Description of the action
At Arendt we value all individuals. It was important to us to open the dialogue on transgender and organised a training for Diversity Day 2021 (20 May 2021).
We invited David Scholz, a senior business development consultant, diversity speaker & coach, who also is a lawyer and worked in the legal industry for a long time, to speak about his transgender experience and transformation. He also gave practical tips on how to include transgender in the workplace, create a safe environment and showed examples of inclusive language.
Due to the pandemic restrictions we had to convert the planned physical event to a virtual event in the form of a webinar available to all staff
We plan to repeat this session in live as soon as the pandemic restrictions allow us to.
Context
• At Arendt we value all individuals. It was important to us to open the dialogue on transgender and organised a training for Diversity Day 2021.
• David Scholz is a long-year expert on law firm marketing and business development and a diversity speaker, coach and author. He gives talks and workshops on how law firms and companies can become more diverse and he lectures on trans identity in the world of work. Besides educating people about what diversity,homosexuality,bisexuality and trans identity actually mean, he also tells his own story. Amongst his clients are renown names like Deutsche Telekom, Dentons and Vodafone.
Objectives
• Promoteinclusion of LGBTQ+ and especially transgender persons
• Create a safe environment for LGBTQ+ and especially transgender persons
• Make aware of possible unconscious bias that may have a negative impact on transgender persons
• Give hands-on tips for inclusive language
Approach
• Our Arendt Diversity &inclusion Network (DNA) is an internal network created to put into practice Arendt's commitment towards Diversity andinclusion. DNA is formed by every member of Arendt who wants to join the network and is organised by a coordination committee. The Coordination Committee acts in coordination with the Strategy Committee to implement practical measures in order to raise the awareness of our diversity initiatives within the Arendt Group.
• Our internal DNA Network Coordination Committee contacted the external speaker David Scholz to organise the training on transidentity.
• The event was communicated through various channels: our intranet, email to our staff and posters in the coffee corners.
• The physical event, with lunch and live Q&A opportunity after the training, was originally planned for March 2020 and had to be cancelled due to the pandemic and consequent lockdown.
• Due to the pandemic restrictions and physical events not allowed for a long period of time, we decided to organise this training virtually and present it to our staff for the occasion of Diversity Day 2021.
• The digital event took place on 20th of May 2021.
Impact
• We received positive feedback from the participants where we learned that the topic of LGBTQ+ and transgender plays a role among Arendt staff.
• The practical tips were adapted to the 3 working languages at Arendt: English, French and German, and form a hands-on approach for inclusive language.
• The recording is available on our collaborative workspace.
• In the long term: First of all, we plan to repeat this session in live as soon as the pandemic restrictions allow us to. A live session will allow for a more vivid conversation on the topic of transgender in the workplace. Secondly, we are in close contact with the speaker of this event, who is a transgender man, for any advice oninclusion of LGBTQ+ and, in particular transgender persons in the workplace.