Sweden’s story is built on diversity—how do we make belonging real today?

Sweden’s history tells a story of movement and exchange—yet in today’s workplaces, belonging can still feel challenging to experience. How do we bridge that gap?

Reflections from Nordiska museet, the Nordbor exhibition and the 1046 Sverige seminar

It was a fantastic event at the Nordiska museet in Stockholm on October 1st — open, honest, warm and welcoming. We joined a seminar on diversity, inclusion and belonging that brought together brave voices, powerful stories and practical ideas for change. The day was beautifully anchored by the museum’s exhibition Nordbor—a must-visit—showing how Sweden has evolved over 500 years and how influences from abroad have shaped the society we have today.

Two lines captured the spirit of the day:

“Everyone wants to feel welcome and included. Let’s listen to each other, help each other and create change with each other.”

– Greg Fernando

“Dare to open the door yourself, don’t wait for it to open.”

– Marx Mukaru

Why this matters to us at Beyondo

We believe everyone has a unique value. We’re proud partners to the 1046 Sverige initiative because inclusion isn’t a trend—it’s a foundation for trust, performance, innovation and long-term hiring success. When people feel they belong, they bring their full selves to work. Teams solve problems faster, adapt quicker and build better products and services.

Sweden’s story is a story of diversity

The Nordbor exhibition connects today’s conversations with a longer arc: Sweden has always been shaped by movement, ideas and people—arriving, leaving and returning. That history matters for how we build organisations today because it shows that resilience and renewal grow from openness and exchange.

For us at Beyondo, this is also personal. Many of us have lived and worked abroad, and some of us come from outside Sweden. We know what it feels like to be new—learning a language, decoding norms, figuring out how to contribute. That experience shapes how we recruit: with empathy, clarity and a focus on skills, potential and culture-add rather than only culture-fit.

From inspiration to action: practical steps for inclusive hiring

Here are tangible commitments we champion with clients and candidates:

• Listen with intent: Ask better questions, leave space for different ways of telling a story and avoid jumping to conclusions based on format or accent.
• Hire for skills and outcomes: Use structured, job-relevant criteria and work samples; reduce bias by scoring against the same rubric for all candidates.
• Value culture-add: Seek perspectives that challenge your team’s blind spots and help you serve more customers, in more markets.
• Write inclusive job ads: Clear language, needed skills only, and realistic “must-haves.” Replace proxies (e.g., “native Swedish”) with performance criteria.
• Open the door, don’t narrow the hallway: Consider adjacent experience and international backgrounds. Potential compounds when you give people the first step.
• Measure belonging, not just diversity: Track inclusion in onboarding, decision-making and psychological safety—not just headcount.

Learning from history to face today’s challenges

Nordbor is a reminder that diversity and inclusion are not new to Sweden—they are part of our shared story. If we stay curious about each other, listen generously and look at evidence (not assumptions), we can build teams that reflect the society we serve and create value that lasts.

Which doors are you opening now? Dare to be a flying fish.

Music from the El Sistema Orchester from Södertälje

With gratitude to Nordiska museet for the perfect context, to the organisers and partners who made the day possible, and to all speakers and performers who shared their courage and craft. Beyondo is proud to be a partner of 1046 Sverige—because we believe everyone has a unique value.

Contact Beyondo
If you’re building diverse, high-performing teams—or navigating recruitment as an international in Sweden—we look forward to hearing from you! 

"Candidate can be client and client can be candidate."