Image: Danske Bank employees participate in Copenhagen Pride Week in 2022. 

Copenhagen is soon to be adorned in all the colours of the rainbow, with the columns at the front of Danske Bank’s HQ already transformed. We will also be raising the rainbow flag and joining in as celebrations culminate towards the end of Pride Week. 
      
“That getting involved in Pride Week has become a tradition at Danske Bank is something we can proud of. Our participation reflects a desire to contribute to a still important debate in society – and at the same time signals that we want to have a diverse and inclusive culture that reflects the societies we are part of and where everyone should have the same opportunities. However, we are also well aware that creating such a culture requires all of us to strive towards embedding diversity and inclusion in our daily lives,” says Karsten Breum, Chief People Officer at Danske Bank. 

That is why we are focusing on a series of events during Copenhagen Pride Week that will help enlighten our entire organisation about how we can support each other – all year round.

Our rainbow network and other volunteers have, for example, invited external role models to speak, while several of our leaders will also be sharing their experiences. A key message we want to send is that we all have different ways of expressing solidarity and that one form of support is not necessarily better than another.

“At Danske Bank, we are keen to create a culture where everyone feels their contribution is appreciated and all can feel free to be the person they are. This is simply the right thing to do. By increasing diversity, we are also creating a more attractive workplace that better reflects the societies around us and the customers we service,” says Karsten Breum.

Management, goals, processes and policies must also be aligned
Our focus on supporting each other during this year’s Pride Week builds on a range of structural initiatives that we have implemented at Danske Bank over the past five years to ensure the diversity and inclusion agenda is embedded in management, goals, processes and policies.

Initiatives undertaken by the bank include establishing a council to set the overall direction for our work with diversity and inclusion, drawing up a diversity and inclusion policy, establishing partnerships with various experts in the area and developing training material for all employee groups. Moreover, we have conducted one the most comprehensive survey in the Danish business community to obtain a detailed and concrete picture of potential harassment and discrimination in the bank. 

As a result, Danske was in 2022 recognised amongst the top 100 employers in the world for our efforts to improve LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace in the Stonewall Global Equality Index. We are awaiting feedback from 2023 in October this year and are looking forward to the results.

We know that we still have ways to improve to ensure even better circumstances for our LGBTQ+ colleagues. The most important next step in the work of creating an inclusive culture is for all to take ownership and be humble and listen and learn.