Case: Vattenfall

An inclusive recruitment process across 10 countries

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About Vattenfall

Vattenfall is one of Europe’s largest producers and retailers of electricity and heat, with approximately 20,000 employees across the group. Its core markets include Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark, and the United Kingdom. The parent company, Vattenfall AB, is wholly owned by the Swedish government and headquartered in Solna.

The opportunity

Vattenfall’s overarching goal is to become fossil-free within a generation. To achieve this, they must attract the right talent, broaden their reach to diverse candidate pools, innovate, and challenge traditional thinking.

The "Attract and Recruit" team recognised the need for an inclusive recruitment strategy spanning all of Vattenfall's markets, including Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Poland, Finland, France, Norway, and Belgium. The strategy aimed to minimise unintentional exclusion, broaden the organisation’s talent base, and increase competitiveness.

"We have a clear strategy for diversity and inclusion at Vattenfall in everything we do. We want to think broadly to include everyone and all dimensions, and we want our managers to lead the way. Inclusive recruitment is one of the key areas where we can make a difference, and over the past two years, we have worked with Mitt Liv to develop our processes, templates, and guidelines to equip managers and recruiters with the tools to unlock the doors for a broader range of talents.

We are also proud of our e-learning programme, ‘License to Hire,’ where our partnership with Mitt Liv has been invaluable. We are truly grateful to have worked with Claire Karlsson from Mitt Liv; Claire is a fantastic consultant who has met us with flexibility, professionalism, expertise, and attentiveness."

- Linn Rejström, Vice President People & Culture at Vattenfall

Solution and delivery

To address these challenges, Vattenfall participated in the CIR* (Collaboration for Inclusive Recruitment) project, a collaboration between Mitt Liv and the Centre for Responsible Leadership at the Stockholm School of Economics. By combining research and practical experience, the project developed frameworks and insights to help organisations integrate inclusive recruitment practices.

Key objectives for Vattenfall:

  • Deepen understanding of existing recruitment practices.

  • Develop and adapt inclusive recruitment tools to specific needs.

  • Create guidelines and tools to empower recruiters and hiring managers to ensure an inclusive recruitment process.

Group-wide review of recruitment processes

Mitt Liv, in collaboration with researchers from the Stockholm School of Economics and Linköping University, conducted an in-depth review of Vattenfall’s recruitment processes:

1. Focus interviews and observations

Over 100 data collection sessions provided insights into Vattenfall’s recruitment practices, highlighting current workflows and identifying areas for improvement.

2. Insight analysis

Together with Mitt Liv’s consultants, the collected data was analysed to pinpoint actionable steps for promoting more inclusive recruitment.

3. Recommendations and tools

The insights resulted in the development of guidelines, processes, and templates to support recruiters and hiring managers in fostering an inclusive recruitment environment.

Results

By implementing Mitt Liv's recommendations, Vattenfall has achieved tangible improvements:

Enhanced competence in inclusive recruitment

The "Attract and Recruit" team gained improved understanding and skills in inclusive recruitment, strengthening their efforts to attract and hire talent from diverse backgrounds.

New processes and tools for inclusion

The development of new processes and tools provides recruiters and managers with the necessary support to foster a more inclusive workplace.

“License to Hire” – a groundbreaking e-learning programme

With recommendations from Mitt Liv, Vattenfall launched "License to Hire," an innovative e-learning course for managers and recruiters. The course, launched in spring 2024, aims to increase awareness and understanding of inclusive recruitment methods and challenge traditional norms. Mitt Liv was responsible for the content, and the course targets all hiring managers and recruiters across Vattenfall’s operations.

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FAQ

What do you mean when you talk about “diversity”?

Diversity is a term that refers to the amount of significant differences and non-normative perspectives that exist in a group or organisation. One possible approach is to base an assessment of diversity on the seven grounds of discrimination (gender, transgender identity or expression, ethnicity, religion or other belief, disability, sexual orientation and age) as well as other factors such as experience, educational background and language skills, although diversity is really much more than this – in principle, diversity relates to everything that constitutes a significant difference and makes a person unique in relation to his or her surroundings.

What do you mean when you talk about “inclusion”?

Inclusion is a term that refers to the active actions that individuals encounter at their workplace every day – behaviours, personal treatment, group norms, leadership styles and structures – which determine the extent to which individuals can be themselves while also feeling that they belong to the team or group. At an inclusive workplace, individuals are treated as part of the fellowship of the group while also being valued for their uniqueness.

What is the difference between diversity and inclusion?

We usually say that diversity has to do with the strategic work undertaken by an organisation to ensure that there is a mix of significant differences – and thus different perspectives – represented in the organisation. Inclusion relates to the behaviour we practice each day at our workplace, and how we interact with each other. Research shows that the existence of both diversity and inclusion in an organisation can contribute to a greater level of innovation, creativity and well-being, which in turn contributes to higher profitability and greater business value.

Does Mitt Liv work with different types of diversity, for example gender equality?

We work with aspects of all 7 grounds of discrimination, and gender equality is one of these aspects. We have a broad and holistic view of the term diversity, which means that we work with diversity from a broad perspective (please take a look at how we define diversity in the question above). Naturally we provide support to your organisation based on the aspects we identify together as areas where there is a need for more focus.

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