Telefónica: Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability

The integration of persons with disability in the value chain of companies remains a challenge. The communication and appreciation of the latest and most successful practices in this field can contribute to this task. This concept is the basis of the fundamentals of “Telefónica Ability Awards”, that have concluded its second edition in Spain and will be extended to other countries in the future.

The “Telefónica Ability Awards” publicly recognize the companies and institutions that develop sustainable business models, with the inclusion of people with disabilities in the value chain, as employees, suppliers and/or customers.

The second edition in Spain has registered 414 candidates from 232 organizations. All have gone through a filter process executed and verified by PwC, which has finally chosen the best 71 proposals.

The 9 winners are: in the Overall Categories, Línea Directa insurance (Best large private company), Pelayo Servicios Auxiliares de Seguros (Best small or medium private company) and University of Valencia (Best public sector organisation); and in the Main Categories, Indra (Commitment of Executive Management and leadership of employees), Alcampo (Recruiting and selection), Malaga City Council (Accessibility), Radio And TV of Andalucia (Customer counseling), Capgemini (Professional progress and training) and Accenture (Prevention and retention). The awards ceremony was held in Madrid on October 30, 2012 and was chaired by Her Majesty Queen Sofia of Spain

The 50 finalists are considered as “Ability Companies u Organizations”, the organizations which best incorporated disability into their value chain, and are part of the Club Ability, a common interest network to exchange best practices and generate knowledge.

The Awards have the support of a Foundation made up of thirty personalities and representatives from Spanish ministries, universities, trade unions, associations that work in the field of disability and other business and social organisations. This shows the wide-range support that exists for these Awards across the board among those working within this field in Spain.

Telefónica’s role is to act as a facilitator and integrator, supporting the Foundation, which is the real driving force behind changing perceptions toward disability.

In the words of the Telefónica chairman, César Alierta, the Ability Awards are unique, as “they place the disabled person at the very centre of the value chain and because they go beyond being merely philanthropic, promoting innovation in order to establish new sustainable business models, capable of meeting the demands of this group of people”. In his opinion, “when you include disability in an organisation’s productive structure, you create value for everybody. Everyone’s a winner”.

First edition
The “Telefónica Ability Awards” were launched in Spain, where people with disability represent more than 8% of the population, in 2010 Spain. All this with the guarantee of their success in Ireland, where they are sponsored by Telefónica O2 Ireland. Caroline Casey, founder for the non-profit organisation Kanchi, created them five years ago to change society’s perception of disability.

In the first edition in Spain have registered 458 candidates from 273 organizations. The 9 winners - Repsol, Hotel Entremares and Aena in the Overall Categories and Siro Group, Sanitas, MRW, Ávila City Council and Capgemini in the six Main Categories - were announced in January 2011 at a gala presided over by Her Majesty Queen Sofía of Spain and was attended by 400 other guests.

Besides, the 48 finalists were then considered as Ability Companies u Organizations. The finalists integrate now the Ability Club.

More information:
> How participate in the awards
> Last edition
> Club Ability
> Follow the awards in Twitter and talk with us

Pillars of the awards

• Inclusiveness: the awards enjoy the support of all the Spanish disability sector. This includes the full support of ONCE (Spanish organisation to aid the blind) and its Foundation and of CERMI (Spanish committee of representatives of the disabled).  

• Corporate dialogue: to overcome the concept that disability must be approached through assistance, a joint effort is required. Thus, corporate organisations and trade unions are essential.

• Transparency and rigor: PwC will guarantee these basic premises.

• Sharing experiences: Telefónica intends to transmit the good practices that are discovered with the aid of Universities and Business Schools.

• Communication: persons with disability and their stories of achievement, dreams etc. will be given visibility with the help of TVE.