It Takes Us All: Making Inclusion Everyone's Business
#employeeresourcegroups
#inclusion
#careersponsorship
DEI initiatives risked remaining abstract and HR-driven, with limited impact on daily business. With limited central DEI capacity, the challenge was to move from awareness to action, increase ownership beyond HR and embed inclusion into core business topics relevant to all employees.
We shifted DEI from a central HR topic to a shared responsibility by activating employees across all levels. With a lean central DEI capacity setting priorities and enabling implementation, and a cross-functional Diversity Council acting as multipliers, we developed and scaled initiatives such as awareness campaigns, career sponsoring, financial literacy and inclusion measures linked to business relevance and decision-making.
The initiative delivered strong cultural & organizational impact: over 600 employees actively engaged, a participation rate of over 15% in awareness campaigns, high demand for career sponsoring and 80+ employees reached through financial literacy initiatives. DEI perception and external recognition improved. During the merger, many incoming employees joined the Diversity Council, confirming that shared ownership builds trust and impact. Key lesson: DEI works when everyone takes responsibility.
This Best Practice is published as part of the Gender Intelligence Report 2026.
DEI initiatives risked remaining too abstract and centrally driven by HR, with limited relevance to employees’ daily work and business decisions. With limited central DEI capacity, it was not possible to create broad impact through HR alone. The key challenge was therefore to move DEI from awareness-only activities to tangible action, ownership and measurable contribution across the organization.
At the same time, inclusion needed to be linked more clearly to business priorities so that it would be seen as relevant for all employees, not only for HR or selected stakeholder groups. Another challenge was to create sustainable engagement across different levels and functions, especially in a changing organizational context and during the merger period.
The objective was to move DEI from awareness to measurable action and to establish shared ownership across all levels of the organization. A key focus was to embed inclusion into daily business activities and decision-making processes, while scaling impact despite limited central resources. At the same time, the initiative aimed to significantly increase employee engagement and participation across the organization.
Our approach was to move DEI from a central HR responsibility to a shared one, owned across every level and function of the organization.
With a lean central DEI capacity, setting priorities and enabling implementation, we relied on a cross-functional Diversity Council to act as multipliers throughout the business, developing and scaling initiatives on the ground.
We deliberately linked inclusion to topics with clear business relevance and decision-making impact, and rolled out concrete measures: company-wide awareness campaigns, a career sponsoring program supported by a dedicated toolkit, and financial literacy initiatives – each designed to turn awareness into tangible action and give employees an active role.
Throughout, we anchored engagement in voluntary participation and bottom-up ownership – an approach that proved resilient even through the merger, when many incoming employees chose to join the Diversity Council.
“I would like to sincerely thank you for establishing this wonderful Sponsoring Programme. It is truly a great initiative, and I greatly appreciate having had the opportunity to participate. We have decided to continue our meetings beyond the programme itself, as we found them extremely enriching and valuable.”
(Quote from a Sponsee, Career Sponsoring Programme)
The initiative achieved strong cultural and organizational impact, with over 600 employees actively engaged and a participation rate of more than 15% in voluntary awareness campaigns. The Career Sponsoring program generated strong demand. Following a leadership event with around 40 participants, the pilot was launched together with a dedicated toolkit. More than 35 employees applied to participate, resulting in five sponsor-sponsee tandems. Based on the positive evaluation outcomes, a larger-scale program will be launched this year to better meet the growing demand. In addition, more than 80 employees were reached through financial literacy initiatives.
Furthermore, both internal perception and external recognition of DEI improved significantly. Engagement further increased during the merger, with many new members joining the Diversity Council. The key takeaway is that DEI is most effective when ownership is shared – “It takes us all.”
DEI is embedded into core HR processes including promotions and succession planning. To strengthen awareness and culture, regular campaigns are conducted and trainings are provided. The Diversity Council plays a key role as a cross-functional multiplier, while employee-led initiatives and bottom-up projects are actively encouraged. Regular surveys and pulse checks help measure and improve inclusion. Financial and social inclusion is addressed through financial literacy, equal pay analyses and inclusive benefits. Recruiting and employer branding follow DEI principles, including inclusive hiring, partnerships and diversity-focused positioning. Finally, Helvetia actively strengthens its external positioning through participation in rankings and certifications such as the SwissLGBTI Label, HSG Diversity Benchmarking or Friendly Work Space, commitments to diversity goals, partnerships with DEI initiatives, and thought leadership activities.
For more information about this Best Practice, reach out to the author:
Nicola Heiniger
Project Manager & DEI-Specialist
nicola.heiniger@helvetia.ch
Senada Kadic
Head of Belonging & Employer Brand Experience
senada.kadic@helvetia.ch
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