You have a real impact on the acceptance of diversity in your company

June 2, 2021

One learns at home how to be tollerant

House is the place where we learn to accept diversity. Respect for other people is taught by parents, guardians, school, friends and colleagues … The environment shapes the way we approach differences between people. Imagine that a company that “accepts diversity” employs a man who has been ridiculing people with disabilities since childhood. Does such a person, after crossing the walls of a new office, start to adhere to internal norms as if by magic and suddenly tolerate people with disabilities? Perhaps he or she will sincerely try. Or will he/she pretend to be tolerant after all, trying to please her colleagues?

So the question is: can the company have a real influence on shaping tolerant attitudes?

“Discrimination in the workplace” survey and workshops

Our opinion on this is obvious. We have become a Signatory of the Diversity Charter for a reason. We hear from our employees about the lack of diversity management in their previous companies. We know that they have experienced unequal treatment more than once. We don’t want it to be the same in our office. We do not allow disrespect. At the same time, we want to inspire companies that wonder why their businesses do not bring profits. Invest in your people. Listen to the voice of employees so that activities under the slogan “diversity” are not just a pipe dream. How to check it? At VGD, we regularly create surveys to see what we can improve. As part of the Diversity Month, we conducted a survey examining 3 aspects:

• acceptance of diversity in VGD
• burnout
• work-life balance

We discussed the results with the employees. This type of research allows you to see what is difficult to notice on a daily basis. Each digit in the charts gives us suggestions. It is a signal that something needs to be changed. As they say – constant dropping wears away a stone and that’s what we do – find a problem and a solution. The data on the graphs signaled, for example, that some people need more silence in the office, so we will reduce the number of desks in rooms and introduce shift work to encourage people to work remotely.

Grill under the slogan “Perception of Poland by foreigners”

In addition to a serious conversation that inspires reflection on the subject of diversity and discrimination, we made sure you had a good time. By practicing communication and cooperation, we built egg casings that had to survive the collapse of a binder full of documents… 🙂 The month of diversity culminated in a delicious barbecue with vegetarian dishes. The special guest was the Deputy Head Of Mission at Embassy of the Czech Republic to the Republic of Poland, Jiri Kyrian. We were very pleased to meet Mr. Kyrian in our office on such an important day and hear about what he lacks in Poland. We also got to know Mr. Kyrian’s culinary taste and found out what words in Polish amuse him the most. It was an extremely valuable conversation during which our employees from countries other than Poland could also talk to the Deputy Ambassador of the Czech Republic on political issues.

Diversity is a fundamental value of modern society. We take the time to remind employees of this. We believe that after each event of this type, their heads are aware that it is time for changes. Changes that result in a good atmosphere, better communication, less stress, and thus more innovation.