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Lunch of diversity: Getting seated by lottery
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HR Officer Katharina Pohl before the diversity lunch
On May 28, 2019 the German Diversity Day took place for the seventh time and on this occasion the Berlin-based laboratory instrument manufacturer KNAUER organized a special campaign for the employees.
Diversity enriches our lives, both privately and at work. Experience has shown that difficult and new questions, such as frequently encountered in the technical and research field, can be solved more quickly by teams with a diverse background of experience than by homogeneous teams. In the company’s projects, teams and departments work closely together, but what about the people outside the project environment?
In a company with 140 employees, everyone knows everyone - one might think. In practice, however, there are colleagues who know each other little more than by sight.
That’s why this diversity event at KNAUER was intended to be an occasion to expand the familiar circles. The company had come up with a lunch to get to know each other. The colleagues enjoyed a delicious international menu at a common table. The special thing about it was that the seating arrangement was determined by each employee pulling the name of the next person sitting next to him out of a lottery drum and that person the name of the next person until all colleagues had taken their seats at the table.
The random distribution seating worked perfectly: developer sat next to marketing colleague, saleswoman next to laboratory assistant. The food obviously tasted very good and fears that it might be very silent and stiff were not confirmed. On the contrary, the mood was very relaxed.
"I am delighted that our getting-to-know-lunch has been so well received by the employees and that people who otherwise have little to do with each other have actually got to know each other better. I hope that the campaign will have a little after-effect and that the colleagues' circles will form a little more randomly during the normal lunch break," says Katharina Pohl, human resources officer.
KNAUER, with employees from 20 countries, sees itself as a tolerant and open company. The company joined the business initiative “Diversity Charter" in May 2017, which aims, among other things, to create a work environment that is free of prejudice but also outward-looking and recognizing the diversity of the society for mutual benefit. More about the “German Diversity Day” and the “Diversity Charter” can be found at www.charta-der-vielfalt.de/en/
The family business KNAUER Wissenschaftliche Geräte GmbH has been developing measuring instruments for research and science for more than 56 years. The systems for liquid chromatography (HPLC), are used, for example, to examine foodstuffs or environmental samples for composition and impurities or to check the quality of pharma products. Alexandra Knauer, who manages the company with 138 employees in the second generation, attaches great importance to corporate responsibility both towards employees and towards the environment and society. More about KNAUER: www.knauer.net
KNAUER Wissenschaftliche Geräte GmbH, Hegauer Weg 38, 14163 Berlin
+49 30 809 727-0, info@knauer.net, www.knauer.net
Press contact: Oliver Gültzow, gueltzow@knauer.net, +49 30 809727-43
