The secret ingredient for success? Empowering a diverse team
May 16, 2024
Promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion is a top priority at Axis, as we believe diverse teams are crucial to driving innovation. If everyone came from the same background and thought the same way, we would not be the dynamic and creative company that we are.
“We take pride in being a progressive, forward-thinking company that actively embraces diversity and inclusion,” says Malin Svensson, Chief People Officer. “Diversity is important. It adds to Axis culture and provides us with the broad skillsets and unique abilities we need to innovate for a smarter, safer world.”
Diverse teams are driving growth
Diverse and inclusive teams give companies a unique edge. Firstly, because they foster innovation by including different ways of thinking and holistic viewpoints that better represent the society we serve through our products and services. Secondly, they make it more inviting for people of all ages, genders, sexual orientations, backgrounds and needs to feel encouraged to join. For us, this is about much more than being politically correct or ticking a box. There is a wealth of evidence that links diversity to business success and suggests it is helping to address the technology industry’s current skill shortage.
“We want to be an employer where you feel safe to be who you are or whoever you want to be“
Malin Svensson
“We know that bringing together colleagues from different backgrounds, experiences, and skills fosters innovation, creative thinking, and employee well-being. It’s the right strategy to have, driving results.”
But we don’t want to make this just about us; we want to encourage diversity across our company, industry, and beyond. Luckily, more and more companies are embracing inclusion and diversity as an essential part of business growth. Without them, innovation dries up.
Learning loves inclusion
One area where diversity plays a key role is through our internal training and development opportunities. We believe that development is not just about gaining specific skills; it’s about learning how to use them. In a diverse team, learners can build knowledge about how others behave, react and interpret situations. Different cultural or generational viewpoints can help create a more holistic and realistic understanding. Similarly, our mentorship program connects mentors and mentees from various backgrounds, creating an open-minded, empathetic and connected team.
Creating opportunities through equality
Gender Equality is one of the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals. Throughout Axis annual Sustainability Report, you can read about our initiatives that promote better working conditions, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training and activities that lift diversity and inclusion.
We are constantly working across all our regions to attract more female employees. For example, Axis in both Sweden and Americas cooperates with local high schools and universities to inspire and attract young women to technology and security industry-related careers. In Americas we are also cooperating with the Security Industry Association (SIA); we act as co-sponsor of their Security LeadHER conference and are participating in their leadership program for women. These are the perfect occasions to acknowledge women who are already part of the security industry, to network, build competence, and share experience through workshops and talks by industry-leading women within and outside Axis.
We acknowledge International Women’s Day around the world with different activities. For instance, we held a women’s networking luncheon in Oceania, and our Australian system integrators and distributors met to explore how our industry can actively nurture a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion well beyond the day itself.
Everyone’s included!
We understand gender is not the only area of diversity we need to address. In the Americas, a committee has been established to find ways to support the community and inclusion beyond gender. For example, in New York and Canada, they are working on a project to help the Axis sales team support underrepresented company owners. They are also working with Boston Pride for the People to provide cameras to livestream the parade in June.
We’re proud to support Pride Month in Sweden through local activities. To further support DEI and build awareness and knowledge on the topic, we’ve curated a unique selection of content. This will help spark and enable inclusive and meaningful conversations within our organization.
Thinking beyond diversity
The terms diversity and inclusion are often used equivalent, but we feel it’s essential to separate the two to deepen our work in this area. Diversity only indicates the presence of different demographics in an organization. Adding inclusion into the mix shows that everyone in the company is invited to contribute and be heard equally. Axis’ commitment to inclusion and fairness shone through e.g. in the 2024 Great Place to Work survey results (for EMEA), with our employees stating they feel valued and that everyone is treated fairly.
Our goal is to continue to drive inclusivity throughout our organization and to be a recognized leader in this area, helping to inspire other organizations and attract and retain the best talent out there.
Learn more about how we promote diversity and inclusion