Is it professional to post an April Fool’s joke on LinkedIn?

Yesterday I decided to take the opportunity presented by April Fool’s Day to run an experiment on both my private and professional social media platforms.

It is over 3 years since I moved to #Sweden , and although I still very much love my country and my people #unitedkingdam and am part of the #British community in Sweden, I have fallen in love with Sweden and its people. I studied the sociology of development when I was 17 and have applied development theories/models such as Rostow's stages of economic growth to different countries. I always believed that Sweden and #Denmark are the most developed countries in the world in the true meaning of development (in sociology). And after three years of living in Sweden and learning how Swedish society works and how the system functions here, I still believe this.

Despite certain perceptions from outsiders, I have had no problem connecting, jelling and socialising with Swedes. Human nature is a cross-cultural phenomenon. We all like to be respected and see faces with smiles, politeness and kindness. I always believed that if you follow these principles and have something to offer your host nation, you will always be welcome.

I thought the UK as a country has invested in someone like me for nearly 20 years to educate me and provide me with work experience, knowledge and competencies and now in my prime 40s, I am taking all that to Sweden with me and contribute to my new host country.

It took me a while to realise the harsh reality of the job market and #organisational #culture of Swedish companies when it comes to the recruitment of highly skilled #immigrants . My experience in social settings when I have been out and about has been completely different from when I am a job seeker or a candidate. It feels as if you are welcome to live here but do not ask for mid-level or senior #managerial #roles !

I realised very quickly that something is not right. By browsing through Swedish #media , it seems that diversity is top of the agenda here. So why I was hitting a brick wall? I was either overqualified, or the company “needed someone who speaks Swedish” for a role that clearly did not require Swedish language (according to the JDs) and the official language of the organisation was English (which means everyone must communicate in English).

I started to browse through companies’ websites and LinkedIn profiles to determine where the issue lay. After three years of networking, applying and endeavour, and by observation, I managed to find only one person from a #BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) background – who had moved from the US to Sweden – working in a director position.

Now I had my hypothesis that #diversity is in short supply in Sweden, and I was searching for evidence to prove myself wrong. As I was sharing my experience with friends and my network, and trying to establish some facts, a friend of mine shared with me this fascinating #podcast by Laurence Romani from Stockholm School of Economics (SSE) in which she talks about her most recent research into issues surrounding the recruitment of high-skilled immigrants in Sweden.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/178mDgjEOrh32rznIEEh2J?si=8jwh6ERERuONXnq5XrIffg&dd=1

Many points mentioned in the podcast weren’t new to me. However, the facts that high-skilled immigrants are perceived as a risk by many Swedish organisations, that recruiting such people is perceived as a charitable act of kindness, and that people with non-Swedish names and surnames are at a disadvantage came as a shock to me.

Coming to terms with this shocking reality, I arranged a meeting with the only high-skilled immigrant director – from a BAME background – who I had managed to find to ask for advice and to learn the secret that had enabled him to break into the Swedish job market. To my surprise, he dropped the bombshell that he had recently left his director position due to the stress and pressure of the hostile environment around him, and now is carefully considering his options to establish his own small business far from the corporate and large Swedish organisations. He may decide to leave Sweden altogether.

By this point, I was emotionally drained. I almost accepted defeat. In the podcast, Professor Romani refers to countries like Chile and India as examples of where high-skilled immigrants are from. The definition of “high-skilled immigrants” seems to be people who have high educational qualifications. “If someone like me comes from the sixth largest economy in the world (before Brexit) with 17 years of solid experience in well-established companies/brands struggles, what hope for the type of workforce Professor Romani refers to in her podcast?”, I asked myself.

As someone who has dedicated his career to standing up for what is ethically right and not what people like to hear or what shareholders’ value dictates, I decided to speak out even though it might jeopardise the small chance I might have should I stay quiet.

I pride myself on #teaching my #students the value of #inclusion and #diversity in #society and #business . #Organisations and businesses spend a huge amount of investment to equip their #employees with team-working knowledge and emphasise its importance. Diversity/inclusion is one of the reasons why team-working is important for any organisation. I refuse to believe that there are not enough talented people from BAME backgrounds among the population of Sweden (approx. 11 million) to rise to the #director level in Swedish companies.

As always, I tried to use my British sense of humour to make my point and hence, I came up with the April Fool’s idea. Initially, I wanted to just make a joke, laugh and move on. When you cannot change the world and #reality is too harsh, #comedy is the best remedy. However, I had to give it serious consideration this time. Hence, I began to write these few pages of rambling.

This is by no means an attack on Swedish companies and their organisational culture and #behaviour . As I have said before, Sweden is the most developed country in the world with amazing people, and I can see the potential this country has to compete against itself and #progress and #develop even further. However, this inward-looking by Swedish companies is one of the major reasons that might stop this progress, and may even be the reason for #future #setbacks .

I am lucky to have two careers: one as #marketing #consultant /director, and the other as #lecturer . The first arises from my passion for #creativity , media and #systems / #technology , while the second arises from my passion for sharing my experience and knowledge with youngsters. For that precise reason, I feel responsible to say and do something. The new generation of graduates is bright. They travel and meet people from other cultures. They are well-connected both virtually and in the real world. They deserve better. Is our generation setting a good example for them? What do they think when they see so little diversity at the top of the organisations they aspire to work for one day?

I understand trusting other cultures is an issue for most companies. However, trust – like everything else in business – is a matter of #risk and #reward . I also understand trust is a major factor for companies involved in the security and defence sectors, such as SAAB. Apart from such exceptions, why do companies in other industries fear the so-called “risk” of progressing people from diverse backgrounds to the senior level? How diverse and inclusive are the #boards of directors of 爱立信 , 宜家 , Scania Group , Husqvarna Group , Volvo Group , H&M , and other successful Swedish companies/brands? You might argue that the secret to their success is indeed a lack of diversity, in which case I suggest that we debate this so that at least me and people like me learn something from such an approach.

Please browse through these few pages and rate each board of directors from 0-10 in terms of diversity.

https://www.ericsson.com/en/about-us/corporate-governance/board-of-directors/board-members

https://www.inter.ikea.com/en/this-is-inter-ikea-group/management-structure

https://www.scania.com/group/en/home/about-scania/corporate-governance/board-of-directors.html

https://www.husqvarnagroup.com/en/board-directors

https://investors.volvocars.com/en/corporate-governance/board-of-directors

https://www.volvogroup.com/en/investors/corporate-governance/board-of-directors.html

https://hmgroup.com/about-us/corporate-governance/board-of-directors/

Diversity/inclusion is not just a marketing #slogan , nor it is only the responsibility of the government. It is also a Corporate Social Responsibility (#CSR ).

Do any of these amazing Swedish brands give me a reason to motivate my Swedish students from BAME backgrounds that if they work hard, are prepared to learn, and have a measure of talent, they can achieve the highest levels in Swedish companies? If I am not convinced, how can I convince my students?

If anyone in Sweden complains about the high rate of #crime amongst #youngsters from #immigrant #backgrounds , let’s start addressing the issue right here. The hypocrisy of diversity no longer works. What I call “diversity in front of the camera” is fake. In the #UK , I have always questioned how many of the executive producers, directors, and production owners who get commissioned by the TV channels are from diverse backgrounds.

Inclusion is not only having a few BAME faces in the national teams: it must also deal with how many talented and qualified BAME people are on the boards of the sports clubs.

You can place highly skilled, educated and capable BAME employees at the bottom of the pyramid in your organisation and progress them to mid-level management, but please don’t call it “diversity” and “inclusion”. Please call it a charitable act of kindness because none of them is good enough to go up any further.

Is it professional to post an April Fool’s joke on LinkedIn?

As the great and funny Rory Sutherland says in his TEDTalk (https://youtu.be/iueVZJVEmEs ) perception is everything in business but it’s equally leaky. In this case, what is people’s perception of the person who is debating the issues? What is people’s perception of the country/society that is the subject of the examination? And what is people’s perception of the companies/job market in question? This simple experiment indicates that people in my network/contacts, regardless of whether they know me in person or just see my professional experience on my profile, believe that I could work as a director in a Swedish company. Happy days! I feel humbled.

Arguably the experiment also shows that no one has raised any concerns regarding diversity issues on either societal or #company levels. I wanted to see if there would be anyone who congratulated me, not because I landed a job but because I managed to overcome the challenges of competing in such a harsh job market. The only way to answer this was to imagine that I have obtained such a position and use April’s Fool’s Day as an irony or excuse (whichever you would like to see it).

Most of those who identified this as an April Fool’s Day joke on my private social media were people who have experienced the Swedish job market as a foreigner and found my post hardly believable.

Nevertheless, using April Fool’s Day to illuminate a cause that I have been always an #advocate for and to raise #awareness and generate #debate cannot be a bad thing, nor can it be unprofessional.

Is the UK any better than Sweden when it comes to diversity and inclusion?

Let’s address the elephant in the room. People who have not lived or worked in the UK have a perception that the UK is a very diverse country. Well, yes and no. In recent decades the UK has progressed in terms of “diversity in front of the camera” but “diversity behind the camera” is still very much questionable. However, I can say with confidence that at least the issue of having a #foreign #name or #surname is sorted to some extent. I still receive calls and emails from recruiters regardless of my name and surname. What happens after that is a different story. The fact that having a foreign name and surname is still a barrier in the Swedish job market in the 21st century is mind-blowing. This issue was brought up not only in Professor Romani’s research. I have heard it from so many people and not only people with non-European names and surnames but even people with Western European names and surnames.

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Why academia seems to be the most diverse sector in Sweden. Can Swedish companies learn from the higher education sector?

The organisational culture in #academic #institutions is built around #research excellency, and research relies heavily on #collaboration . Researchers value input from their peers from all backgrounds and cultures.

In addition, academic research is a niche activity, and requires the recruitment of researchers with specific and niched lines of work, regardless of where they come from or their background.

Universities compete to attract #international students in a #global market, and the possession by the university of a diverse team of academic staff plays an important role in the choice students make when considering higher education. International students and researchers bring their #languages and #accents to the university and create an environment in which no accent is perceived as strange, and in which speaking other languages in the corridors is not seen as a risk to the organisation, but it is the beauty of working and learning in an international environment.

In my experience, different views and cultures are not perceived as risks in academia, but as advantages. In most academic institutions diversity generates debate and debate is productive, not a waste of time and resources. This ultimately creates a culture of #tolerance and #inclusivity .

Most academics are evaluated based on their publications and research credentials, hence the protective culture to protect positions is less important.

Most businesses these days function around the notion of shareholders’ value, which means that rights and wrongs (i.e., cultural and ethical policies) are defined by a small group at the top, and behind closed doors. In contrast, in most Swedish universities the focus is on students because funds are allocated based on the number of students and the quality of teaching and research.

I am not an important person. I don’t know how many people will view this post. I am not even sure how many people will read it, let alone think about the issues raised, react to it and share it with others. However, if even one person debates these issues with their colleagues in a work environment, that will bring me joy and a sense of accomplishment.

For me, the kindness of all those lovely people who cared enough to congratulate my April Fool’s Day post meant a lot, and I’m sorry if I disappoint you now that I reveal that it was only an experiment to raise awareness about issues that I passionately care about. I am far more disappointed than you.