Coming clean
Businesses around the globe are starting to publicly acknowledge the need for more inclusivity and diversity. But the rest of the world is observing this shift with dubious feelings.
Is it sincere or is it just jumping on the train because everybody else is jumping too? Or perhaps it is sincere, but there is the perception of opportunism made by companies with the wrong intentions. Even though we do have good intentions, we are learning that sometimes it’s not enough.
Does it make us inauthentic for wanting to do that now? No. We just didn't know how to go about it and were anxious to create the wrong perception.
But you know what? F*ck it, we just want to admit we’re not prepared at all. We are a medium-sized agency with no systems and structures in place to facilitate the LGBTQI+ movement internally. We have no policies, no instructions and no experts.
But what we do have is the intrinsic desire to make everyone feel welcome under our roof. Because we believe that it’s crucial to work in diverse teams built on trust and love to deliver some majestic projects. Different backgrounds and perspectives result in real answers and original solutions to our challenges.
Only when you feel 100% at ease with yourself and your environment can you unlock your true potential. Then work doesn’t feel like work and suddenly you realise your possibilities are limitless.
We want everyone in our team to feel this way. But we don’t have the right tools and experience to facilitate that.
Looking inwards
2020 was a year of enlightenment. Locked inside our homes, we realized we needed to move around some priorities. Focused on staying afloat and delivering the best work possible in the WFH reality, we forgot about the most important thing: happiness. We experienced disconnection, burnouts, negativity.
We knew this called for a solid internal shift. That’s why we decided to put “creating a positive future for the environment and society” at the centre of everything we do. Because eventually positivity is what brings us to happiness. Inclusion and diversity play a gigantic role here.
We know we’re not there yet but by making this our mission we make a promise to ourselves and to the outside world that we will channel all our decisions and actions towards it. We will make positivity the core of our business.
Our office 'Everyone is Awesome' rainbow LEGO set
We need help
We’re at the beginning of the path to an inclusive workplace. Step one was crossed off the list. We admitted we’re not there yet and we’re determined to change that.
We’re coming clean with you and with our team. Just the other day we gathered everyone in a company-wide huddle, and dedicated it to inclusion & diversity. We brought everyone’s attention to the fact that being “the only different one” can be intimidating and hard to deal with.
Being the only woman in a meeting can be intimidating.
Being the only transgender person in a meeting can be intimidating.
Being the only person of different race in a meeting can be intimidating.
But it’s only intimidating if we create such an environment (consciously or unconsciously). We started by making our team aware of it. But to move on from here, we need help.
Hiring an inclusion officer alone won’t do the trick. We must be surrounded by people and situations reminding us of it on a daily basis. We need to incorporate it in our daily work.
That’s why we need colleagues with diverse backgrounds and stories to teach us which behaviours are hurting them so we can unlearn them.
We’re opening our hearts in hope that if you read it, you will feel drawn to us and excited to join us on this transformation journey.
If you’re a potential colleague who’d like to have a chat about inclusion & diversity, we’ll gladly grab a cup of a drink of your preference with you.
Drop us email on: inclusive@dotcontrol.com