Our differences are our strengths

At Husqvarna Group we believe that it is through our different perspectives we create a company that is built to last. Our Diversity and Inclusion manager, Franco Perez, shares his view of our D&I work and how our uniting efforts across the organization help us become a global leader in diversity.

October is Global Diversity Awareness Month. Even though diversity and inclusion is part of our daily agenda, we use this month to ramp up our work internally and put some extra light on the positive impact that a diverse culture can have on our organization and society as a whole.

Why did you join Husqvarna Group?

As a young Peruvian, I had actually never heard of Husqvarna Group, until a couple of years ago. Our paths crossed at an international conference in 2019. From the get-go, I noticed that the people I met were truly dedicated and had a strong drive to find innovative sustainable solutions, fit for the future. This was truly inspiring. I’m a firm believer that there are always new solutions to everyday problems, and now when I’m part of Husqvarna Group, I can see how everyone is constantly seeking progress and genuinely care for each other.

Why is diversity and inclusion an important topic for Husqvarna Group?

We are a company with more than 330 years in the business, with over 14,000 employees globally. Given that context, we are convinced that it is through our different perspectives we create a company that’s built to last. In April last year, we launched our Diversity & Inclusion strategy. This has given us, as an organization, clear and ambitious targets. “Our differences are our strengths” is our guiding principle for D&I and what we see as our competitive advantage. We want to be a company where all employees truly feel they belong, speak up, and bring their full selves forward uninhibited and with passion.

Last year Financial Times named Husqvarna Group a global diversity leader in their European ranking. What are our success factors?

Honestly, this was a very positive surprise and recognition of our work, which proves that we are moving in the right direction. The organization has been keen on learning more about the topic and at the same time, it has helped us to become aware of the current gaps we face and actions that are important to take on the short horizon. We know that we still have a long journey ahead, and we want to build on our learnings. Last year we put effort into strengthening our communication around diversity and inclusion and started validating our actions by external parties. We also did an engagement analysis across the whole organization and hosted a D&I training for all 1,600 people managers in the Group. All of this work is just the foundation for us to continuously strengthen our efforts around this topic. Hopefully, this year’s Financial Times ranking, released in November, reflects the recent work and effort put into the initiative.

Tell us more about the internal actions for global diversity awareness month within Husqvarna Group.

Diversity and inclusion is part of our daily agenda. However, we use this month to put some extra light on the positive impact that a diverse culture can have on our organization and society as a whole. This is the second year that we arrange activities during October. Our focus has mostly been on increasing engagement from our employees through digital activities, such as virtual coffee chats, and inclusive leadership sessions. We have also launched our Diversity & Inclusion toolbox, which provides practical materials for anyone in the Group who wants to engage and drive action around the topic.

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