Our four stakeholder groups reflect, and are as varied as, the society we live in: different generations, genders, needs, personalities, expertise, concerns, languages, attitudes, points of view, skills and orientations. Our task lies in reconciling these differences and finding the best way of combining them. This is an area that offers huge potential.
You can find further details on our commitment to greater diversity and inclusion on our website.
As anyone who has ever worked in a team comprising different generations, genders, personalities and skills will know, different people complement each other. Something that one team member might not even consider might be important to another. Together, the team can broaden its horizons and tap into a wider range of opportunities. Teams in which everyone has the same skills and views are less likely to think outside the box. They tend to adopt a more one-sided approach to their work. It goes without saying that working in diverse teams can be more of a challenge. Different personalities can sometimes clash. What is crucial in such cases is that the team members pursue a constructive approach based on respect. If they can manage to do so, then their interactions can make the team much more productive.
Strictly speaking, the title should be: “What is diversity and what is inclusion?”. After all, recognising a team’s diversity is one thing, but including each and every individual, setting all the things that make him or her different aside, is a different matter entirely. This is precisely what we are aiming to achieve. We are convinced that including all groups of individuals and stakeholders is of vital importance to Baloise and to our society at large. This inclusion makes us better.
Diversity is one of the focal points of our sustainability work. Sustainable Development Goals 5 (Achieve gender equality) and 10 (Reduced inequalities) provide us with a framework for these efforts.
The more diverse our 7,300 employees in five different countries are, the richer our cultural experience and the greater our success. It’s a simple formula that will ultimately contribute to our Simply Safe strategy and one of our objectives: to rank among the top 10% of employers in our industry by 2021.
An important guideline within our culture is the Baloise Code, which provides a framework for how we interact in a diverse environment. It sets out the rules of conduct we have agreed upon so that we can treat each other on an equal footing and with respect.