Diversity, equality and inclusion

At Wiersholm, we continually strive to create a diverse workplace reflecting the diversity of the world that we serve. Our work on diversity is well rooted in our values.

We view diversity as a factor of strength and as part of our vision of strategy and success. We strive to recruit and retain employees with different religions, ethnicities, sexual orientations, gender expressions, ages and degrees of ability.

Our clients evolve and face new challenges. We believe that the breadth of knowledge, diverse backgrounds and unique experiences that each of our employees brings to the firm allow us to deliver tailormade services to a broad palette of clients and to consolidate a strong organisational culture. Consequently, we work hard to recruit, advance, retain and promote people with minority backgrounds.

Every year, we carry out an employee satisfaction survey to keep our finger on the company’s pulse and to obtain input on how we may evolve and improve as an employer. The survey provides invaluable feedback from our team members, enabling us to introduce new initiatives and refine existing ones as necessary. The 2023 survey results indicated that our employees recognise and appreciate the company’s commitment to diversity and equality through tangible actions. Furthermore, they feel empowered to express their true selves in the workplace.

Every year, we mark anniversaries that are important to us and in recent years we have had a particular focus on Women’s Day, Pride and World Mental Health Day. The purpose of our internal celebrations is to contribute to increased awareness and expertise on the theme that each anniversary focuses on.

In connection with Women’s Day, in recent years we have invited employees to lectures and/or internal panel discussions on diversity, inclusion and gender equality in the company.

In June, we celebrate Pride. As an employer, we want to create an environment where everyone can be themselves at work. To love is a human right. That’s why we’re celebrating the diversity of love together with our fellow human beings in Wiersholm, the legal profession, business and society at large.

To mark World Pride Day, in recent years we have invited employees to lectures focusing on mental health, including from Jimmy Westerheim from The Human Aspect.

In 2020, the Bar Association’s diversity committee entered into a collaboration with the tool Equality Check to improve knowledge about diversity in the industry.

Equality Check is a digital platform where employees can anonymously evaluate their workplace based on criteria related to, among other things, inclusive culture, equal opportunities, and whether management prioritizes diversity. Wiersholm has encouraged all employees to participate, so we can map out how we can improve further. The results show that Wiersholm scored higher than the industry in general on Equality Check – especially when it comes to inclusive culture, that management prioritizes diversity, and that employees do not experience unwanted sexual attention at the workplace.

You can read more about Equality Check and their work here.