Diversity

In line with the law on Diversity on the boards of companies, the annual report includes reporting on the composition of the Supervisory Board, the Executive Board and the sub-top, with an associated action plan to achieve the target figures. Because Heijmans is a listed company, the company has a so-called appointment quota rather than a target figure for the Supervisory Board.

Both the Executive Board and the Supervisory Board acknowledge the added value of diversity in a broader context, and male/female diversity in particular. Heijmans’ current diversity policy, and the policy regarding the Supervisory Board and Executive Board has been implemented with this in mind. The action plan put together on the basis of the new legislation has specified measures to implement the policy and target figures for the Supervisory Board and the sub-top. Target figures must be fitting and ambitious, and should be based on the guiding principles.

Executive Board

The Executive Board has consisted of two officers for several years. Considering the current composition, a target figure of one man and one woman in the Executive Board is obvious. Reaching a balanced male/female ratio is a challenge in the long term, because there are significant intervals between vacancies for an Executive Board with two members.

As per May 2021, a vacancy opened in the Executive Board (member executive board/CFO). An executive search agency was commissioned with the request to place sufficient female candidates on the longlist. This turned out to be a challenge, because a number of potential candidates had conflicting interests. A shortlist was drawn up with male candidates, after which an appointment was made. In 2022, there were no vacancies in the Executive Board. The terms for the current members of the Executive Boards will end in 2024 and 2025 respectively.

The Supervisory Board is responsible for the composition of the Executive Board. In the event that there is a vacancy in the Executive Board, the Remuneration and Appointments committee will prepare and guide the selection procedure. The selection procedure is always carried out by an executive search agency. In the commissioning, specific attention is paid to the female candidates: at least 50% of the candidates on the longlist should be female. The Supervisory Board strives to have at least 50% of the candidates on the shortlist be female as well. A variety of criteria are assessed during the selection, and in cases of equal eligibility, the female candidate will have the preference.

Sub-top

The sub-top is composed of officers who are part of the senior management. As per year-end 2022, the sub-top comprised 101 employees, 13 of whom were female.

In the target figures for the sub-top, the minimum percentages of women and men are 15% and 50% respectively, meaning that 35% can be male or female.

The Executive Board is responsible for diversity in the sub-top. Recruitment of candidates for the sub-top, defined in the context of the new ‘Diversity in the top’ legislation as jobs that are part of the company’s senior management, is done by the business with guidance from HR.

HR maintains the following guiding principles for recruitment that should broadly foster diversity:

• Working method in recruitment involving conscious focus on diversity when filling vacancies.

• The language used in vacancies will be focused on the target group: meaning men or women, cultural background or young people.

• Recruitment agencies are aware of our need for diversity in the workforce, without the need for concrete agreements.

• There is no option for anonymous applications to prevent subconscious discrimination.

Additional measures are taken for the recruitment of officers belonging to the sub-top, namely:

• The selection board will include at least one woman.

• The aim is for at least 50% of the candidates invited, whether or not they were found through a search agency, are women. There is a caveat for this in that it is difficult for certain technical jobs, given the number of women with certain technical educations.

• Diversity goals such as KPIs are part of senior management targets.

Supervisory Board

Heijmans is a listed company, and so is bound by the legal assimilation quota for supervisory boards. There is no target figure for the Supervisory Board. As per year-end 2022, the Supervisory Commission consists of three men (60%) and two women (40%), achieving the quota of at least one-third men and at least one-third women.

In the Profile of the Supervisory Board, established on 12 June 2019, stated that the Supervisory Board would put together a diversity policy in relation to the composition of the Supervisory Board, considering the aspects relevant for the Company, such as nationality, age, gender and background in terms of education and career experience. With regard to the M/F ratio, the Supervisory Board will act in line with legal requirements and the board endorses the goal of said legal requirements.

If there is a vacancy in the Supervisory Board, the selection procedure will be prepared and guided by the Remuneration and Appointments committee. The selection will always be carried out by a search agency. In the commissioning, specific attention is paid to the female candidates: at least 50% of the candidates on the longlist should be female. The Supervisory Board strives to have at least 50% of the candidates on the shortlist be female as well. A variety of criteria are assessed during the selection, and in cases of equal eligibility, the female candidate will have the preference.

At the end of 2021, a vacancy opened up in the Supervisory Board. In order to fill this vacancy, the board commissioned an executive search agency, with the instruction that at least 50% of the candidates on the longlist must be women. The longlist did not initially meet this requirement, and the agency was asked to search again for sufficient female candidates, which it succeeded in doing. However, in the end one female candidate on the shortlist indicated a lack of interest. After intensive discussions, the Supervisory Board, nominated a male candidate.