Luxembourg celebrates Diversity Day 2022

On 12 May, Luxembourg celebrated their annual Diversity Day. This year the date coincided with the Mental Health Awareness Week, so we decided to focus this year’s theme on mental health.

The day kicked off with a webinar hosted by our Managing Director Frederik Raymond Benoit and Nele Segers, HR Business Partner, who announced the interesting activities we had lined up for the day. 

We hosted three workshops on the concept of ‘bringing your whole self to the workplace’, where employees were encouraged to complete their ‘Be your whole self profile’. Afterwards, we organised a lunch on the theme of 'flavours of the world' which was a great opportunity to interact and discuss diversity and inclusion (D&I) topics with our colleagues. Finally, to close the day, we hosted a webinar with our guest speaker Thomas Dunning, who shared his own experience on overcoming mental health issues and how he rebuilt himself while staying true to his authentic self. Thomas is a passionate mental health activist, fuelled to break the stigma that surrounds mental illness. Having suffered with mental health himself, diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder, Social Anxiety Disorder and PTSD, Thomas is making it his mission to ensure that no one struggling with their mental health feels alone. It was very inspiring to hear his journey!

The cherry on the cake was the announcement of the upcoming visit of Madame Corinne Cahen, Minister for Family Affairs and Integration in Luxembourg, who came to our office on 18 May to discuss our D&I agenda.

Madame Cahen gave a very insightful speech about the engagement of the Luxembourg government on Diversity and Inclusion and she acknowledged the importance of breaking the bias. Frédérik covered all of the actions that have been taken since Luxembourg signed the Diversity Charter last year. Our unconscious bias training programme that all employees completed is now part of our new-starter pack. We've focused on implementing gender diversity across all our people processes such as hiring, talent management, development, promotions, bonuses and salary increases.

Both Frédérik and the Minister highlighted the importance of mental health in the workplace and how being one’s whole self is so much better for your mental health balance. Frédérik reminded everyone in the Luxembourg office about the five employees who are trained mental first aiders and who are available for anyone when needed.

We’re really proud that Madame Cahen chose to visit IQ-EQ for the Diversity Day and that she participated in our celebration activities. We’re also proud of our very diverse workplace. Our Luxembourg employee population has 38 nationalities, out of which 52% are women and 48% are men.

We’re already looking forward to next year's Diversity Day. In the meantime, don’t forget to bring your whole self to the workplace!