30 June by invitation Responsible Business Forum and the National Chamber of Statutory Auditors A meeting on Diversity Management was held at Olivia Sky Club, during which the participants learned, among other things, what the Diversity Charter is and how it can be signed, why it is worth age management in an organization and how to use mentoring for this purpose. During the meeting, the Diversity Charter was also signed by new signatories: Forum of Mentors, Gdańsk Business Kub, Lechia Gdańsk, Farm Frites Poland. Olivia Business Centre was a partner of the meeting in Gdańsk.

What is the Diversity Charter?

The Diversity Charter is an international initiative supported by the European Commission, implemented in such European Union countries as: Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Spain.

The Charter is a commitment signed by organizations that decide to prohibit discrimination in the workplace and act to create and promote diversity, and expresses the company’s readiness to involve all employees and business and social partners in these activities. Organizations that decide to implement this tool work for social cohesion and equality.

The initiative to create a Polish version of the Diversity Charter was created during a meeting of representatives of companies with French capital in May 2011.

The inauguration of the Polish version of the Diversity Charter took place on 14 February 2012 during a conference at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister.

This year, the Diversity Charter in Poland is under the honorary patronage of the Commissioner for Human Rights.

Signing the Diversity Charter in Poland is voluntary and free of charge.

Genesis of the project

The initiative to create a Polish version of the Diversity Charter was created during a meeting of representatives of companies with French capital in May 2011. At that time, this document already existed m.in. in France, Spain, Italy, Austria, Germany, Sweden, Belgium, Ireland, Finland, Estonia and Luxembourg. Now the Charter operates in 17 countries of the European Union (as of 15.02.2017).

The Responsible Business Forum initiated the process of creating the Polish version of the Diversity Charter in September 2011 together with the then strategic partners – Aviva, British American Tobacco Polska, Danone, Deloitte Polska, Orbis Group, Żywiec Group, Kompania Piwowarska, L’Oreal Polska, Orange Polska, Provident Polska, PwC, Totalizator Sportowy sp. Ltd., Unilever and Nutricia.

As a result of the meetings, which were attended by representatives of companies, organizations and institutions representing the interests of various social groups exposed to discrimination, the content of the Charter was formulated. The meetings were held from September to December 2011. The meetings were attended by: Krystyna Mrugalska from the Polish Forum of Persons with Disabilities, Tomasz Szypuła from the Campaign Against Homophobia, Joanna Piotrowska from the Feminoteka Foundation, Krzysztof Śmiszek from the Polish Society of Anti-Discrimination Law and Magdalena Gryszko from the Office of the Government Plenipotentiary for Equal Treatment.

The content of the Polish version of the Charter was created through consultations with representatives of organizations representing the interests of various social groups exposed to discrimination, public administration and business.

As a result of the consultations, a document of the Polish version of the Diversity Charter was created, available here.

Fig. Anna Rezulak