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The Emerging Europe Talks podcast will soon be celebrating its third anniversary. Here, we look back at some of the most inspiring inclusiveness-focused interviews recorded during that period.
When I introduced my series of podcasts focused on sustainable impact, my intention was to speak to business leaders and opinion makers. They provide cutting-edge thinking and insights relevant to public, non-governmental organizations and businesses in emerging European regions. You’re looking to create impact and accelerate your organization’s journey.
So far, 60 guests have shared insights related to resilience, technology, climate change, environment, society, corporate governance (ESG), democracy, automation for good, and more.
However, in this column, I would like to focus on three episodes that looked at the future leadership of the region through the lens of diversity, equity and inclusion. These are the essential qualities of leadership to me.
These three episodes explored various marginalized communities and the benefits of including them in the workplace. We talked about women, LGBT+ individuals, refugees, people with disabilities and even the unemployed, but they don’t have to actually be unemployed.
A wider talent pool
The word diversity popped out at the beginning of my chat with. Olga Grige-Siddons Former Regional CEO of PwC in the CEE region, business advisor and mentor with a passion for responsible leadership and personal growth, founder of Villa Poranek, an international community of leaders who learn and grow together.
When referring to teams and leaders, she says: Because only when you have such a diverse group of people can you make good leadership decisions. ”
“In practice, we don’t go to traditional communities where organizations recruit to expand their reach to the wider community and find relevant and needed skills.” Tracy FreemanFounder of Believe Consulting, a global business services consultant focused on impact sourcing, said:
The primary purpose of a business is to create value for its shareholders and, more importantly, its customers, which means skill sets are very important. The trade-off between fairness and merit is merit, but there are different groups of benefits, including those that are often overlooked.
“When you look at the talent pool, especially when it comes to gender issues, 50% of the educated population is female. Your future leaders should look to both female and male candidates. We have to,” says Olga Grygier-Siddons.
Benefits
A diverse workforce benefits from different experiences, sometimes challenging skills, perspectives and insights that are brought together to solve problems. Diverse teams are proven to be more innovative, smarter, and more socially conscious. It also increases productivity.
“Your inclusive hiring needs to support out-of-the-box skills compared to standard hiring, so it may take a little while to pick up speed,” says Tracy Freeman. “But for about three to six months, which affects workers, workers are at the same level compared to normal hiring, unless output, quality and delivery deadlines are exceeded. There is a loyalty from that individual to the organization for giving him the opportunity to be so high.”
So does a positive reputation for a business. When companies promote diversity, they are perceived by more people as friendlier, more socially responsible, more human, and more attractive to more skilled talent.
“If you want to get talented people who feel safe and welcome in your business, people who will become highly productive and creative workers and make money for your business, they It is important to create an environment for Simona MurschekPresident of the Ljubljana Pride Association tells us in another episode discussing the LGBT+ community at work in the emerging European region.
ignore diversity
Lack of diversity and inclusion in the workplace can lead to large underrepresented groups due to lack of understanding.
Last year, I was very surprised when I spoke with a marketing director responsible for employer branding for a large IT company in one of Europe’s emerging markets. They told me there were no LGBT+ people on their team and they didn’t have to deal with LGBT+ issues.
“When I talk to organizations and companies, I tell them that some of their employees and interns belong to the LGBT+ community and that they are part of their organization,” said Simona. Murshek adds.
“Until now, it has not been profitable for companies to publicize themselves as LGBT+ friendly or to support the LGBT+ community. [in emerging Europe] There was no need to support LGBT+ people until now, they actually believed in it. [doing so] would hurt their reputation. ”
That is changing now, and one can only imagine how much an organization that has not embraced diversity, equity and inclusion has suffered on some fronts.
new generation
“It’s great to see our consumer clients globally becoming more conscious of social equity and social impact,” says Tracy Freeman.
“Our young people are very conscious of what brands they associate with, and if those brands aren’t making a conscious and deliberate effort to do the right thing, they may switch to another brand. I know.”
“Younger generations have a lot more freedom in expressing themselves. This is the future, this is the reality, so employers need to prepare for it.” Simona Mursek adds, referring to her work with Slovenian teenagers and her observations about other emerging European countries.
True sustainable leadership means being able to foresee, understand and embrace those generations.
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