VodafoneZiggo is one of almost 40 partners of the Refugee Talent Hub. They attach great importance to diversity & inclusion: D & I is one of the core values ​​of the organization. Manal Farah, born in Syria, works at VodafoneZiggo as a Talent Resource Officer. In this interview she talks about herself, why she thinks diversity is important and what preconditions are essential for employees with a different background.

Please note: this article was translated using a translator app

A new life

 "Nine years ago I moved with my family from Syria to the Netherlands because of the war. I am a mother of three children and we live in Winsum, a beautiful village in the north of the Netherlands. In Syria I studied English literature and worked at Syriatel Telecommunications company for the customer service department. I also lived in Dubai for five years, where I worked with people of different nationalities in the health insurance market opportunity to study and I chose Human Resources Management. In Syria this was already one of my goals, together with working in the field of HR. Unfortunately, the war made it impossible for me to achieve these goals. But now we have finally managed to do this."

Proud and grateful

 "I started at VodafoneZiggo as a Talent Sourcer Officer in January 2020. So you could say that my professional journey in the Netherlands started here, when I joined the Recruitment Team. VodafoneZiggo not only gave me the opportunity to work, but also gave me the opportunity to learn more about Dutch culture: ways of thinking, people's concerns, traditions, etc. And I'm still learning.”

 "In the meantime, in addition to my work in the Recruitment Team, I have also become a member of the HR Diversity & Inclusion Team. My work for Team D & I gives me the opportunity to be even more myself and share my ideas safely. I get a lot of help and support from my colleagues to successfully achieve my work goals in both teams. I am very grateful, proud and happy to work in a company that offers such support."

Diversity is the art of thinking together independently.

 "This definition explains exactly what diversity means. To me, diversity is a mix of different people with different backgrounds, ethnicities and customs working together to achieve a common goal. Diversity is a way of understanding that each person is unique and a way to recognize our individual differences such as race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, etc.”

 "In fact, nothing is better than working in a diverse organization. Diversity helps to make the company more interesting and attractive, because it helps the company to build a good reputation and a good image. This is due to the presence of fair working conditions. Moreover, diverse teams make better decisions. No one knows everything, and no one group of people knows everything, so we can learn from each other and benefit from our different experiences to achieve our main goal, the purpose of the company.”

Provide the right support

 “As a person from a different background, all I need is for other people to accept that I am different and respect that. I need to be welcomed within my team in order to learn and be productive. In addition, very good training regarding my duties and the company in general is essential. It is important to have good and patient trainers to coach and help newcomers. A common tool is also very important to communicate well without missing details or information at work.”

Cultural Connect

 “I am currently working for the Cultural Connect project. Here we bring people from different cultures together. We cannot only learn from each other, but we can also try to help VodafoneZiggo to provide us with the resources to be successful in our work. Fortunately, VodafoneZiggo allows me to do that and enjoy my work here. I'm very happy to be part of that.”