From left: Nina Stangeland, Kahtleen Mathiesen, Monica Langeland and Mariann Frantsen
While Minister of Fisheries and Oceans Bjørnar Skjæran opened the conference, and conference host Yrja Oftedahl guided us safely through the program, we noted some important points.
- If the seafood industry is to move forward, we must have gender equality.
Gender equality is largely about diversity and inclusion in the workplace. The industry needs ALL the good minds.
To prevent discrimination in the industry, there are some important points we need to work on:
- Working environment
We must eliminate uncultured behavior, dare to speak up both when it comes to ourselves and others, and we must bring more women into the industry.
- Management responsibility
We need to see a change in attitude at the top, among owners, boards and management. This includes leadership development and knowledge about diversity management, clear guidelines in the organization, looking at your employees and not always choosing those who scream the loudest. Diversity is directly related to business and success, and one must remember to think beyond the short-term bottom line.
- Competence is the future
Labor is our industry's most important resource. We must work actively to recruit the right expertise for the industry.
- What gets measured gets done
Setting clear and unambiguous goals for diversity in the industry and companies will lead to increased awareness and implementation.
- We can choose
Take an active stance and choose suppliers and partners who focus on equality, diversity and inclusion in their organization.
- Change happens when we go against the flow.
We must dare to choose candidates who are different from ourselves, to avoid an organization that is too homogeneous. The best people to have around you are those who dare to disagree.
Nina Stangeland rounded off the program with some statistics about our competency programs Seafood Trainee and Seafood Next, where we see an approximate 50/50 distribution between girls and boys applying to the seafood industry. This gives us hope in the sea!
