Annual report 2022 - Report - Page 28
28 Annual Report 2022
Gender diversity
and inclusion
At Horten, we always want to be able to
attract and retain the best people in the
sector, irrespective of gender, ethnicity,
age, background, etc. We strive to offer
the same career opportunities to
everyone without distinguishing based
on gender or the like. Employees are
therefore assessed based on their results
and potential rather than preconceptions
and preferences. We recognise that team
diversity is an important factor in finding
the best and most complete solutions for
our clients and for innovation.
At the end of 2022, the gender
distribution among all employees at
Horten was 62% women and 38% men.
Among our attorneys (excluding
partners) it was 65% women and 35%
men. We are watching this distribution
closely, as we would like to see an equal
gender distribution. However, the figures
for our attorneys largely reflect the
predominance of women in legal studies,
which directly impacts recruitment
opportunities in the sector.
If we look specifically at the group of
directors and specialist attorneys, the
gender ratio at the end of 2022 was
50/50. And for managers and team
leaders with personnel responsibility
among Horten’s support staff, the
distribution was 67% women and 33%
men.
We set a goal in 2021 to have at least two
women on the board by 2023. We have
not fully achieved this, but at the annual
general meeting in spring 2022, one
woman was elected to the board, which
now comprises one woman and six men.
We aim to achieve our goal of two
women following the election to the
board in spring 2023, but the election is a
democratic process whereby the owners
vote. This process must of course be
respected, and the outcome therefore
cannot be directly controlled by top
management.
The Danish Business Authority guidelines
state that target figures must be set from
2023 for the top management body and
the other management levels, if the
company has more than two senior
employees at these levels. At Horten, the
top governing body is considered to be
the board, and the other management
levels are divided into two levels. The first
level of management consists of the
executive, Managing Partner Christian
Gregersen. The second level of
management consists of CEO Tine
Kaspersen, as she has personnel
responsibility and reports directly to the
executive.
Horten’s partner group has had a more
equal gender distribution than the
management of most Danish law firms for
many years. At the end of 2022, the
distribution was 24% women and 76%
men.
The same gender distribution applies to
Horten’s owner partners. This means that
among the larger law firms in the Danish
legal sector, Horten remains the company
with the highest proportion of female
owner partners. We must continue to
support an even better gender balance
by being an attractive workplace for
attorneys at many different stages in
their careers, irrespective of gender.