Travel Excellence is the first company in Costa Rica to be certified for gender equality in the workplace (a program initialed SIGIG in Costa Rica).

The Technical Standards Institute of Costa Rica (Inteco) issued a national gender equality standard in December 2013 with input from the National Institute of Women (INAMU) which sets out the requirements for an organization to achieve gender equality, and which performs the audits required to achieve certification.

In July last year, Travel Excellence, a tour operator that coordinates corporate events and vacations in Costa Rica, along with 44 other companies committed to improving their workplace conditions relating to gender equality.

Travel Excellence underwent a process of implementing measures to adapt its structure and organizational culture in order to ensure a set of more fair and dignified conditions for all of its workers.

“Since 2011, we have assumed a strategic challenge to strengthen good practices and to make adjustments for a more comprehensive gender approach. It is a source of great pride for Travel Excellence to be the first company recognized under this standard for its commitment to improving working conditions,” said José Alex López, coordinator of the Travel Excellence Management System.

The certification process involves an initial diagnosis to identify gender gaps in the organization and to create programs with clear objectives and goals to be achieved to close and erase those inequalities, said INAMU in a statement on the program.

A crucial area for qualifying under the standard is ensuring a company’s human resources includes a gender perspective in its recruitment and promotion selection processes, as well as has effective procedures for dealing with sexual harassment, and measures for workers with children seeking to balance work and family, among others.

“Gender equality should be a key issue in a business competitiveness strategy, since not having gender equality in decision-making positions positively affects investment returns, productivity and business strategy,” said Cynthia Castro, a gender equality consultant at RBA, a company that accompanied Travel Excellence in the certification process.

According to Inamu, companies with gender equality experience higher levels of staff performance and greater commitment of employees. These companies have lower absenteeism, a fairer and more equitable working environment that maximizes the capacities of all staff, and an improved public image as a company promoting corporate responsibility, to mention just a few plusses.

Castro explains that inequality is a bad business, “According to an in-depth study on the topic, if Latin America manages to close its gender gaps to reach the current level of Chile’s gender equality, we could see an increase 14 percent in gross domestic product (GDP) by 2025. And if, as a region, we achieve absolute equality of participation and conditions between men and women in the productive force, we could achieve a 34 percent increase in GDP.”

This standard in Costa Rica was launched in 2013 with the support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), with the aim of promoting women’s entry into the labor market and improving the quality of their employment.