How the Qlik Lund Revenue Operations Team Fosters Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DE&I) have always been an important focus at Qlik, especially as a global company. We know our strength comes from our differences – and that those differences drive better outcomes for our business and our customers. We’ve formally committed to four pillars to support our DE&I efforts: Educate (having outside consultants advise on unconscious bias), Listen (having executives learn from our employees what diversity meant to them), Strategy (having DE&I added to our recruiting and retaining practices) and Employee Engagement (forming employee resource groups, including ones dedicated to women in technology, LGBTQ+ inclusion, as well as Black and Latinx employees).
In addition, we are committed to creating DE&I chapters in each region, with Qlik Ambassadors across different business functions in each country playing a central role in shaping DE&I efforts. We will also be issuing a DE&I newsletter periodically to keep the company abreast of our work in this area.
As our DE&I activities evolve, we look to celebrate individual teams and offices that epitomize a culture of diversity, belonging and fairness. The spirit and camaraderie of the revenue operations team at Qlik’s Lund office in Sweden is one example of how Qlik’s vision of DE&I is advancing teamwork and togetherness. The group boasts 17 different nationalities: Ivorian, Ugandan, Turkish, Swiss, Ukrainian, American, Mexican, Argentinian, Singaporean, Chinese, Swedish, German, Italian, Macedonian, Moroccan, Belgian and Dutch. In addition, the team is made up of members of nearly every age bracket, introverts and extroverts, and has a great linguistic diversity arising from having such a broad distribution of nationalities represented. The organic result is that on the team no one cultural practice or viewpoint prevails; instead, respect binds, support and enhances the team.
How is this team living the tenets of diversity and inclusion? It ranges from simple everyday interactions, to conscious planning and decisions, all geared toward celebrating and acknowledging each other with respect.
- Birthdays are celebrated with team members singing “Happy Birthday” in their own languages.
- Team members participate in an international fika day – think of fika as a more extended coffee or tea break with sweets and other desserts. For the event, the entire Lund office prepares desserts from all around the world for everyone to enjoy. During the day, Lund office Qlikkies make donations to WeSeeHope, an international development organization committed to creating sustainable change for vulnerable children in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.
- Padel – a racquet sport invented in Mexico, combining elements of tennis, squash and badminton – is popular among the revenue operations team. Qlik sponsors a padel court, and every Friday team members use their lunch hour to play. The team also participates in soccer on Fridays, holding tournaments against other departments. Both padel and soccer are played coed, by experts and amateurs alike.
- All religions are embraced by the team. Ramadan – a holy month of fasting, with Muslims abstaining from eating and drinking from sunrise to sunset – is celebrated by Mehdi Zeraidi. According to Mehdi, his team is very supportive, enabling him to participate in all company activities without prejudice.
- Paulina Aguilera Salgado, who hails from Mexico, noted the emphasis on gender equity in the Lund office. For example, parental leave can be taken by either gender, and there are also gender-neutral bathrooms.
Mikael Netterheim, Director, Global Revenue Operations, commended his team and the strength it derives from its differences. “We have an inclusive environment in which peoples’ diverse skills, cultural perspectives and backgrounds are all valued. We are mothers, we are fathers, we are single, we are gay or straight. Our team includes people with widely varying education levels, people at the start of their career and career veterans. We produce our best work when we realize how much stronger we are because of our different experiences, and how respecting them exemplifies Qlik’s core philosophy of recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of each of its employees. We also have the same DE&I focus globally for RevOps, particularly with our team in the Americas, which, although smaller in size, exhibits the same values and commitment to diversity.”
Dignity is at the root of Qlik’s DE&I efforts. With more than 2,000 employees in offices across the world, more and more Qlikkies are working to embody the spirit of DE&I every day, with their teammates and clients. Our work isn’t over – and our DE&I efforts will continue. But, with Mikael’s team as an example, we know what’s possible when we foster, celebrate and embrace diversity at our company.
