News & Insights

It starts with us

Corporate

Sustainability

The gender gap persists in many industries and organizations. The resource and waste management industries are no exception. The work to close the gender gap is important for many reasons, not least the ability to attract and nurture talent from a diverse talent pool. Sofia Böhmfeld, HR specialist at Stena Recycling, shares five insights on how to work to obtain a more diverse workforce.

1. Strengthen diversity and inclusion as part of your company culture

In that way the benefits of a diverse workforce should be clear to everyone. At Stena Metall we believe that it is beneficial to our businesses if our workforce reflects the society we live in. We want our people to contribute with different perspectives, ideas, and backgrounds. It stimulates creativity, builds stronger teams and in that way, we create better results.

2. Educate everyone

At Stena Metall, we have a saying that ‘It starts with me’. Everyone is responsible for creating a workplace where you feel valued and can contribute, irrespective of gender, religious or cultural beliefs. To achieve this, we must understand that we are all biased in some way or the other, and we all need to change.

3. Be prepared to work long-term

It takes time to push boundaries and create results. You need to keep the discussions on-going, by providing opportunities to discuss these issues in the daily work life. You can, for example, support managers with material for discussion in their teams.

4. Involve all parts and processes within the organization

The goal must be to engage all parts of the organization. Review all processes from attract and recruit, onboarding, introduction programs, to leadership trainings and so on, from an inclusive perspective.

5. Lift best practice

To focus on good examples from all parts of the organization is very inspiring and creates pride and the sense that you are moving in the right direction.