and its signatories celebrate together the EU Diversity Month to promote diversity and inclusion as values in workplaces and in society at large.
