BIP
In "Barbara" they talked about diversity in business, local government and NGOs
What is the path to gender equality in a company, how to talk about LGBT+ people in an organization, and what are the challenges of interculturalism are just some of the topics that participants and attendees of the conference "Diversity in the Workplace - Challenges, Opportunities and Good Practices in Business, Local Government and NGOs," which took place on November 15 in "Barbara" on Swidnicka Street.
Representatives of companies, social organizations and local government took part in a debate on the importance of diversity and its acceptance in the environment in which we live and work every day. It was held as part of the conference "Diversity in the workplace - challenges, opportunities and good practices in business, local government and NGOs".
We are all diverse
The purpose of the event was a cross-sectoral exchange of experiences in building a diverse, equal and inclusive work environment in line with the European Union's equality policies. Discussions included gender equality, inclusion of migrants and migrant women, LGBT+ people or neuroatypical people.
The starting point of our conference is that we are all different and diverse. Our characteristics such as gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity, our political and religious views are combined in our society with different access to social resources, privileges, trust, various services such as education. That's why we want to talk about the extent to which we create such environments where every person is to have equal opportunities to these resources.
Alina Szeptycka, Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of Wroclaw for Equal Treatment
Business reacts fastest
Undoubtedly, it is business that reacts the fastest and is the first to introduce changes, understands the employee market most fully, but also solicits talent. Our values and ideas are common, but we have different contexts.
Alina Szeptycka
As Alina Szeptycka said, the idea of this conference was to bring together people from different sectors, such as business, local government and social organizations.
The slogan that says that Wroclaw is a city of meetings is openness, diversity, inclusiveness, hospitality and community. In order for this to be true not only on banners and business cards, we need to take action every day to make it so here. We need to cleanse the city of hate speech and make sure that no one has to be afraid here.
Bartlomiej Ciazynski, Deputy Mayor of Wroclaw
Intercultural diversity is becoming a given
The conference also talked about the current challenges of interculturalism.
Intercultural diversity and respect for it in the workplace is something taken for granted nowadays, in a globalized economy, and it simply pays off. According to research, just one employee coming from a country to which foreign expansion is planned increases the chance of matching a company's offer to that market by 110 percent.
Magdalena Okulowska, president of ARAW
According to Magdalena Okulowska, a diverse team means multiple perspectives, and team leaders should keep in mind that any experience, even in multiple areas, is only a personal experience, not a universal one. Therefore, getting to know multiple points of view allows good decisions to be made.
The conference was organized by the Regional Representation of the European Commission in Poland, the Office of the Mayor of Wroclaw and the Wroclaw Equal Treatment Council. The event was held as part of the celebration of the European Year of Skills, which aims to develop and improve competencies among employers and employees in the European labor market.