4/29/2008
Diversity leads to profit and creative working environments
This was a clear message stated at AmCham's latest Business Breakfast on April 29. Guest speakers were Ivan Daza, managing director of Blatteförmedlingen; Paul Lappalainen, Ombudsman against ethnic discrimination; and Margareta Tham, Political Scientist, Mångfaldsutveckling. Together they painted a picture of Sweden's current awareness and efforts within diversity.
AmCham and Blatteförmedlingen hosted a Business Breakfast on April 29, at Hotel Sheraton Stockholm, with the topic Diversity; an update and discussion on how Sweden is doing today in terms of diversity in the work place.
Paul Lappalainen shared his thoughts on the new proposed discrimination law and how it will affect us. He predicts it would ultimately simplify for both the employee and the employer, leaving us with only "one bad guy" to identify, as he put it, instead of browsing through the half dozen discrimination laws currently exiting.
Ivan Daza emphasized that we are in the middle of a world wide changing population situation. This will increase the demands on handling immigration in all industrialized countries as they need to adapt to the needs and demands this change will create.
Finally, Margareta Tham pointed to a survey focusing on Swedish municipal organizations and their view and agenda on diversity. Evidently, the municipal organizations lack an employee-attracting strategy, as well as an action plan when coming to turns with the problems they do acknowledge. "They seem to focus more on documentation than actual results" she said.
For more information see www.blatteformedlingen.se
Written by Anna Bylin, AmCham Sweden
