Employees should have the luxury of being themselves at work. They discussed this at "Barbara" Meeting Place

The “Inclusive Workplace” conference is one of the events taking place as part of European Diversity Month, a European Commission initiative promoting equality and combating discrimination. It was attended by people who deal with diversity and inclusion strategies in their institutions on a daily basis. They shared their knowledge, experience, and examples of effective practices they have implemented. They also offered advice on how to deal with everyday challenges in different organizations.

People need to feel safe

According to Barbara Lisiewicz, director of the Social Diversity Department at the City of Wroclaw, this is yet another conversation about inclusive workplaces. In her opinion, inclusivity is becoming an increasingly important element in creating modern work environments where people feel accepted, respected, and able to develop their skills.

The most important thing is that when managing different entities, we allow our employees the luxury of being themselves at work. For this to be possible, people must feel very safe in a given environment, and this in turn is only possible when they are accepted. These are the kinds of places we should be creating. This requires the work of the entire team at various levels.

Barbara Lisiewicz

The hardest thing to change is language

Participants at the meeting learned more about inclusive language in organizations and how to build equality in companies on a daily basis.

Inclusive language is the most difficult part of change that needs to be implemented in an organization. It is more difficult than changing the architecture and one's own views. It is a language that connects, creates community, and includes everyone.

Prof. Tomasz Piekot, linguist at the University of Wrocław

It is worth knowing what changes to implement in an organization

The conference also discussed the situation of people aged 50+ in the labor market and sensory-friendly places.

We deal with equality issues and soft employee topics on a daily basis. I am here to learn about good practices in this area that we could use at our university.

Barbara Kulińska from the University of Life Sciences in Wroclaw

I am a human resources manager, which is why I am interested in this topic. Inclusive workplaces are necessary, and many people are not aware of this. We also employ people with disabilities and will certainly hire more if necessary.

Ewa Bielska from the Municipal Cemetery Management Board

A place accessible to everyone

"Barbara" was specially chosen as the venue for the meeting, as it is fully accessible to wheelchair users. The event was also interpreted into Polish Sign Language (PJM) for the deaf.

The event was organized by the Department of Social Diversity of the Wroclaw City Hall.