Diversity and Inclusion

Belonging, being part of a community that values you for who you are. That is a need that motivates people in their work and contributes to their health and happiness. That’s why we are creating a working environment in which our people feel at home and feel respected for who they are.

We always opt for inclusion: everyone makes a unique contribution based on his or her background and experience. And we believe in diversity: we’re working together with unique individuals with different backgrounds and beliefs. Because people from different backgrounds and with different perspectives together create more varied ideas and better results. Our people are a reflection of the society in which we live and work. This ensures a better connection with our customers, who are part of a society that is rich in cultures and beliefs.

Creating Awareness

The importance of diversity and inclusion has to penetrate the hearts and minds of our people, so that it has a permanent place in our organizational culture. That is why we create awareness about the importance of a good balance between men and women in the organisation, about the benefits of working with people from different cultures and about the enjoyment of dealing with colleagues who have different life experiences.

This is achieved among others by providing training to our people. In 2019, for example, our managers received training in which they learned about unconscious prejudices and how they can recognise and eliminate these in discussions with (new) colleagues.

We speak to each other in English and in Dutch, so that everyone understands and is able to communicate with each other. Our people have access to a quiet room to peacefully do what is necessary on account of their religious beliefs. In our Heartbeat survey we ask them if they can be themselves at work and if they feel at home in their team and at VodafoneZiggo.

Basic Principles

We defined four basic principles for all activities that we undertake in order to stimulate diversity and inclusion in our organisation:

1. Diversity and inclusion are beneficial to our people, our customers and society. It contributes to better results.

2. What someone earns depends on the job. We do not discriminate on gender, origin, beliefs or preferences.

3. Every colleague is in charge of their own career. Mentors, managers, role models and other people in the organisation are there to inspire and support.

4. Managers want the best for their people. They treat everyone without prejudice.

Within this framework, we focus on four themes:

1. Women

2. LGBT+

3. People at a distance from the labour market

4. Ethnicity

Women

A good balance between men and women in the organisation leads to better decisions and contributes to more innovation. That is why we are working hard to improve gender distribution in all positions, levels and departments. In 2019, 28% of our top managers were women. This percentage reflects the share of women in the entire organisation, which was also 28%. We are aware that relatively few women still work in the telecom sector and we are doing our best to change this.

VodafoneZiggo joined the 'Talent to the Top' initiative and promised to let more women move on to the top.

In the Discover Traineeship, the training programme that young talents follow in our organisation, the ratio between men and women is 50-50.

On 17 April 2019, we launched our renewed policy for diversity and inclusion. We organised an event in the Ziggo Dome with a panel discussion on gender equality, after which we attended Michelle Obama's lecture at the same location. On 8 March 2019, we took part in the International Women's Day and on 11 April 2019, we organized a Girls’ Day. 150 girls then visited the VodafoneZiggo open day.

LGBT+

VodafoneZiggo has a large LGBT+ community. We now have a close and active group of colleagues in our LGBT+ & Friends network. In 2019, they organised training courses and networking meetings. During Purple Friday attention was paid to the campaign ‘Being yourself can be a party’. They have good connections with the international network of LGBT+ colleagues from our parent companies.

We support Utrecht Gay Pride - we are member of the Pride Business Club and ambassador of Workplace Pride.

People at a Distance from the Labour Market

We believe it is important to offer people at a distance from the labour market the opportunity to get a job. With us they are given a full job, where they are part of our regular teams.

We collaborate with external parties to ensure that the integration of these people is as successful as possible; these parties include the Lucile Werner Foundation, Emma at Work, Onbeperkt aan de slag (Unlimited work), Locus and Normaalste zaak (Normal business). Special job coaches guide the employees in their work activities.

Every year, the TNO research institute assesses the policy we pursue for hiring and guiding these people. They present the result in the Performance Ladder for Social Enterprise (PSO), a measuring instrument that shows how well a company scores in the social field. The higher it is on the ladder, the better a company performs. This year we achieved the 'aspiring status'.

Read more about the Performance Ladder for Social Enterprise

VodafoneZiggo has a legal obligation to hire people who are distanced from the labour market. This is classed as being a 'Social Return on Investment' and is a condition for our tenders. This year we welcomed 42 colleagues who were at a distance to the labour market.

Ethnicity

VodafoneZiggo is a Dutch company with an international image. We are part of an organisation with branches in almost all parts of the world. And we’re very proud of it. This international allure is visible in the workplace, where people from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds work together. This diversity enriches our organization and contributes to more mutual understanding. It is important that everyone is aware of each other's cultural customs and traditions, which is why we communicate with each other about this, for example during Christmas, Passover and Ramadan.

Recruitment and Selection

Diversity and inclusion are anchored in our recruitment policy. We select people based on their personality and qualities. We use data with which we avoid prejudices in selection. We check our vacancy texts for tone, content, stereotypes and prejudices. The consultancy firm Energique teaches our HR colleagues how to deal with unconscious prejudices. Everyone has to feel welcome in our organization.