Why do we foster diversity?

We foster diversity because people feel welcomed to work here no matter who we are. Feeling valued at work can be a foundation for strong teamwork that turns into better performance. Diversity also inspires innovative ideas and attracts the best talent. We believe demographic characteristics and diverse experiences that have nurtured unique viewpoints benefit our growth. That is why we value each person and their different backgrounds as a whole.

‍

Based on interviews with peers, I wrote the draft for Diversity and Inclusion Policy which we collectively reviewed and approved the final version to publish internally. All twelve interviewees agreed that diversity promotes company’s performance and mutual respect, with full support and alignment with the leadership team. Based on the interviews and feedback from the team, we published the Diversity and Inclusion Policy.

‍

The key principles that we follow to walk the talk are as follows:

‍

‍

• We bring our whole being to work.

‍

• We believe a person thrives in the environment when one can be a whole being. We welcome different voices, perspectives, and experiences. We consciously strive to address unconscious bias when people unconsciously attribute certain stereotypes about certain groups of people. If we spot discriminatory words or behavior derived from prejudice or stereotypes, we say no and hold the person accountable to fight against any form of discrimination, conscious or unconscious.

‍

• We appreciate ‘culture add’ as well as ‘culture fit.’ Each employee brings with one’s life experiences that shape a unique set of values and voices. We believe the culture add is a strong plus for each candidate in the hiring process. We provide opportunities for mutual learning and community building such as celebrating different public holidays from different countries.

‍

• We aim to set a leading example.

‍

• We respect diverse voices and speak inclusive languages. We pursue participatory approaches for making decisions and share our honest opinions openly. We hold everyone accountable if we see that an opinion is unfairly disregarded. We value diverse voices with different approaches and perspectives for a constructive discussion.

‍

• We create best practices in the sector. We believe every small endeavor towards diversity and inclusion matters to tackle the root cause of systematic problems beyond the company level, one step at a time.

‍

‍

What is Diversity, Equity and Inclusion?

The Diversity and Inclusion Policy first stemmed from our mission. Our ‘People’ mission states that we want to “create an environment that attracts, develops, and retains outstanding diverse talent. We want to be an organization that is non-hierarchical, inclusive, celebrates ownership, offers support, and fosters autonomy.” We at ng-voice understand and celebrate the differences based on the three pillars: demographic, experiential, and cognitive diversity.

‍

‍

• Demographic diversity is what we are born with, encompassing social and ethnic origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, and physical (dis)abilities.

‍

• Experiential diversity is shaped by how we grow up, encompassing skill sets, culture (food, language, religious affiliation), upbringing, and personality.

‍

• Cognitive diversity is the way we perceive the world and interact, encompassing perspectives, thinking styles, beliefs, and values.

‍

‍

How do we bring our whole beings to work?

The Diversity Task Force team that consists of two engineers and two business managers work on various initiatives as a side project to implement tangible activities in Diversity and Inclusion. For example, we conducted a company-wide unconscious bias training to learn the difference between equity and equality, the intentions and impacts of the insensitive questions, and how we can cope with micro-aggressions. To celebrate our diverse roots, we added our favorite public holidays in different cultures from the colleague’s home country in the team calendar to share the tradition and history behind their favorite holidays.

‍

‍

On the recruitment side, the partnerships with ‘Trust in SODA’ and ‘Women in DevOps’ expanded our access to diverse talents in the market. On the International Women’s Day, some of us also pledged to take part in #ChoosetoChallenge to support the global movements for gender equity.

‍

‍

‍

We believe that fostering diversity is critical for our team’s success. We will continue setting leading examples in the sector and beyond!  If you want to join us on this mission, check out our careers page – we will be happy to hear from you. We at ng-voice boast diverse and international talents. We not only appreciate our individual differences but we celebrate them. Because we believe diversity and inclusion are the pillars to build a company culture that contributes to our core values of trust and ownership.

‍

‍