In this video, ABB’s Chief Human Resources Officer and newly appointed Executive Committee sponsor for generations Carolina Granat and head of Diversity and Inclusion Heidi Robertson discuss how generational diversity at ABB contributes to a more inclusive workplace.
According to Ms. Robertson, ABB has multiple generations in the workplace and for us at ABB it’s very important that everyone feels welcomed across all generations and that’s also why they put a special emphasis on this topic.
Responding on how important diversity is within the workplace, Ms. Granat explained that:
In terms of inclusion of the generations we have several generations within ABB that have different life experiences different insights into topics, what is success looking like, how can future look like, and I think it’s important for us to understand that we need to offer an environment where we capture all the great things with our new joiners
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What is more, Ms. Granat added that ABB managed to do a better job with the younger generation than with the old generation. This highlights the necessity to bring these generations together and notes the differences and how ABB can capture and learn in both directions.
Concrete actions to drive diversity
Continuing, Ms. Granat stated that:
There is a big responsibility for all the managers to always ensure that in meetings in your teams that everyone is being seen listen to and that you allow for different perspectives and understand that they all contribute to better solution for the company and for the team
Finally, she mentioned the need to find structures and tools that can be applied. One such example is now taking place in Sweden, where ABB has put in place a mutual mentorship program, connecting a young person just joined ABB with some of its senior professionals that been around for a long time to actually share experiences.
