Diversity & Inclusion
Building teams that reflect the real world
Inclusion is not a matter of political correctness. It is the key to a good business in today's environment.
Our current situation
The team picture from our 2019 company retreat shows a group of mainly semi-similarly looking men
Not a great example of company diversity at all. It was this image that made us realise that we need to step up our game. We think it is not enough anymore to simply not discriminate, welcome others, and treat everyone respectfully. We realise now we have to try harder. What we haven't done well in the past is to explicitly and clearly state our values and behaviours.
Why diversity matters
We believe more diversity will make us a stronger, more interesting company, that reflects modern society
Many studies have already shown all the advantages of a more diverse workforce. It improves, for example, the collective intelligence of a team and creativity is improved through the diversity of ideas and debate. Diversity is relevant for everybody. Having diversified teams means a greater range of end-user empathy that will help create more effective products.
Diverse teams also tend to increase the domain knowledge available to them. We value and expect it in our clients and partners as well. We are more likely to team up with a company with whom we can easily identify.
Diversifying teams also means faster and more qualitative growth. Which results in more valuable personal growth, for every employee. Win-win-win.
Changing the status quo
Here are a few examples of things we do to increase diversity:
Recruiting from diverse spaces
Recruiting from spaces frequented by diverse groups of people.
Safe and inclusive environment
Creating a working environment where everyone feels safe, respected and accepted.
Making room to listen
We make room to listen to you.
Bias-free hiring
Keeping bias out of our hiring processes as much as possible through anonymous reviewing of technical exercises and objective interview guidelines.
Work-life balance
Family comes first. We highly value your work-life balance.
Part-time opportunities
Allowing part-time opportunities for people who want to blend child-care and a career.
Supporting diverse programmes
Supporting programmes and projects that are helping diverse groups of people become software makers, like HackYourFuture.
“We need diversity of thought in the world to face the new challenges.”
Tim Berners-Lee, Inventor of World Wide Web