This article was written by Aarnout Lankriet, Project Officer and Naomi Mike, Coordinator Diversity & Inclusion, City of Ghent
This blog post is part of the #InsideInclusionEU campaign
The city of Ghent is actively committed to inclusion and diversity, including within its own organisation. One of the ways in which this is achieved is through employee networks: voluntary networks for and by employees that share a characteristic or affinity. A recent survey among Ghent staff shows that these groups have become important, but that they also come with challenges and cannot be expected to solve or prevent discrimination.
Three employee networks
Since around four years now, the municipality has three active employee networks: colleagues with a migration background (‘L!nk’), colleagues with a disability (‘AHA’) and LGBTQIA+-employees (‘Roze Neuzekes’). They organise social activities such as lunch lectures, theatre performances or informal activities outside of work. L!nk currently has around 90 members, while AHA and Roze Neuzekes each have around 50 members.
Each network has its own character and dynamics, depending mostly on its core members who coordinate the activities. Participation is entirely voluntary and can be either active or passive. The core members can receive two hours per month working time exemption, to spend on coordination of the network. This exemption however is considered too little by some core members, who tend to spend many more hours of their free time.
Why employee networks make a difference: safe space and creating awareness
The existing networks strengthen the feeling of appreciation and connectedness and create space for mutual support. In addition, networks can provide valuable insights and areas for improvement to the organisation, leading to a stronger HR policy that truly takes diverse needs into account. To that end, a brainstorming and exchange session is held every three months with members of all three networks.
Survey results
A staff survey about employee networks was held by the municipality in early 2025 and completed by 185 anonymous respondents.
Those who have already participated in an employee network gave as top three reasons why: sense of belonging and community, to stimulate change together and personal growth and development. Those who have never participated gave as a reason that they did not find a network that matched their interests or needs, or simply that they don’t have enough time.
Overall, employee networks are considered important especially for connecting with fellow targets of discrimination. However, several respondents also identified a number of challenges.
Firstly, they are still considered too little known among Ghent municipality staff. More visibility is needed, for example by proposing the networks to different departments.
Another issue being reported is that employee networks should be part of something bigger: a more comprehensive approach to increasing well-being and inclusion. The complementary structures of the municipality’s diversity policy, such as training programmes, discussion forums and integrity violation procedures, are important. A respondent put it this way:
“a safe place for people who experience discrimination does not solve the harmful behaviour of people who are not in the network.” There is a demand for raising awareness among “those who are not discriminated against”. “Investing in managers who can ensure that everyone feels they belong, seems to me to have much more impact.”
Finally, despite the clear added value of employee networks for those involved, they also appear to generate feelings of rejection among other employees. Critical comments are made about the so-called division into target groups or “creating boxes”. In some people’s view “this actually works against inclusion”, stating that ideally it should not be necessary to create separate networks.
So, there seems to remain a challenge in reconciling the demonstrated need for people to separately connect and unite, with working broadly on a shared inclusive culture that should benefit everyone.
