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Sensitivity training

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An open, welcoming and inclusive Djurgården

Karl XI had a fence of over 20-kilometre-long built around Royal Djurgården to keep game such as deer and roe deer inside and wolves, bears, poachers and others outside. Today the fence is gone, and we welcome everyone to visit – well, not poachers of course. Our mission is to keep Djurgården open and welcoming for everyone. It is central to everything we do.

But what does that really mean? In May 2021, representatives of more than 30 of Djurgården’s actors went back to school to undergo a course in sensitivity training together with Stockholm LGBT.

We came out with a 9-point guide filled with thought-provoking, practical and wise ideas to base our work around.

How can we become more inclusive?

1. It is important to not only say you are inclusive but to show it too. Express yourself, make it clear that diversity is in your culture.

2. Become aware of your unconscious bias and prejudices

  • Unconscious bias and prejudices are thoughts and ideas that we are unaware of that influence both the way we act as well as our judgement. This in turn leads to you having either favourable or unfavourable preferences. It is important that each and every one of us reflects on their own prejudices to make sure it doesn´t affect our work.

3. Stay updated on current societal challenges

  • Dare to ask! Ask the right questions to understand how your guests identify themselves and address them in this manner.
  • Do you only have Mr/Mrs/Ms/Miss as options in your systems? Can this be changed to include other options such as “other” or “non-binary”? This will help in showing that you are inclusive and also provide you with better information in your CRM systems.
  • Reduce gender stereotypes in your work, implement this in your own office to start with.

4. Never assume, take control of unconscious bias.

  • Make sure not to implement unconscious bias e.g. in your marketing. Does your campaign only portray a stereotypical family made up of mum, dad, and child? Does the marketing material reflect the reality of today’s society?
  • Avoid making assumptions about your guests and employees.
  • Develop products that appeal to different types of people.

5. Understand what it’s like to walk in the shoes of others.

  • Celebrate and acknowledge difference but understand and exercise balance. Don’t push too far to be familiar to the point it makes someone feel uncomfortable.

6. Increase knowledge

  • Educate your staff so they have a basic knowledge of LGBTQ issues and rights.
  • Address treatment issues in your training. Everyone who meets customers and guests in their line of work needs to be trained to be able to give everyone a fair and equal treatment. This also applies for management training.
  • Does anyone within your business belong to or have a broader knowledge of the LGBTQ community? Ask if this person wants to lead and teach colleagues, be the point of contact for questions, etc. Let all employees give their opinion on the organization’s work on diversity, perhaps during the employee review process, this is a good way of getting input for future development.

7. Update your businesses

  • Update your supply chain and review the policies and practices of your suppliers.
  • Develop a diversity charter, implement an anti-discrimination clause into your contracts.
  • Make sure that all your staff, as well as consultants and freelancers, know and contribute to your culture.
  • Think about how your external communication is perceived by others, are the needs of LGBTQ people considered within your business?

8. Diversity is a constant learning process that you must always work on and keep in mind. Remember to create space to include everyone both internally and externally.

9. Don’t be on the outside looking in

  • Instead become a part of the LGBTQ community. Think about how you can give back rather than acting in a way where you look to benefit from being inclusive.
  • Show that your words and actions are genuine by, for example, taking on trainees, contributing to charity, becoming involved in LGBTQ groups.

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