At Relax Gaming inclusivity is not just a priority during Pride Month, but all year round. This week we sat with Group Human Resources Manager, Thomas Carlsson to dig a little deeper into the makings of Relax and catch a glimpse of the happenings behind the scenes that make this company thrive.
1.Operating at the helm of Human Resources, what diversity practices do you implement on a daily basis?
Without a shadow of a doubt, I can say that at Relax Gaming we treat our people with the respect and appreciation they deserve. We understand that the company is nothing without its team and take an active approach to making them feel appreciated while trying to instil as much team spirit and sense of inclusivity as possible.
As far as our practices go, fair treatment and equal access to opportunity are at the root of most events that take place throughout the Relax employee journey, beginning at the interview stage and taking shape during promotion phases, internal recruitment as well as conflict resolution. Naturally, our recruitment processes are designed to always let the most competent individual get the job regardless of ethnicity, religious beliefs or gender; moreover, we’re careful when selecting management personnel as we like to ensure that this vision for inclusivity makes its way across the board. We aim to welcome and encourage our employees’ differences and varying strengths or interests, supporting them according to their individual needs, especially during unfortunate instances such as the global pandemic.
Collaboration is another big factor that comes into play. We focus on teamwork and try to bring all our international members together, if not in person, then online via our monthly virtual activities and events. As basic, fundamental and natural as all of this may sound, it is not something that can be done and maintained without keeping diversity front of mind. At the end of the day, it is the collective sum of the people’s individual differences that embodies diversity and contributes to unique experiences. This helps shape our culture, our reputation and ultimately our success.
2. How would you describe inclusion in the workplace in relation to Relax?
I would describe an inclusive workplace as a collaborative, supportive, and respectful environment that increases the participation and contribution of all employees. As a matter of fact, true inclusion removes all barriers, discrimination, and intolerance. When applied properly in the workplace, it is natural for everyone to feel included and supported.
Our core values perfectly exemplify what an ideal Relax candidate is like: Driven, Adaptable, Supportive and Respectful, and we’re fortunate to have a company made up of individuals that share these qualities. These factors in themselves embrace diversity and inclusion while also speaking volumes of the company. Relax’s perception of driving differentiation in the industry is based on the fact that unique and varied ideas can only stem from unique and varied individuals, diversity is at the core of differentiation!
We look to employee turnover rates to effectively monitor whether we are indeed cultivating the open, warm environment we seek to achieve. If we look at our employee turnover data from January 2019 up to today, the average monthly rate is just below 1%. This, I would say, is a true indicator that we are doing things right at Relax.
3. What do you feel is the most vital aspect of making staff feel welcome?
This is an important question we, as Human Resource specialists, should be asking ourselves on a frequent basis in order to keep our fingers on the pulse of employee satisfaction. I think many companies dedicate a lot of time and energy to this, however, only with new hires in mind. At Relax, we want our employees to feel welcome every day, no matter if they are working remotely, or in one of our offices, whether it’s their first day or one-thousandth, each individual is considered a keystone of our company.
Staying true to the values highlighted earlier and, more importantly, striving to continually improve the workplace by gathering feedback and adjusting to the changing needs of the team sets us on track to maintaining this sense of belonging at Relax. Supportive managers, a dedicated Executive Team as well as every other leader in each location and department are essential to the cultivation of this inclusive and diverse atmosphere, so ensuring that this message is shared with them and adequate training is provided (if required) is another cog in the wheel that keeps Relax ticking.
For more information on Life at Relax visit our website and be sure to take a look at our open positions here: https://relax-gaming.com/careers/
