Seeing people as they want to be seen

On Thursday 16 September, Amsterdam – Divers & Inclusive organised its fourth webinar for SMEs in the city of Amsterdam. This webinar zoomed in on the fact that employees from minority groups leave an employer where there is no inclusive culture more quickly than expected. This ‘revolving door effect’ can be a direct consequence of exclusion in the workplace. The process of exclusion occurs when, based on visible differences, someone from a minority group is labelled as the ‘other’ and therefore judged more negatively. These are often subtle processes, sometimes unconscious, sometimes conscious. This makes addressing them difficult.

Watch the entire webinar back now!

[8:26] ‘Working towards an inclusive climate is something you do together’

During the webinar, Shivan Shazad, policy advisor, spoke with Sherida Zorg, diversity manager at the Rijksmuseum, about the importance of making room for other opinions in your organisation. For Sherida, inclusion mainly means listening carefully, being open to other opinions and occasionally scrutinising your own beliefs.

[26:07] ‘Working towards an inclusive environment for lhbti+ persons’

Catherine Crossman, D&I lead at Accenture, commented on the importance of employees being able to be themselves at work. Visibility, according to Catherine, is essential for lhbti+ groups. However, because they are not part of the majority group, they are judged on that visibility. In her daily work as a D&I lead, Catherine therefore pays extra attention to a socially safe working environment.

[39:49] ‘Interactive training on inclusive culture’

Trainer and lecturer Arjan Verdooren took participants through an e-training on the importance of inclusive communication for a safe workplace. Research shows that people are excluded on the basis of one identity when in fact they are made up of many different identities and cultures. According to Arjan, inclusive communication is about seeing and approaching the other person as that other person would like to be seen.

[1:12:07] Concluding

Sarah Elbadr-Boers, quartermaster Amsterdam – Divers & Inclusive, rounded off the webinar with a short summary and a prize draw. The winner could win the book ‘Inclusion Marathon‘ by Kauthar Bouchallikht & Zoë Papaikonomou and has since been personally notified. The book will be in shops from 5 October. Read more about the book here.

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