‘Mixed teams are more successful’

‘Our employees use their talents, take ownership of their work and create added value for their stakeholders. That is our vision. It’s important to us that people feel at home here and are able to develop themselves. The ongoing globalisation means that we have customers, employees and business partners at international level. To the outside world we are a market player that must be comfortable dealing with different cultures. Internally we want to be a reflection of society including men, women and people of diverse ethnic backgrounds. So diversity is clearly an important focus of our HRM policy. We try to make people aware of each other’s qualities. People with different backgrounds see things from different perspectives. That’s why mixed teams can be more creative and successful. Moreover, staff diversity is absolutely essential to cope with the ageing population. We need more female directors and ethnic managers. So measures are being taken to promote career advancement. But we haven’t yet gone so far as to set mandatory targets. A proportionate representation of population groups must grow gradually. Show people the advantages of diversity and you’ll see diversity evolve as a matter of course.’

Frans Duynstee, HRM Director

This viewpoint is published in Sustainable Nuon 2006 magazine. In this magazine, the reader is guided through eight key issues that are currently confronting our sector and company; we explain our viewpoints and their relevance to the wider world. You can order the magazine through the order form on this website.