At Visma we pride ourselves on being diverse, and we truly believe that we are. And as we strive to constantly improve our products and services, we also have a desire to become even better at taking care of our employees.
When we speak about diversity, we are referring to all the individual differences that enable us to have different perspectives and opinions. It can for example be age, life experiences, beliefs, physical and mental abilities.
And this is where Pride comes into play.
Pride month could concern the person next to you
We wish more than anything for our offices to be a place where no one has to hide who they truly are. By celebrating Pride, we’re aiming to contribute to that no matter what sexual orientation or gender identity you have: you can come to work and be confident that it doesn’t matter.
Celebrating pride isn’t just about “hiring more gay people” or “embracing a diverse workplace” – it’s also about remembering that the LGBTQIA+ community is important to a lot more people than many of us might think.
Pride also concerns fathers of lesbians, cousins of transgender people, best friends of pansexuals – and also the future children of our friends and family who are yet to find out who they are.
Almost 5 out of 10 hide their orientation at work
According to the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, 46% of LGBTQIA+ workers are closeted at work. Top reasons for not being open at work about their sexual orientation and gender identity are:
- possibility of being stereotyped (38%)
- possibly making people feel uncomfortable (36%)
- possibility of losing connections or relationships with coworkers (31%)
- people might think I’ll be attracted to them just because I am LGBTQIA+ (27%)
Why is Visma celebrating Pride?
There are tons of reasons why we’d like to spread awareness about the pride movement. Want the elevator pitch? Here are our top three reasons:
- We have zero tolerance for discrimination or offence towards anyone. As we’re welcoming more companies and colleagues to Visma every year, this continues to be a business-critical code of conduct.
- As an international company with more than 15,000 employees, we’re supporting our individual employees’ right to be themselves.
- We’re always working on making Visma a better place to be. Our Diversity & Inclusion discipline is one of our most important actions, where the main goal is to increase knowledge and awareness about different topics within D&I, including LGBTQIA+.
Have a look at: Our diversity and inclusion priorities
What’s on at Visma this month?
First and foremost, we encourage everyone to get familiar with the Pride celebrations! We know that everything begins with dialogue – so let your peers know (if they don’t already) it’s Pride month.
Our inspirational activities this Pride month:
- Inspirational webinar on our values and Diversity & Inclusion discipline
- All employees are welcome to use our Pride background in online meetings
- …as well as update their email signature to include their preferred gender
- Interviews with employees with a connection to the LGBTQIA+ community
- Social media toolkits for both the Visma companies and the employees
From all of us to all of you: Happy Pride!
