Randstad Legal and D&I
Randstad attaches great importance to diversity and inclusion (D&I). D&I benefits society as a whole in accordance with one of our core values: simultaneous promotion of all interests. Randstad has several policies related to D&I to provide guidance to everyone within the organization. To build awareness on the importance of the topic we repeatedly bring it to the attention of our employees in various ways; via D&I webinars, a D&I intranet page and a D&I video.
D&I was a key topic on our global Legal / HR Conference this year and Randstad Netherlands created a card game called “It works to be yourself”, to encourage colleagues to discuss D&I questions in a relaxed and fun manner.
Although words definitely matter, the crucial question is of course what we do to put our visions and values regarding D&I into practice. Within Randstad, many initiatives have been launched around the world to support D&I in the broadest sense; some are internal and some are in cooperation with other organizations.
Project Foreign Lawyers
The in-house legal community of Randstad, Randstad Legal, for example, supports a fantastic initiative of the municipality of Amsterdam, The Netherlands: “Project Foreign Lawyers”. This project helps refugees lawyers, so persons who completed law school and/or worked as a lawyer abroad, to find an internship. Starting a career in the Dutch legal system is difficult without a Dutch law degree. The municipality of Amsterdam assists status holders, which are refugees who are allowed to stay in the Netherlands, by offering them intensive language programs focussing on the legal professional jargon, training for job interviews and assistance in finding an internship to gain practical work experience in The Netherlands. Randstad Legal attended a speed date interviewing afternoon with the candidates concerned and is now discussing with the municipality of Amsterdam in which way Randstad Legal can contribute to this project.
Randstad Legal is also in contact with some schools close to the headquarters in Diemen/Amsterdam South-East – known for its multicultural character – to organize a visit to or attend a job/study fair at those schools and tell the students about Randstad, law school in general and the profession of a lawyer. This way we hope to be able to share our knowledge and experience with the students as well as to learn how Randstad Legal can meet their needs/assist them in their study choice.
As a team activity, Randstad Legal visited a multicultural elderly home. We received a very warm welcome and had a great afternoon, playing Bingo, enjoying waffles with cream and chatting with the residents.
All in all, Randstad values D&I and D&I will continue to be a focal point within the organization. We hope the same applies to other organizations so that one-day D&I will be the new normal.
Collaboration
If you have any questions or suggestions, regarding D&I at Randstad and Randstad Legal’s initiatives in this regard, please leave a comment or contact Fiona van Lede (fiona.van.lede@randstad.com) or Neysa Hooi (neysa.hooi@randstad.com), both lawyers at the Randstad Legal department in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
