Women

Men

In 2020, there were 1,558 dismissals of female employees:

• • 814 were aged under 30.
• • 528 were aged between 31 and 40.
• • 148 were aged between 41 and 50.
• • 68 were aged over 50.

We promote a professional workplace, one in which each of our employees has the opportunity to demonstrate their aptitude to grow within the Bank.

We also promote a sense of belonging and a culture of recognition. We have achieved this through a career plan, and, throughout 2020, there we promoted 2,307 employees, 1,293 of whom were women and 1,014 were men.

In 2020, there were 1,528 dismissals of male employees:

• •706 were aged under 30.
• •519 were aged between 31 and 40.
• •170 were aged between 41 and 50.
• •133 were aged over 50.

Employee Training

Our goal is to promote the development of skills and aptitudes that guarantee the growth of our employees. Through a range of training sessions and tools, we focus on driving their talent.

Improving the employee experience in terms of training is always a great opportunity to help contribute to their development. As a result of the pandemic, many of our training programs were affected, and we had to modify the format by migrating to a virtual format.

This has had a favorable impact on our operations because, through virtual sessions, we have been able to ensure the continuity of our training programs. We will continue to work to offer new experiences and tools that positively impact the training of our employees.

Academia MX

We promote the development of our employees through the use of mobile devices and new technologies, tools that help professionalize their careers within Santander. They have access to a range of innovative virtual spaces that they can access whenever and wherever they like.

They have access to platforms such as Santander Knowledge, Learning Cloud, Zoom, the Office 365 Suite and Workday, in addition to other platforms from external providers, including Game Learn, Coursera, LinkedIn Learning, Consultable and Rosetta Stone. We also complement their training options through courses offered by Banco Santander that cover multiple areas.

We are currently consolidating these options and integrating content that is available to all in order to bolster the Bank’s culture and promote, among other areas, our employees’ digital, management and leadership skills, in addition to social skills that allow them to better perform within the workplace and work with other people.

Sprints

In 2020, some 130 sprints were launched, offering a range of content available to everyone, including the first ever Responsible Banking sprint.

AMX Talks

More than 90 AMX Talks were offered. These are live transmissions from anywhere in the world focusing on culture, BeHealthy, diversity and inclusion, leadership and banking. These talks include the participation of local and international experts..

Digital Transformation

During 2020, we created a number of programs focusing on the development of skills and competencies that contribute to the digital transformation of the Bank. These include training activities focusing on agile methodologies, as well as the adaptation and use of new fundamental tools for our current environment, such as Office 365.

We also launched gamification challenges via an app to promote the understanding and use of digital channels. Open options were offered via the Academia MX ecosystem, focusing on areas such as digital culture, agile principles, Office 365 and Design Thinking, among others.

Another highlight during the year was the first Digital Transformation and Analytics Program, an initiative in which 30 employees learned about new business trends, such as Agile methodology and Big Data, among other areas. The second, fully online course started in November, focusing on ideas such as Machine Learning and Deep Learning to ensure that participants have the knowledge necessary to undertake strategic projects within the organization.

Commercial Network

All induction programs for our Commercial Network and Business and Institutional Banking migrated to an online format, guaranteeing the continuity of programs affected by the pandemic. Strategic programs were developed for the Commercial Network, such as certifications in Insurance and Collections Management. Furthermore, transversal training plans were rolled out, including a Profitability Plan and a Financial Education plan, in addition to specific options such as the Development Plan for Business and Institutional Banking.

Compliance

In terms of compliance, we increased the number of compliance programs available in order to incorporate critical issues such as cybersecurity and reputational risk, in addition to launching the Compliance Channel, a platform to help drive a culture of compliance within the organization.

Management Skill Development for the Decision-Making Process – IPADE Senior Management Program

In November, a program aimed at senior managers and offered by one of Latin America’s leading institutions, IPADE, came to a close. This program focuses on the development of management skills and the knowledge and competencies a Santander leader requires. Approximately 60 directors took part in this program.

Learning Technologies Awards

The track record and efforts of Academia MX were recognized when, in conjunction with Netex Knowledge Factory, it was awarded second place in the Learning Technologies Awards in the category of Best Learning Platform. This positions us as a cutting-edge institution that seeks to drive the experience of our employees on a daily basis.

Talent Development and Retention

We strive to retain the best talent and create a sense of belonging to the Bank.

Given that we appreciate the efforts each of our employees make in their day-to-day activities to ensure that the Bank operates correctly, we offer a range of programs to motivate them and guarantee their future development. This ensures that our operations are sustainable, in addition to allowing us to contribute to the progress of society.

Some of these programs include:

Anáhuac Master’s Program

In 2020, we kicked off the 22nd generation of the Master’s program in Banking and Financial Markets, offered by Universidad Anáhuac Campus Norte and the University of Cantabria in conjunction with Santander. The Bank offers financial support by covering 35% of tuition costs for 12 employees every year. To date, 20 generations have graduated from this program.

The goal of this Master’s degree program, which lasts for 21 months, is to forge directors and board members from financial institutions who, through leadership, responsibility and an international outlook, promote the positive transformation of organizations and society through specialist knowledge and an approach that encompasses commitment and service.

2020 Corporate Scholarship Plan

Santander Skills for Professional Development (ESADE): This scholarship focuses on promoting and developing the transversal skills of young people who are just starting out in their professional lives, helping them make a qualitative leap in their careers by improving their employability.

The academic knowledge this scholarship offers focuses on three major and contemporary issues: emotional intelligence, social intelligence, and cognitive processes.

Santander World 2020

This international mobility program, which lasts for between one and three months, focuses on developing our talent and driving their knowledge by offering them an international experience so that they can understand how projects are developed in other countries and implement good practices in their specific areas upon returning home.

It works in the following way: applications can be submitted by employees hired by Banco Santander if they meet a number of requirements, including having worked at the Bank for a minimum of two years, having outstanding performance evaluations, and having selected the project that they would like be involved in, considering the specific requirements for each. These projects are published in the countries in which Banco Santander is present, facilitating exchanges between countries.

The application process is also open to management (Joint General Directors, Executive Directors and Area Directors). Once candidates have been determined, in conjunction with Global Recruitment, a selection process to choose the finalists is carried out.

Top Companies Survey

Every year, we apply the Top Companies survey, which allows us to better understand our organizational climate and culture, in addition to our position on the Súper Empresas ranking published by Expansión magazine.

Evaluation Processes

In order to help our employees grow and make processes more efficient, we have a range of tools and practices that evaluate the performance of our employees. This allows us to monitor and follow up on their careers, in addition to identifying areas of opportunity that present an obstacle to their development within the Bank.

Performance Evaluation Policy

This policy is updated every year or when modifications have been made to how the performance process is measured. Prior to its publication, the Remuneration Committee is notified, and it in turn authorizes the changes. The policy is then published and uploaded to the Intranet so it can be accessed by employees it. The policy contains the stages of the evaluation, the grading scale, and what areas are measured.

My Contribution 2020

Performance management at Santander is applied uniformly for all employees and it is one of the major driving forces behind our cultural transformation. Through My Contribution, we can evaluate the performance of our employees, in addition to their individual contributions to their area goals and their behavior. This allows us to not only motivate them, given that they are evaluated based on fixed goals, but it also helps promote teamwork and efficiency in their operations.

The performance evaluation procedure is carried out every year and is divided into three specific stages:

• • Goal Setting (February-March).
• • Mid-Year Review (July).
• • Final Review (November-December).

Feedback for Annual Performance Evaluations

In January, employees can download their final performance evaluation and, based on their results, supervisors will talk to their teams about the achievements they have made throughout the year, the activities in which they need to improve, and why they received the grade they did. This step is not compulsory, but it helps motivate supervisors to do this with their teams on an on-going basis.

Skill Model

This consists of establishing a common language to define the critical skills required for each post. We have a global library that serves as a hub for functional and cross-functional skills, in addition to levels to help identify the degree of knowledge/ experience required.

Posts that require the same tasks have the same skill requirements. Each employee is responsible for a skills self- assessment (level of expertise) prior to being assigned to their post and receiving feedback from their supervisor to help them work on any skills gaps.

Talent Review

The goal of this practice is to measure the talent of our employees through their motivation, aspiration, skills and mobility, without losing sight of two fundamental aspects: potential and performance. The goal is to standardize the evaluation of potential throughout the organization.

This process assesses their level of potential, attainable level, the risk of them leaving the company, and the effect this loss would have. This assessment allows us to visualize the distribution of teams within a talent matrix in order to have a feedback conversation with each evaluated employee to define their development plan and promote their professional growth within the organization.

Culture of Feedback

Through training and communication measures, we are promoting a culture of feedback within the organization, underpinned by a multi-directional model that offers any of the Bank’s employees the opportunity to give, receive and request feedback on a day-to-day basis.

The change management methodology we are employing to achieve this goal is ADKAR:

• • Awareness: Raise awareness regarding the importance of feedback. During the first month of the campaign, four memos about assertive conversations were published.
• • Desire: Inspire through the benefits of feedback. During the second month of the campaign, information about how to give and receive feedback were sent out.
• • Knowledge: Know how to bring about change. During the third stage of the campaign, learning snacks containing relevant information about feedback were shared, in addition to a sprint on Academia MX to reinforce the importance of on-going conversations.
• • Ability: Apply knowledge. This stage focuses on applying knowledge and inviting employees to give feedback on an on-going basis.
• • Reinforcement: Maintain the change. This stage focuses on clearing up any doubts about the culture of on-going conversations, and employees were invited to document feedback using Workday.

Recognition for Employees with 25 years of service

Each year, we hold a ceremony to celebrate the service of employees who have worked at the Bank for 25 years or more, recognizing the loyalty, commitment and hard work they demonstrate on a daily basis.

A solid culture of inclusion

At Santander, we promote a culture of diversity and inclusion. We are convinced that through this culture we not only empower people by showing respect and appreciation for their qualities, but we also develop in them a sense of belonging. Having a diverse workforce allows us to enrich our operational levels, contribute to innovation and successfully achieve our goals.

Cultural Transformation

In an ever more complex and competitive environment, the only way to prepare for the future is to employ a different approach. From this need to change comes our Cultural Transformation, which is underpinned by four pillars:

The members of the Board of Directors are committed to spearheading the Cultural Transformation to improve the experience we offer our employees and our customers. Ambassadors were appointed to function as the promoters and voice of the Cultural Transformation.

In 2020, these Ambassadors visited 60 branches and held more than 50 sessions that began in a face-to-face format and were then adapted to an online model given the public health emergency, offering more than 9,000 employees the opportunity to voice their concerns and talk about the challenges they face in their day-to-day activities.

Ambassadors Program

This cultural transformation program focuses on three fundamental pillars: Employee Experience, Customer Experience, and Organizational Agility. The goal is for the Lighthouses (General Directors) to be the main promoters of this culture and become more aware of the needs of our employees. Each Lighthouse is the Ambassador for one region.

In 2020, several nationwide town halls were held to learn more about the advances being made in the pillars mentioned above.

Santander Week

This program, aimed at our employees, was held from September 21 to 25, 2020. Its goal is to extol the Bank’s values and culture, in addition to motivating and increasing their sense of pride and belonging to the organization. Given the COVID-19 pandemic, it was held virtually for employees and used to create content that was then published via internal communication channels.

The event included webinars with speakers who were internal employees from different areas and levels within the organization. They talked about Santander leadership, RiskPro, quality and cybersecurity. This event was well attended among corporate, branch and Contact Center employees.

Personal Newsletter

This fortnightly national publication focuses on initiatives and programs aimed at the Santander Mexico team.

Its content focuses on our four strategic Human Resources priorities:

• • Culture: promoting the Santander Way.
• •Super Experience: we share exciting and important moments within Santander (team achievements, good practices, success stories) in order to become the best place to work.
• •Talent and Development: we provide information about initiatives and programs to drive talent and facilitate the development of our employees.
• • Accountability/Empowerment: we discuss issues to help consolidate the work we do as people and as a Group.

Diversity and Inclusion Committee (D&I)

To promote a strategy and culture within this area, we have a Diversity and Inclusion Committee that comprises 13 employees from a number of areas and organizational levels. The Committee is underpinned by four main pillars: Female Talent, Generational Talent, Disability and LGBT+, all on an Inclusive Leadership basis.

Having a Diversity and Inclusion Policy allows us to develop a strategy that is based on three areas of focus: raising awareness , promoting balance, and driving the participation of leaders. This has allowed us to move towards a culture that is increasingly more open and inclusive. By pooling the efforts of our different committees, in conjunction with the Human Resources team and the support of our sponsors, we have been able to implement programs for each D&I pillar with the levels of commitment and responsibility required to ensure we drive a positive change within the organization

Diversity and Inclusion Programs (D&I)

During 2020 we achieved milestones in diversity and inclusion: these advances and efforts have been recognized and are scalable within the Bank as a whole. We have implemented a range of programs, talks, training sessions, conferences and activities that have promoted dialogue and reflection in order to ensure a more inclusive approach in every aspect, not only as an organization but also as individuals. In 2020, we continued promoting our D&I culture through a range of programs:

New Training Topics available via Academia MX:

• • LGBT+ Stonewall: The night that changed history.
• • Disability: The Book of Fame by Merrie Sullivan.
• • Diversity and Inclusion Channel: A learning forum with around 20 new items covering diversity and inclusion issues that focus on discovering, accepting and celebrating individual differences in order to become a Bank that promotes diversity.

The goal of this program is help create leaders and employees who embrace differences and are inclusive, making sure that every single person is made to feel welcome, valued and respected. Today, more than 4,000 participants have taken advantage of the content available covering the topics of diversity and inclusion.

Human Library

The Human Library helps us to better understand the dimensions of diversity. We invite participants open and direct to dialog with our guests - people who embody different dimensions of diversity - through questions and answers regarding the importance of inclusion, allowing us to participate in awareness strategies in order to achieve a more inclusive society.

This allows us to break down prejudices and any form of stereotype in order to better understand and empathize in order to promote respect, diversity and inclusion

Ten Tips to being a Good Ally

We have developed ten key points to follow for our network of allies within the LGBTIQ+ community in order to promote interaction that is based on respect. Furthermore, these ten tips act as a guide for bringing this debate to our workspaces and promoting education about issues such as sexual orientation, gender identity and the importance of diversity.

Spirit Day LGBTIQ+ Survey

We designed a survey to better understand perception within the Bank about inclusion and to learn more about the perspective of the LGBTIQ+ community, in order to plan a strategy that will allow us to drive the necessary cultural changes solidify our position as an inclusive bank.

Focus Group LGBTIQ+

We coordinated two focus groups to learn more about the opinions of LGBTIQ+ people directly regarding the work that we have done to promote inclusion within the Bank and to understand what obstacles they have identified in order to freely express themselves.

A pilot training program in the northeast region was implemented in order to learn more about this area and replicate similar training opportunities in other regions.

Positive Leadership Conference Program

This program comprises a series of conferences that are open to the general public, the goal of which is to tackle leading issues relating to inclusive leadership centering around gender equality.

Driving inclusive leadership within the Bank is of fundamental importance to maximize the contributions of teams with diverse backgrounds, ways of thinking, lifestyles and identities. It also provides them with an opportunity to share their unique points of view and contribute to higher productivity levels, business results, innovation and decision-making of the highest quality for every single person within the organization. Furthermore, an inclusive and participative environment helps promote a positive working environment that has an impact both in terms of emotional benefits for employees within the teams and economic benefits for Santander.

Festival Virtual Love 4 All

To commemorate LGBT+ pride month we organized a cycle of conferences, in addition to activities, pools with influencers and quality content, all of which focused on improving the quality of life of the LGBTI+ community.

Pride Connection México

Pride Connection Mexico is a network of companies whose goal is to promote inclusive workspaces for sexual diversity and to forge relationships that facilitate the attraction of LGBT talent to its member organizations. At Santander, we decided to join this large-scale network to collaborate and improve our practices for the LGBTIQ+ community.

Everyone Together for Equality and Inclu- sive Leaders Cycle

This cycle, organized in conjunction with Miracle and the Institute for the Development of Anti-Hegemonic Masculinities (IDMAH), is aimed at men and focuses on driving inclusive leadership, substantive equality, inclusion and diversity.

The program consists of a series of group meetings during which participants voice their joint commitment to driving improvements and collective change.

The issues broached include:

• •Positive masculinities. There is not just one way to be a man.
• •Hack your man box.
• •No means no.
• •Question your privileges.
• •How to be a good ally.

Female Talent

We are firmly committed to promoting the competitiveness of our female talent through a range of programs that drive knowledge and skills development in order to achieve a structural change that guarantees gender equity within our Institution.

Connect To Inspire

This consists of a series of meetings to present Executive and Area Directors as Bank leaders, offering a person look at their stories and experience, their personal and professional journey, their work-life balance, and tips and takeaways.

These sessions are held once a month and are divided into 30 minutes for the presentation and 30 minutes for Q&A.

Mastermind Women

A Mastermind Group is a forum that helps create a safe community for women to exchange suggestions and talk about the challenges they face regarding specific issues that are defined prior to the session. Participants discover that they are not alone, that they can receive support, and that they can try what has worked for their female colleagues in facing their own challenges.

This group consists of between eight and 12 sessions per year and a number of different issues are broached. For some sessions two schedules were organized in order to offer more women the chance to participate.

360° Women

This development program is aimed at high potential women, focusing on Area Directors and Deputy Directors. It is offered in conjunction with Dalia Empower, a leading expert in training for women.

The goal of this program is to identify the challenges that women are facing and help them develop managerial tools and skills to find a solution to them. It allows them to better understand their inner strength and improve their ability to work with others to achieve common goals.

Cross Mentoring

This six-month program, developed in conjunction with Accenture, seeks to generate dialog between women leaders (Apprentices) and directors (Mentors) from a range of different companies, who, by sharing their experiences and perspectives, can help apprentices identify the skills they need to develop in order to attain their professional goals and consolidate their leadership. Among the topics reviewed were self-awareness, effective leadership, and emotional intelligence.

2020 Corporate Scholarship Plan

Santander W50 – Emerging Leaders (London School of Economics): This represents a unique opportunity to interact with a diverse community of women from around the world and take part in an online learning and development program that focuses on promoting negotiation skills that help drive the leadership capabilities of the participants.

These skills are applicable at any level of the organization and in any sector. Furthermore, the program seeks to create a network of women, future leaders in their sectors, by promoting networking and ongoing dialog.

Generational Diversity

The diversity of our employees helps enrich our operations, and we are convinced that the age differences between our employees enriches everyone’s lives. To ensure that this continues, we promote a number of different initiatives:

Inroads –Social Inclusion

This program is aimed at young people from underprivileged backgrounds, offering them personal and professional development opportunities. We are proud to say that we are the institution that hires the most Inroads in Mexico. In 2020, we welcomed a total of 21 young people.

Young Leaders

This program is part of a global effort to offer technical skills and knowledge that are of vital importance in their professional development. The training program lasts for 18 months, and 280 young Santander employees from around the world take part. During this time, this young talent focuses on contributing to the development of our banking strategy, in addition to designing their own training program. In 2020, 12 women and 13 men took part in this program.

Young People Building the Future

A program coordinated by the Federal Government, it is aimed at young people between the ages of 18 and 29 who are neither studying nor working, offering the opportunity to develop and consolidate useful tools for their professional development at companies, workshops, institutions or business around the world, helping boost their employability. Through this program, 463 women and 298 men took part.

Young Talent

This program favors the development of young people, offering them the opportunity to become Banco Santander employees, helping promote a more diverse team. We achieve this through the following strategies.

Linkers

This program focuses on attracting and retaining young talent in order to identify high potential students, contribute to their professional development, and develop high performing leaders who can join different business areas as key talent.

The program lasts for nine months, consisting of three cycles each lasting three months, where the performance and compliance with group behaviors are evaluated. The Linkers are assigned a project from a specific business area in which they will receive coaching from their mentor (a supervisor from the assigned area).

This program is offered on an annual basis and through it we search for young people who are in the penultimate or last semester of their undergraduate program, offering them the opportunity of a full-time position at Banco Santander after graduating.

Work-Life Balance

We know that the well-being of our employees is of the utmost importance in ensuring success. This is why we have a number of programs that aim to promote a work-life balance among our employees. Every single day, we strive to offer them the best possible workplace and work environment to enable them to carry out their activities to the best of their abilities.

Disability

As a relevant way of promoting our D&I culture, we work on developing a range of programs aimed at people with disabilities, not only to put an end to the prejudices and discrimination they face, but also to promote an inclusive work environment that allows them to grow professionally.

Teams that work with a person with a disability are offered a more in-depth training approach; however, it is important to also communicate these issues throughout the Bank in order to promote inclusive teamwork and leadership.

Allowances and Benefits

Being a responsible bank means safeguarding the integrity of our staff, focusing always on safety, education and health. This is why we have designed allowances and benefits that meet their expectations and motivate them to improve their performance.

Occupational
Health and Safety

We strive to offer safe workspaces that mitigate occupational risks for our employees (physical, psychological and/or emotional). We also promote healthy habits that help reduce stress and burnout, in addition to safeguarding the well-being of our employees at all times.

Health

At Santander, we have BeHealthy, a holistic wellness program for the Bank’s employees that offers tools and practical content to help them find a balance between their professional and personal lives. It focuses on 4 main pillars: Know Your Body, Feed Your Body, Move Your Body and Balance Your Mind and Body.

Standard 035 (NOM 035)

In 2018, Standard 035 was implemented, the goal of which is to safeguard the integrity and physical and mental health of Mexican workers, aspects that benefit organizations and help create a good work environment.

In 2020, we applied the surveys that are required by law, which include: a severe traumatic incident questionnaire (ATS - Reference Guide I); a questionnaire to identify psychological and social risk factors (FRPS - Reference Guide II); and, an organizational environment assessment questionnaire (EEO – Reference Guide III).

For reference guides II and III, which are obligatory, we achieved a participation rate 4.2 times higher than that required by law, reaching a total of 1,816 work centers in 12 working days.

The minimum sample necessary for the surveys was 4,825 people, but we achieved a participation of 20,438 people.

Occupational Safety

In order to prevent, reduce and mitigate possible risks, we have developed a number of civil protection programs. This allows us to provide our employees with safe workspaces and promote a culture of prevention.

As a result of the COVID-19 public health crisis, 2020 was a year of enormous challenges; however, we worked hard to ensure the continuity of the Bank's operations while, at the same time, safeguarding the well-being of our employees.

When the pandemic began, the Bank's senior management team was alerted to the high levels of infection, and, for this reason it was decided that almost 85% of Santander Mexico employees would work online and no longer go to the office.

Based on recommendations from public health authorities, face-to-face training sessions were suspended. As such, personnel from Civil Protection implemented a strategy to continue offering internal Civil Protection programs at our corporate buildings. The Civil Protection Department, which falls under the auspices of the Prevention and Safety Area, designed a remote civil protection strategy in which employees from our corporate buildings were involved.

8 Behaviors to Help Save a Life at Santander

In order to properly promote the culture of prevention and civil protection among our employees, we implemented a remote training strategy entitled 8 Behaviors to Help Save a Life at Santander. It had an impact on 2,732 employees and the same number of households.

This workshop played a fundamental role in updating our internal civil protection programs at Santander Mexico's corporate offices during 2020. The training was offered through remote sessions lasting 90 minutes each streamed via a digital application. This meant that employees did not have to be on site to take the training, and, as such, helping avoid contact among employees and facilitating the authorities efforts to minimize sources of infection. The invitation to the training session was also extended to the family members of our employees.

The content of the 8 Behaviors to Help Save a Life at Santander training sessions focused on the following areas:

As a result of the pandemic, it was agreed that the Civil Protection committee would meet every week throughout the implementation of the specific technical guidelines issued by the federal government to tackle this public health crisis.

The nature of this committee focuses on defining actions, guidelines and protocols to help minimize infections at workplaces and ensure compliance with the legal guidelines issued by the authorities.

Remote Drills

A fundamental and innovative element of the updates made to our internal Civil Protection programs during 2020 focused on carrying out remote drills via an interactive video. We reached a total of 2,125 employees connected to a number of different remote drills carried out at nine corporate buildings.

Employees Actions during the COVID-19 pandemic

Since the public health crisis started at the beginning of 2020, our priority has been to safeguard the health and well-being of all our employees and their families. In order to prevent the spread of the virus, we implemented health and safety protocols in strict compliance with the official guidelines published by the Mexican government Furthermore, we offered our employees access to a range of programs, platforms and tools to help ensure their welfare.

Work from Home

Without a doubt, the leading measure to help prevent infection was the strengthening of the Work from Home program. It represented a major challenge but also an enormous opportunity that allowed us to see technology as an ally for working from home. As is to be expected, each of our employees were provided with the tools they needed to work from home and perform their activities to the best of their ability.

Disconnection

In order to help our employees avoid spending too much time in front of a screen (computer, cellphone, tablets, TV) we focused on a number of issues: how to achieve actual digital disconnection, tips on how to work better from home, how to eat healthily, and how to reinforce our immune system, among others.

Redefining Humanity – Respiratory Viruses Course

One of the steps we took to promote a culture of prevention and safeguard people’s health in light of the pandemic was to launch a course entitled Redefining Humanity - Respiratory Viruses, which was aimed at everyone within the Bank. More than 25,000 people received training covering aspects to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, protocols to help people keep safe, and general tips to avoid spreading the virus.

Medical Service Support Line

Employees and family members at risk of becoming infected with COVID-19 were offered access to a support line via AsisMed, which is available 24 hours a day

Deferred Loan Payments for Employees

We offered our employees the opportunity to defer loan payments for a period of 4 months, helping to support their family economies. Some 2,215 people were benefitted by this measure.

Financial Support for Funeral Expenses

During 2020, we provided financial support for funeral expenses for those employees requiring this service.

Transport Routes

More transport routes were assigned to Contact Center employees.

COVID-19 Ethics Line

Reporting irregularities is an effective tool in preventing the spread of COVID-19. As such, at the beginning of the pandemic we activated a new category within our Ethics Line in order to allow employees to report situations including:

• • Non-compliance with COVID-19 protocols and instructions.
• • A lack of hygiene measures.
• • Any action that increases the risk of infection.

Infection Prevention Measures

A number of different measures were implemented in order to avoid and prevent infections within our different areas:

• • Home assistance for people suspected to be infected or infected with COVID-19.
• • Home isolation.
• • Operational Contingency Plan for Internal Medical Unit Phase 2.
• • Operational Contingency Plan for Internal Medical Unit Phase 1.
• • Protocol for the use of gloves and facemasks at branches and offices.
• • Protocol for reception services at our buildings. Operational plan in the event of a patient with suspected COVID-19.

• • Operational plan in the event of a patient returning from a country with high infection rates.
• • Protocol for an informative session with the rest of the team in the event of a positive case.
• • Protocol for post-infection and monitoring of returning employees.
• • Daily monitoring of new cases and infected employees to supervise their health.
• • Provision of antibacterial gel at entries to buildings and workplaces.
• • Invitation to use facemasks, gloves and face shields properly.
• • Temperature filters at entrances to detect any suspected carriers.

• • Workplace patrols by medical and security services.
• • Installation of a NBELYAX sanitizing tunnel at CTOSS.
• • Medical personnel for early detection.
• • Random quick testing at workplaces to detect asymptomatic carriers.
• • Disinfection of service area after reported cases.
• • Personal protection kits for public transport users.
• • Plastic screen divisions.
• • Information about how to clean and disinfect packages (supermarket, food deliveries, etc.).

COVID-19 Support Line

We set up an emotional support line for our employees and their families, offering a 24-hour-a-day service. Employees were offered information about a range of areas relating to the virus, while our team of psychologists, lawyers and professional economists provided:

• • Emotional guidance to help overcome anxiety and worry.
• • Legal and financial guidance.
• • Recommendations from the health authorities and prevention measures.
• • Support hotlines about possible COVID-19 cases at a national level.
• • Information from health sector organizations that provide medical assistance.
• • Tips on activities for lockdown.

COVID-19 Memos and Newsletter

Throughout the 2020 pandemic, we implemented an internal communication campaign using mailing to reinforce the measures we implemented in all areas, in addition to providing opportune information to employees about issues relating to COVID-19. Some of the issues we focused on include:

• • Clothing alternatives.
• • Tips on how to improve their lifestyles and reinforce their immune systems.
• • Support Line.
• • Hygiene measures.
• • Medical assistance program.
• • Pandemic control regulations.
• • BeHealthy recommendations.
• • Ten COVID-19 prevention measures.

Other Initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic

Creation of COVID-News-143 (issues published from March to November 2020)

This exclusive newsletter covering issues relating to COVID-19 and the pandemic was published daily and available nationally.

In addition to being a valuable resource for employees, the newsletter focused on providing relevant information about self-care, protocols, updates, returns, regulations, recreational information, etc., provided by the Executive Chairmanship, the areas of Human Resources, Corporate Communication, Regulations and Procedures, and Medical Services.

Office Chair Loans

Employees working from home were able to request the loan of office chairs to boost their remote working experience, improve their posture and help make them feel more comfortable.

Influenza Vaccines

As a result of shortages of influenza vaccines, Aquanima, our procurement hub, remained in close contact with the laboratories that make these vaccines in Mexico, United States and Europe in order to support our employees. Furthermore, we implemented an awareness campaign regarding the importance of getting vaccinated as a preventative measure.

Safe Return Plan

We implemented a safe return strategy and policy for 10% of our employees from our Corporate Offices in Santa Fe and Torre Diamante, complying with health and safety protocols.

SALUD Campaign

We launched the SALUD Campaign to promote the health and safety of our employees. In Spanish, SALUD stands for: Safety (Seguridad), Support (Apoyo), Cleaning (Limpieza), Union (Unión) and Social Distancing (Distancia Sana).

MiVuelta App

We rolled out the MiVuelta site/app to help prevent infection and monitor the health of our employees.

PCR Tests

Employees returning to our offices were given a COVID-19 rapid test. We paid for the testing of employees believed to have been exposed to the virus.

Signage

We installed COVID-19 signage at 100% of our buildings for the staggered return of employees to our offices.

Other measures implemented:

• • Cleaning of facilities.
• • Personal protection kits for employees still reporting to their workplaces.
• • Medical treatment and assistance.
• • Ethical phishing to prevent cybercrimes.
• • Installation of VPN’s.
• • Use of Office 365 tools.
• • Weekly Foro Silver presentation of national pandemic statistics.