In “DEI als democratiseringsproces waarbij rechten hersteld worden”, Latifa Matheeussen argues that “value-added creation” is often taken as the starting point/motivation for a Diversity, Equity & Inclusion policy. This leads to DEI not always being as genuine and authentic as it should be. After all, DEI is not about achieving value creation but rather a democratisation process where rights are restored.

The Corona pandemic was partly at the root of one of the most profound work revolutions of recent decades. In “Het leven zoals het is…op kantoor 2.0”, Hervé Heesterbeek argues that when organising hybrid working, we should not only focus on employees who like to work from home, but also on those who like to come to the office for (several) days. Indeed, when focusing fully on employee wellbeing, both a sound home-working policy and a work-friendly office environment are essential.

Labour conflicts cost money, they entail tangible and intangible costs and have an impact on those directly involved, the organisation and society. Nevertheless, Leen Van den Abeele notes in “Bemiddeling in arbeidsconflicten, onbekend of onbemind?” that there is little recourse to professionals such as recognised mediators in social affairs to prevent or, if necessary, defuse labour conflicts. With her article, Leen aims to highlight “mediation in employment context”. Indeed, expert mediation can play both a curative and a preventive role, giving the employer the opportunity to work on the “conflict resilience” and “conflict skills” of employees and the company as a whole.

Katherina Swings pleads to get rid of HR, meaning to transform Human Resources into People & Culture. She distills 3 common grounds that mark the many emerging/current initiatives to add heart and soul to companies and support the idea of People and Culture. “Let’s get rid of HR in 2023” is above all a call to think about what our contribution will be to realise the transformation from HR to People & Culture.