How can you be a truly diverse and inclusive company? OSEDEA has some tips for you!

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At URelles, we’re used to talking to companies that are committed to inclusion, but few are as committed as digital agency OSEDEA. Meet a team that has put diversity at the heart of their priorities.

OSEDEA is a surprising company! At first glance, it looks like an agency that designs digital products as we know them, but on closer inspection, we realize that it’s far from a traditional agency! It’s a company that organizes funky Web development competitions, implements 4-day work weeks before they become fashionable, fights against school drop-out, or creates an interactive application for digital tablets aimed at high school students. Did we mention that 12 languages are spoken in the office, and that there’s no hierarchy?

In short, OSEDEA doesn’t like to do things the same way as everyone else. One word epitomizes the company: diversity. The team is made up of 65% programming employees, 10% UX/UI design, 5% project management and 10% admin, sales and management, explains Ivana Markovic, who doesn’t display job titles in her email signature, but rather keywords. We asked her why: “We changed that. My title wasn’t representative of the work I was doing. While my previous experiences were in marketing, I was doing more general management, including talent management and corporate culture, as well as finance and accounting. My title didn’t reflect this great and rewarding work. I’m proud of the work I’ve done and of what the company has achieved over the last few years. And it’s these results that really matter to me.”

How do you become a company that cultivates so much innovation and diversity? To find out, we need to go back a few years, to 2006, when Martin Coulombe, the agency’s founder, and Ivana Markovic were working at Procter & Gamble, a company that was talking about diversity and inclusion long before it became a buzzword, and which left a deep impression on them. Martin explains his realization at the time: “If you don’t understand your customers, you’ll never be the best company to meet their needs. It takes different personalities to understand customers’ differences”. When OSEDEA was founded a few years later, it was obvious to them that equity, diversity and inclusion were going to be a pillar of the company.

“If you don’t understand your customers, you’ll never be the best company to meet their needs. It takes different personalities to understand customers’ differences.” – Martin Coulombe

Among the many diversity and inclusion initiatives is “Coffee with a colleague”, which is the favorite of Austin Metka, a developer at the agency. As the name suggests, it’s all about having a coffee with a colleague you don’t usually get to meet at work. Austin says it’s the perfect activity for the shy person she is. And being shy is a trait that is completely accepted at work. Unlike other places she’s worked, she doesn’t need to change to conform to the company, she can just be herself.

For Zack Therrien, developer and member of OSEDEA’s Diversity & Inclusion Committee, what he particularly likes is the “Spotify Playlist” initiative. Every month, all employees who wish to do so, share between 20 and 40 songs they like and make them available to the whole team. Zack explains: “Through something that has nothing to do with work, you get to know your colleagues. Music isn’t the first thing you think of when you talk about diversity, but it’s easy to do, cheap and everyone has something to say about it.”

In addition to these two initiatives, Martin really enjoys “lunch & learn” events, where any employee can share a topic close to his or her heart. It’s a great way of getting to know colleagues and their interests outside work. It also helps to develop empathy and interpersonal skills. By sharing stories, employees learn to understand their colleagues and their experiences. When there’s a crisis to deal with at work, people are more likely to help each other. They’re also more likely to congratulate each other when there are victories to celebrate.

Another very interesting initiative is OSEDEA’s annual Mental Health Month, during which psychologists give talks and share tips on how to better manage stress and anxiety. “We don’t just write blog posts about mental health, we set up real actions,” recounts Martin.

“In today’s environment, good technology employers are in short supply” – Austin Metka

There are real actions and there are also real results, such as in recruitment. Austin loves to recommend OSEDEA to her friends when a new position opens up. She’s proud of her employer: “In the current climate, good technology employers are in short supply”. For his part, Zack really enjoyed the recruitment process that led him to join the team: “Right from the start of the application process, it was absolutely clear that diversity was at the heart of this company”. He knew right away that he would be accepted into the group. The welcome was warm, and after three years with the company, that feeling has never left him.

Another major advantage of an inclusive company is business development. Martin explains that not everyone likes the same things, so if we have a diverse team, we can complement each other. All of a sudden, the company’s spectrum of skills has really expanded! The founder has also been able to seize professional opportunities that would not have been possible before. When the company decided to open an office in France, they were able to rely on their knowledge of the French market through the hiring of French employees. The Nantes office now employs 5 people.

In conclusion, Ivana likes to recall a few tips for implementing equity, diversity and inclusion initiatives in a company.

1. If it’s done with a public relations objective in mind, it will fall by the wayside. The company, from managers to employees, must sincerely want to create an extraordinary workplace for their employees. They also need to understand the value of diversity to business.

2. How do you make it count for the company? It all starts with recruitment. You have to hire people who also believe that diversity is key to a company’s success. And to do that, you have to question the values of the candidates. And if that doesn’t appeal to everyone, that’s okay. You can’t please everyone.

3. The company needs diversity & inclusion ambassadors, who will go out and spread the good news. And because you’ve recruited people who love these issues (see point 2), they’ll be easy to get on board.

4. All equity, diversity and inclusion activities are mandatory. They have to be part of the company’s daily routine, so that reflexes are developed.