83: The building blocks of an inclusive organisation with Sushma Uthappa-Schwerdt

Shownotes:  Racism/casteism comes in various forms across the world, sometimes it is overt and sometimes it is coded. In either form it negatively impacts the life and life chances of millions of people who move to a different country to seek a better or more stable future. Sometimes it can break people and other times it makes them more resilient and more determined.   Did you know that Sweden is a country where every fourth resident(24.9) has a foreign background and every third (32.3) has at least one parent born abroad. But, does this diversity translate into a more inclusive country or workforce? Sweden’s recent election results are telling.  For Sushma, the experience of looking for employment at the start of her stay in Sweden was deeply disheartening. In her own words, “Recruitment bias (unconscious) has worked against me in 99 out of 100 job applications. That gives me 1 interview opportunity in 100+ submitted applications; where I check 100% (more or less) of the job requirements on the ad.”  Unfortunately, this is not unique to Sweden, or any one country. My own experiences in the UK, a couple of years back were similar if not worse. I survived but I am still smarting from the experience.  In addition to being the Head of Talent Acquisition, Northern Europe at Transcom, Sushma has also been involved in the local parliament in Lund since five years. She is determined to move the needle and contribute to building a fairer society.  In this episode we spoke about