Creating an environment that promotes EDI

For an employment sector and its associated companies, it is vital to a create a culture that engages the full potential of the individuals where innovation thrives, and views, beliefs and values are integrated.?For an environment to change with momentum, a culture change rooted and promotes in Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) is needed to be in each one of us. ?Creating an environment that promotes EDI which is successful and sustainable, each one of us, not just our leaders need to be willing to step back and assess the systems, processes, and values that drive the current culture.?Yet those in senior leadership positions must be committed to taking ownership of the role they will play in creating and aligning new systems that will embed EDI into the workplace culture change process.?At whatever scale, leadership takes be it: individual, team, and organisational — drives culture, which can make or break a strategy, merger, or business transformation.

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One of the biggest challenges companies and organizations face when it comes to EDI is getting everyone on board with the company’s EDI initiatives.?Because of this, EDI teams may not be prioritized by the wider organization, leaving leaders to get the most done with the least amount of resources.?This poses some issues when it comes to EDI adoption.?Yet, by strategically leveraging their time, energy, and personnel, leaders can tackle the most pertinent EDI challenges.?EDI must be prioritized as part of the company’s business strategy.?EDI is not a buzzword or an acronym for Everyone Doing It sometimes.?

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Nor it an initiative that does not need passing onto somebody else’s attention.?Consequently, companies and organizations may relegate EDI to others, causing it to be neglected or haphazardly undertaken by others. ?Yet, while upper management may be disinterested, they take their company values seriously.?Therefore, leaders can prioritize EDI issues by integrating EDI into their company’s mission or vision statements. Framing EDI challenges as integral to the company’s core values encourages employees to see EDI as an obligation (rather than a nice-to-have).?Why is it that EDI is seen as important but not urgent — until it becomes a crisis?

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Major crises start light, with minor issues sprinkled here and there, such as the attracting students to study and remain employed in their chosen profession.?As we have seen, over time, this seemingly insignificant issue starts as a bleep and then it begins to compound and become harder to overcome.?We need to bridge the gap between importance and urgency by taking action as a sector, we must drive urgency in time by framing EDI as imperative to the sector’s well-being and future.?Much of the sector’s progress is unsubstantial, the problem may be attributed to the bystander effect. With the bystander effect, everyone watching knows something needs to be done, but nobody is willing to take charge as they assume someone else will instead.

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1. Establishing EDI Steering Group:

Professional bodies / institutions and companies should have their own EDI Steering Group acting as a committee.?The Steering Group will have a mandate to define their EDI priorities, establish EDI goals, and help put into place steps to achieve these goals.?These will be different from company to company and will be dependent on the size of organization and the number of key staff involved.?The Steering Group is key role in creating and fostering a welcoming EDI culture within the company. ?Employers either private, or public, academic or industry or government, client of constant or contractor, should recognize those working to improve EDI in terms of monetary compensation, promotion criteria, and leadership opportunities.?The EDI Steering Group can set targets and timelines for EDI goals and hold company leadership accountable should goals not be met. ?For example, status of diversity and inclusion within the company could be assessed every five years, which would facilitate targeted measures.

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Very early on the Steering Groups of companies and organizations should establish clarity, commitment, and measurability around EDI. Intent is irrelevant without results — and ideas are nothing without execution.?Simply stating a need for EDI isn’t enough. ?For leaders looking to integrate EDI in their workplace, a detailed game plan is a sure-fire way to capture the attention of upper management and gain allies.?As such, leaders need a data-driven way of showcasing EDI’s importance, holding themselves accountable, and detailing progress. ?Data has made the world smaller, and the advantages of using it slender.?It is a way professional bodies/institutions and companies engage with their members /employees and they evolve.?But we are at the start of understanding this, it demonstrates the potential of how professional bodies/institutions and companies must adapt to local, national and international paradigm shifts.?Likewise, leaders need to improve diversity within their organization, enhance their company’s reputation, to educate employees on EDI matters. EDI can increase company turnover, reduce operational efficiency, and decrease employees’ willingness to work.?Therefore, a concrete plan of action for EDI can help leaders bypass potential crises and create immediacy around EDI issues.

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2. Fostering a culture of EDI:

Professional bodies / institutions and companies should actively promote EDI and grow in their maturity year after year.?The journey starts with being immature in EDI issues by being aware of the basic EDI issues, moving to being compliant in current legislation, to tactical where EDI is connected to the business activities and outcomes in pockets of an organization. ?This is then followed by integrating EDI reflected by both internal and external efforts. Finally, full maturity in EDI is demonstrated by a sustainable where efforts are best in class and remain strong over a period of time through efforts by all to constantly improve and evolve. This can be done by formally acknowledging and rewarding work towards improving the image of EDI in the workplace. ?Often and usually initially, the bulk of EDI work is done by women and underrepresented minority groups.?This is an additional burden that these groups must bear in addition to the systemic biases working against them.?When EDI work is not recognized, there is less incentive to continue the work and it makes it harder to recruit like-minded people.?EDI work should be valued as much as conventional publication means.?

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Most importantly, to retain diverse employees, it is crucial to create an inclusive culture that encourages employees to respect, listen and understand each other’s differences. ??Companies and professional bodies / institutions devoted to EDI and employee / members well-being report less employee burnout, fewer employees consider leaving, and more employees promote their workplace.?Companies and teams need to send the message that EDI is important. ?Companies awards and leadership positions recognizing EDI and mentorship work are recommended to encourage others be involved with implementing change in the sector. ?Intentional changes to create and maintain an inclusive workplace may be required.

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3. Instituting clear policies on harassment and bullying:

Professional bodies / institutions and companies should have zero tolerance for all forms of violence (discrimination, bullying, harassment etc.) in the workplace, whether it is physical, verbal, or virtual. ?The responsibility to prevent workplace bullying, harassment and discrimination is covered in the UK’s Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) by the duty to provide a healthy and safe working environment and safe systems of work. ?A worker who reasonably believes they have been bullied at work should be able to mention to his Line Manager that an incident has occurred and be given clear reassurance that that the workplace bullying will stop following an investigation.?Companies and organizations should also have a clear and accessible written protocol explaining the steps for reporting discrimination, bullying, and harassment. ?This process should be effective, safe, and anonymous. ?It is also recommended to keep a record of reports of such actions, their management, and their impact to prevent future events.?Finally, there should be resources in the workplace and in societies, such as a go-to person, to support individuals affected by such events.

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Furthermore, organizational code of conducts should mean something and by adopting a suitable potential ethical model of behaviour prompting colleagues and fellow professionals to act appropriately. ?For example this could be anchored in the Seven Nolan Principles; this UK code outlines principles that support ethical decision-making and challenge unethical behaviour.?Ongoing training also needs to be focused on developing behaviour which promotes positive working relationships, as well as on preventing harassing behaviour. ?This should include awareness of cultural, racial, disability and gender (including transgender) issues.?Leaders should lead by example in promoting a harassment-free workplace by modelling and promoting all aspects of EDI.?The responsibility of leaders is to ensure employees / members know their responsibilities to promote EDI for one and all. ?They should model appropriate behaviour, by walking the talk, not just talking the talk, but by walking the talk.?They must be acting with integrity and taking responsibility for their actions.

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4. Offering EDI training and awareness:

Professional bodies / institutions and companies alike should make EDI workshops and presentations available to all staff, regardless of grade, gender, race, age ability and such like.?For example, to debunk the harmful stereotypes and change the exclusionary norms, much-needed conversations surrounding what autism is and is not should be led by autistic voices.?By informing employees and fellow professionals about EDI principles, such as presentations will increase awareness of EDI and will affirm the sector’s and company’s commitment to EDI. ?At a minimum, all members of a leadership should be required to undergo mandatory EDI training to take part in unconscious bias training.

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By giving induction training and ongoing sessions on implicit biases will help to bring the subconscious to the conscious.?Subconscious minds make many decisions for them – and these aren’t always rational. Lapses of judgment during decision-making are often caused by implicit biases, which are subconscious attitudes that affect how people perceive and interact with others.?Different implicit biases can pose an EDI challenge, stopping employees from making purely objective decisions.?These include:

? Confirmation bias: the tendency to recall information that supports prior beliefs

? Prototype bias: believing that someone is the best fit for a task or job based on stereotypes

? Similarity effect: the tendency to trust and be attracted to people like us

? Anchoring bias: using older information as an ‘anchor,’ where people are overly influenced by previous information when facing new situations

? Small numbers bias: overgeneralizing about a group based on limited evidence

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5. Incorporating EDI into selection, recruitment, and promotion:

Despite legislation on diversity in the workplace such as the Equality Act (2010) in the UK, underrepresented people groups such as those with disabilities still do not experience the same access to work opportunities as do their counterparts without disabilities.?Many employers have been shown to harbour sincere yet ill-founded views about the work-related abilities of their staff; these negative views are often a result of interrelated concerns that permeate the entire employer life cycle.?Attraction (recruiting), selecting (interviewing), initialization (on-boarding), retention (training), promotion (performing), and separation (moving on) are the six main aspects of an employee employment life cycle. ?Thereby developing, organizing a framework and by mapping employer concerns onto the management practices associated with each stage of the employment life cycle will further support organizations committed to creating more effective, equitable, and inclusive workplaces for all.

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Intentional incorporation of EDI principles at all stages of the employee employment life cycle framework is required to change demographics of underrepresented groups. ?Furthermore, professional bodies / institutions and companies alike should reflect the population it serves. ?Therefore, for the life cycle framework to be a success, both parties such as employer and employee or society or members first become fully aware of each other’s existence, reflected in the goals of anticipatory socialization (from the prospective member’s perspective) and active recruitment (from the employer’s perspective). This is done by communicating information about the six main aspects to internal and external stakeholders.?This is critical because they convey core values upon which the organization’s culture is built. Meaningful, targeted communication reinforces perceptions of positive organizational climates within organizations and promotes a positive organizational image to external observers, such as onlookers, members, and future employees and such like.

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6. Improving data collection:

Finally, professional bodies / institutions and companies should collect and review their own data. ?To properly address gaps in EDI, data must be obtained to identify underrepresented groups and the barriers they face to direct efforts where they will be most effective.?Companies and organizations must create a safe space to encourage participation, which must be voluntary and in line with local institution and privacy policies. ?Data collection can be made via an inhouse survey if there is no appropriate survey available at the organizational level. ?Carefully designed data metrics help organizations to identity bias blind spots including Representation, Retention, Recruitment, Selection, Promotion, Development, and Engagement.?All employees should be asked and encouraged to participate.?Results should be transparent but in way that is shared in aggregated to eliminate identifying data and a minimum number of responses in a group could be considered for it to be reported back to all the those who represent the company or organization.

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Once the raw data has been reported, the data should be used make informed decisions as a process for improvement.?A Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom (DIKW) triangle model, illustrates how raw data becomes wisdom.?The DIKW triangle model approach is helpful as it breaks down the steps needed to go from collecting data to using that data in order to implement programmatic and strategic changes.?The DIKW starts with raw data at the base which becomes transformed into information (data with a meaning), then setting the information in its context becomes knowledge and when this is applied it becomes wisdom in the future at the pinnacle.?The knowledge acquired provides an understanding of what has happened in the past and why. The step to wisdom involves applying the knowledge gained from the data to make decisions about what actions to take in the future.?We must use this wisdom upon to base our decision-making, it is the final stage of turning data into action.?

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Getting started with EDI can seem overwhelming for some organizations or companies — so much so that they would rather not invest in it. Yet, given the many ways of approaching EDI, but they can no longer be excused from establishing it. Now is the time to take EDI initiatives from awareness, to planning to action for lasting workplace culture change.?A good measure of culture change, is how the members (of the culture) hearts and stomach feel about Monday morning on Sunday evening.?Unfortunately, many organizations’ commitments to equity, diversity, and inclusion just are not translating into desired results and sustainable, systemic change. People need new ways to think about and talk about diversity; we need new skills to enable equity and inclusion in the workplace; and organizations need scalable ways to ensure that their diversity and inclusion initiatives avoid common mistakes and are both solid and sustainable.

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The success of EDI lies in creating a culture which is a tailored approach.?An organization’s path towards EDI should fit into its current environment and align with its rhythm. ?This requires sector leaders and company directors to truly understand the existing EDI culture in their organization / institution / company, focus their efforts on areas that matter, and integrate a custom approach that drives results. True diversity is only achieved by segmenting the workforce to ensure it is representative at all levels and all roles. ?The work of EDI is never done. ?Without continued vigilance, even organizations and companies who are EDI mature (in the sustainable stage) can slide backward.?There is still not enough resources allocated to EDI; teams may not always resemble other teams, initiatives, or departments. ?Many company efforts tend not to receive the same support as other departmental budgets. ?Even though EDI leaders (including Champions and Advocates) are tasked with transforming entire organizations, it is a thankless task.?But we go promoting positive change, so one and all can thrive in their chosen profession.??