This year’s conference in Norway brought leaders from all facets of society to learn the value of diversity
Recruitment of diversity competence
At Seema AS ‘s conference for Diversity Management 2021, there was valuable insight into how Britt Nilsen, Head of Sustainability at Schibsted and Filip Skogstad, managing partner at Lederhagen as, recruited Sumeet Singh Patpatia as Head of Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging at Schibsted.
Britt says that she reviewed all the applications and interviewed all candidates where she saw clear diversity competence. She actively searched for diversity. She also looked for possible hidden diversity expertise and the little extra that may not have appeared well enough in the résumé of applicants.
Britt knew that if she was to find the right candidate, she must apply in a different way. She had to create space to bring out the diversity expertise of all applicants.
Diversity competence is partly about the ability to understand why increased diversity requires increased diversity:
– Flexibility
– Ability to integrate something unfamiliar with the familiar and see the nuances
– Ability to understand power and privilege, how they are expressed in a workplace and or in society
– Dealing with dilemmas
– Cultural understanding
– Adaptability to change
Filip Skogstad and Britt are both certified in diversity management and know why recruiting diversity expertise also requires a different process and tools than is usual.
Meet the diversity leaders