Women’s Day Pre-Party 2020 – Unconscious Bias

Posted on

12 Mar

2020

Dittmar & Indrenius > Insight > Women’s Day Pre-Party 2020 – Unconscious Bias

We invited our friends and clients to join us for an International Women’s Day Pre-Party. While mixing and mingling in a casual afterwork setting, we had lively discussions – off and onstage – about unconscious bias, diversity and inclusion.

We asked Nina Meincke, Director of SOK Corporation’s HR function, Panu Mäenpää, Senior Advisor from Miltton Oy and Sara Salmani, Chief Diversity & Inclusion Officer from non-profit organisation Inklusiiv, to step on stage to discuss how organisations can promote diversity and inclusion. Panel moderator Janne Parikka from Dittmar & Indrenius led a conversation that ranged from reflecting where we might catch ourselves unconsciously biased to thinking about how to carry out diversity and inclusion in the daily operations of organisations.

Did you know that having diversity and inclusion in an organisation leads to better profitability, promotes innovation, increases employee satisfaction, attracts the best talent and sustains client relationships, just to mention some of the benefits? Diversity also leads to psychological safety, creating an environment where people feel safe to express themselves, feel a sense of belongingness and thrive. Moreover, it is only wise to create an atmosphere where all individuals are treated respectfully and able to do their best for the joint goals.

Panellists Panu Mäenpää, Sara Salmani, Nina Meincke and Janne Parikka

After thought-provoking discussions, the panellists gave us all some homework:

Nina Meincke encouraged us to do little daily deeds to acknowledge others and to make their environment better and more compassionate.

Panu Mäenpää urged us to ask our CEOs when she or he has last mentioned diversity.

Sara Salmani asked us to make a list of our closest friends and think who they are (gender, ethnicity, societal status, etc.) and think whether they are similar to us and whether we live in a like-minded bubble.

When listening to our guest speakers, I also learned that D&I, an abbreviation that we at Dittmar & Indrenius like to use of ourselves, also stands for Diversity & Inclusion. I like the sound of that.

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