“When everyone is included, everyone wins”.

Why is a project of cultural diversity and inclusion so important to helpHousing? Because this is who we are, a multicultural company embracing diversity and its benefits.

Our mission at helpHousing is to provide quality accommodation and assistance for international students and young professionals. This makes cultural diversity a transversal element, running over both our clients and our team. This would not be possible without a young, international and highly diverse team that has lived the same experiences and faced the same challenges. 

helpHousing has now joined DIVEM, a project powered by ACCEM, with the main aim to provide companies with the necessary tools to manage cultural diversity at their best. This way, they help the businesses to integrate the benefits of diversity in their daily work and also to make visible their commitment to a better society, more responsible, fair and egalitarian (Sustainable Development Objectives and Agenda 2030).

Let’s have a look at our interview with them! And read here their article about us.

helpHousing: "The cultural diversity in our team lets us meet the expectations of our clients and contribute for a better society".

1. Your company deals with people from very different backgrounds on a daily basis. How important is it for helpHousing to integrate this cultural diversity into its team as well?

Our mission at helpHousing is to offer quality housing services for young internationals coming to study and live abroad. This makes cultural diversity a transversal element, running over both our clients and our team. 

From the point of view of our clients, we promote cultural diversity, the main element to live a unique experience, get to know other cultures, languages and new people, in order to make the most of their stay in the city.

This would not be possible without a young, international and highly diverse team that has lived the same experiences and faced the same challenges. This is what allows us to understand the needs of each of our clients, offering high value-added services.

2. What motivated you to join DIVEM and what value do you think it can add to your business?

Over the last few years, helpHousing has experienced an important growth, both at a national and international level, which has led us to become a landmark in the sector of accommodation for students and young workers and to have a great visibility for our stakeholders. Our values make us contribute to create a better society, more inclusive and cohesive, fair and sustainable.

helpHousing joining DIVEM is another demonstration of what we have been doing since the beginning, of what’s in the core of our ethics.

3. What challenges have you faced by dealing with clients from different backgrounds and cultures and how have you solved them?

Pleasing the very different needs of our clients is our daily challenge. Most of them arrive in our cities in Spain and Italy from different countries and continents of the world, with different languages, cultures, expectations and needs. Their perception and knowledge of the cities we are in, as well as of the accommodation market, is very different depending on where they come from. This is why we treat each of our clients personally, according to the language, culture and their necessities. We are able to achieve this thanks to our team of Flat Managers, made up of young internationals who have lived experiences abroad, now speaking different languages and who can understand and establish trustworthy relationships with the tenants.

4. Do you think it is necessary to train both employees and managers to embrace cultural diversity? Why? 

Indeed! Training is a fundamental pillar in a person's evolution, as well as in its daily behaviour. Even though at helpHousing we have completely internalised inclusion and diversity and it takes on great importance in our mission, vision and values, every day we meet people, companies or other entities that still find it hard to understand the importance of this matter. That’s why it  should undoubtedly be trained to contribute together to a better society and environment.

5. Have you carried out any action to promote equal opportunities regardless of gender or origin?

We work on the line of equality on a daily basis (in all possible aspects) among all the people in our team, as well as among our clients. It is something within our DNA, it comes out naturally and does not require any effort to be considered a duty, a responsibility. Moreover, we publish regularly internal and external contents in several languages, for all our international stakeholders; contents totally aligned with diversity and inclusion values.

6. Do you think that, in general, more awareness and training is needed for companies in order to know how to manage diversity properly?

Yes, it is necessary to carry out a professional training about the importance of cultural diversity in the company. Especially in such a globalised world, where the contribution of all people from different conditions has a strong impact on the economy, society and culture.

It is important that companies and the people working in them become aware of the importance of diversity, by implementing training and including it in their values and daily work.