Harnessing untapped labour potential for a more diverse and inclusive labour market

Strong opinion piece in Trouw in which Peter Brouwer, Programmanager Inclusive Labour Market at Goldschmeding Foundation, calls for greater support for diversity and inclusion in organizations. At a time of growing labour shortages, he emphasizes the need to make the labour market more inclusive and diverse by harnessing untapped labour potential. In this regard, support is needed for those currently on the sidelines, by helping them find jobs and sustainably strengthening their position in the labour market.

"That requires employers to first be motivated themselves, and to subsequently increase support for diversity and inclusion policies among their staff. It also requires employees to lay their cards on the table. After all, it is employees who can spot opportunities and challenges from the workplace and influence each other. By expressing their support for diversity and inclusion policies, they can also inspire other colleagues."

Also read the handbook we drafted together with Diversity at work and InclusieNL on how to create support for D&I policy here!

© Trouw

LGBTQ+ representation in the board room

US research has shown that 11 percent of all Americans identify as LGBTIQ+, as compared to only 0.1 percent of senior executives. Across Fortune 500 companies, less than half a percent of executives are LGBTQ+. Where things stand in the Netherlands, is still unknown. More research is needed on this topic. But, most of all, more investment in removing barriers is needed, as we have as yet no reason to believe that things look much brighter here.

Menno Sedee wrote an article about LGBTQ+ board representation. Interested in the article? Click here.

© NRC

Research project results on designing effective D&I policy

How can organisations effectively design their D&I policies? This question was the focus of the three-year research project "Looking at D&I policy through a different lens” that we worked on with Melissa Vink, Wiebren Jansen, Naomi Ellemers, and Lina Senen.

Creating an inclusive organization proves to be a challenge. Research has shown that existing interventions aimed at raising awareness or countering biases (such as anti-bias training) are not always effective. The research project therefore worked from a different perspective, focusing on:

  • What blind spots are present in diversity policies

  • How this affects job seekers, employees and organizations as a whole

  • How these patterns can be broken

In this blog, Melissa Vink elaborates on the main results. You can also download the final report here.

With thanks to Instituut Gak and Judith van der Veer for their support!

InclusieNL Event: Talking about recent D&I developments

What an inspiring afternoon at the InclusieNL event, where our team from Utrecht University was able to contribute with a workhop!

In our workshop, participants identified the blind spots in their organizations' D&I policies. Together we practiced the Best Methods approach by drawing up SMART goals for exit research. This yielded great insights, including the important leads on the inclusiveness climate within the organization that exit research can provide. Participants also saw the exit interview as an opportunity to make departing employees company ambassadors.

We will incorporate these insights into a new handbook on Exit Research that we are preparing as part of the Goldschmeding Foundation-supported project “Het moet wel werken”, together with Diversity at work and InclusieNL, formerly known as Foundation Nederlandse InclusiviteitsMonitor.

Photo credit: InclusieNL

Workplace Pride announces Global Benchmark 2022 results

Workplace Pride just announced the results of their yearly Global Benchmark survey! The Global Benchmark is a labor-intensive, but very impactful measurement instrument that is designed to measure the LGBTIQ+ policies and practices for internationally active employers.

I would like to congratulate all the organisations that have committed their time and effort into completing this years Workplace Pride LGBTIQ+ Global Benchmark survey! The results of their work offers valuable insight into the way organisations are taking steps to provide a workplace where everyone can be themselves.

Interested in the results of the Global Benchmark 2022? You can find the report by Workplace Pride here!

© Workplace Pride

Coming Out Day & New Members at Workplace Pride 🌈

Coming Out Day is an international day of awareness and respect for LGBTQ+ people. Every year on 11 October, we reflect on the importance of being able to be yourself, regardless of your sexual orientation or gender identity.

This year on Coming Out Day, my own employer University of Utrecht and our neighbour HU Hogeschool Utrecht have joined Workplace Pride! Christine Holtkamp captured this wonderful event 📸 I look forward to working together to make these workplaces more inclusive.

As of last year, the longest rainbow bike path in the world has been at the Utrecht Science Park. With the rainbow bike path, Utrecht University, Hogeschool Utrecht and UMC Utrecht are calling attention to acceptance, equality and safety of all people from the LGBTIQ+ community. But what do staff and students really think about it?

Photo credit: Utrecht University

Milou van de Brug and Miriam Wickham, former student and PhD student at the Faculty of Social Sciences, respectively, investigated how the rainbow bike path was received by students and staff. They presented their results on Coming Out Day, revealing an overwhelmingly positive evaluation of the rainbow bike path: a rating of 8!

According to participants, the bike path symbolises the institutions' commitment to the LGBTQ+ community, and helps raise awareness. At the same time, according to Van de Brug and Wickham, the survey results give reason for more efforts in favour of LGBTQ+ inclusivity. Based on the findings, the researchers advise a Triple-A Approach:

  • Attention by providing all-gender toilets and inclusive gender registration policies,

  • Amplification by means of safe spaces and more visibility of LGBTQ+ networks,

  • Awareness by creating more visibility of the EDI Office’s actions and diversity goals.

Read more about the research and the policy advice here!

Support and D&I Policy Guide

That support within the organization is important for the success of diversity and inclusion policies will not surprise anyone. But what exactly does that support look like, and what can HR professionals do to create support within all layers of the organization?

To answer these questions, our research team at Utrecht University conducted a new study in collaboration with the Nederlandse InclusiviteitsMonitor and Diversity at work.

In this handout, we summarize the findings and list a number of concrete strategies: "Iedereen aan Boord: Handreiking voor het creëren van draagvlak voor diversiteits- en inclusiebeleid."

The research and the guide are part of the project 'Het moet wel werken: Inclusie op de arbeidsmarkt door synergie tussen wetenschap en praktijk', made possible by the Goldschmeding Foundation.

“Stronger together towards LGBTIQ+ inclusion in Academia”

On September 8th, the LGBT+ Network Leiden University organized a meeting for all members of the Academia@ Workplace Pride community to open the Academic Year! We looked back on what has been achieved and are looking ahead to the topics which will further improve LGBTIQ+ inclusivity in academia.

During the event, Workplace Pride Advisory Board member and senator Boris Dittrich was interviewed about his latest book “Mandate: My Fight for Equal Rights” by Workplace Pride Foundation Board co-chair Michiel Kolman 🏳️‍🌈 (pictured). Aya Ezawa shared the university’s D&I plans for the coming years, and I shared the latest findings from our research highlighting the importance of D&I policy support among board members, managers and employees. What an excellent event to kick off the school year!

Photo credit: Workplace Pride