21. Companies who are fighting for values, democracy and human rights are the long-term winners - CEO for Dustin Group Thomas Ekman

We’re excited to share this week's podcast guest with you - Thomas Ekman, CEO of Dustin Group and previous member of our first round of CEO program, CEOs for D&I!

As a member of the first round of the CEO program, Thomas will share, together with the other participants, their work and action plan for D&I at our symposium "An inclusive labour market 2023" on 23 March. Read more and sign up here: https://mittliv.com/en/webinars-events-courses/an-inclusive-labour-market-2023/

In this episode hosted by Sofia Appelgren (founder of Mitt Liv), Thomas shares his and Dustin Group’s journey in D&I and Thomas shares why diverse and including companies are long-term winners. He shares the importance of working with mindset, stereotypes and attitudes to create change. He also states that he wants the company to mirror society’s diversity and that it is important to always have D&I on the agenda.

Other key takeaways that Thomas shares in this episode are:

- The importance of company values and always striving to improve oneself

- He highlights the importance of focusing on the right competence when recruiting, which in turn leads naturally to a diverse recruitment

- How Dustin Group now has implemented tools to help the company to secure diversity in their teams

- The importance of working with attitudes, mindsets and stereotypes

- How working with an external person in recruitments helps to go outside of your network and ensuring diversity and the right composition of teams

- How important it is that the company mirrors the society

- He says: “I think it is important to have it (D&I) on the agenda. This is the heart of how you build the company and what people we want to attract to the company.”

- There are four core characteristics that you need to have as a leader and human Thomas shares; you need to have courage, be curious, feel responsibility and to be empowered.

- Having D&I constantly on the agenda is key

The episode is available on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SEj5WL5TXyU&list=PLp_NdRXI5IWlEavbfr5oVxBiA1I88_zk2

Read more about Mitt Liv: https://www.mittliv.com/

Sign up for our upcoming symposium "An Inclusive Labour Market 2023": https://mittliv.com/en/webinars-events-courses/an-inclusive-labour-market-2023/

Read about our "CEOs for D&I" program: https://mittliv.com/en/impact-advocacy/ceos-for-d-i/