NaTran’s commitment to improving the gender balance in the workplace

Constance, why is increasing the number of women across the professions a priority at GRTgaz?

Women are currently under-represented at GRTgaz, as they are in industry as a whole. Increasing the number of women in our professions is thus a major issue at stake towards building equity at GRTgaz, so as to improve performance and social progress within the company. Unfortunately, there is a shortage of female applicants, particularly in the technical professions, which are seen as male-dominated and don't attract many women. Although the percentage of women in the workforce has risen by more than 3 points in 8 years, this is not enough and we must continue to take action.

Has this been a long-standing commitment at GRTgaz?

Yes! Since 2015, GRTgaz has held the AFNOR Diversity label, which recognises our commitment to diversity. The current company agreement on gender equality in the workplace is another example of GRTgaz’s mobilisation in favour of women, just like our women's network, Les Elles du Réseau, created in 2010. Last but not least, none of this would be possible without the support of the highest levels of the company and the entire management team, who are very committed to this issue.

What is Natran’s strategy for including more women in its workforce?

NaTran needs to appeal to women, in particular by combating persistent prejudices about the role of women in industry. To achieve this, the company needs to shine a spotlight on successful women who can inspire and encourage the younger generation to consider careers in the roles we offer. In this respect, I would like to pay tribute to the work of our female mentors involved in the ‘Elles bougent’ associations, who visit schools to share their experience and encourage young girls to pursue scientific or technical careers.

As well as recruitment, the company needs to focus on retention. Equal rights are good, equality in action is even better. In practical terms, this means promoting women’s access to all roles and all levels of responsibility, ensuring equal pay, but also combating discrimination and sexist behaviours. It is also vital to take work-life balance into account, through support for managing the demands of parenthood, for example. The challenges are multifactorial. At the end of the day, gender equality benefits everyone and should therefore be a matter for both women and men.

What does this mean in practice?

Managers are essential when it comes to changing attitudes. Our aim is therefore to reinforce virtuous practices and find ways to improve the representation of women. This includes, for example, mobility reviews for women, in order to plan for departures as far as possible and build coherent internal career paths.

In another example, the company has set up a mentoring system for new female recruits to facilitate their integration into NaTran. It has been a great success, and the feedback has been very positive! We’re launching the third intake this year.

As improving the gender balance is everyone’s business, I strongly encourage women to talk about their jobs and their career paths, both internally and externally. In 2024, I launched a series of 11 videos of women, entitled ‘Je suis de celles’ (‘I am one of them’), which were posted on our social media accounts. These women give an inspiring account on camera of their roles and career paths. My aim was to give a voice to women from NaTran with very different backgrounds, but who all shared the desire to encourage more women into industrial and technical roles within the company.

On 25 January 2024, NaTran CEO Sandrine Meunier signed the ‘#StOpE au sexisme ordinaire’ (‘Stop everyday sexism’) initiative on National Anti-Sexism Day. What’s the situation one year on?

By signing this agreement, NaTran has joined a group of 300 organisations committed to the same objective: to implement best practices and concrete actions to reduce everyday sexism in the workplace for the long term. Our commitment is clear: to apply the principle of zero tolerance for sexist behaviours. Joining this initiative is a continuation of an already well-established training and awareness-raising approach. It continued in 2024 with the organisation of a conference entitled ‘Can we still say/do anything at work?’, as well as training for around thirty people, including the sexism representatives of the CSE (social and economic committee) and CSEC (central social and economic committee), members of the Human Resources Department, ethics representatives and the NaTran women’s network. This year, we are also taking part in a survey on working relations between men and women in the workplace. The Ipsos polling institute was commissioned by the Association Française des Managers de la Diversité (French Association of Diversity Managers) to carry out this survey among employees of member organisations of the #StOpE Collective. The aim is to be ever more effective in the fight against sexism!

Percentage of women on Natran’s Executive Committee (Comex) in 2024

The Group is ahead of the target set by the Rixain Law, which requires all companies with more than 1,000 employees to have at least 30% women on their Comex by March 2026.
Sources: Natran

NaTran’s gender equality index (Egapro) in 2023

The Egapro index is progressing strongly with a score of 99/100, compared to 94/100 in 2023.
Sources: Natran, February 2025