There are no ‘difficult conversations’ : How to Create Systemic change through talent and diversity

#ipatalent???

A few weeks ago, two members of our?JourneyHR team attended the IPA’s Talent and Diversity Conference, where discussions focused on creating systemic change through talent and diversity.??

It came as no surprise that 87% of UK consumers agree diversity should be a priority in advertising, with representation increasing levels of trust consumers felt towards certain brands and businesses.??

However, there’s still an overwhelming opinion that businesses still have a long way to go to really promote and create genuine inclusive work cultures. Current representation within businesses in? the advertising industry can feel inauthentic leaving some employees feeling like boxes are being ticked instead of genuine intent for positive change. Trevor Johnson, Head of Marketing Global Business Solutions at TikTok and one of the speakers at the Conference, found that 79% Black, Asian and minority ethnic individuals disengage with media and ads if they feel they are not represented. This lack of representation? comes in the form of seeing either a negative portrayal of their community or an inauthentic representation. So, how can we make more positive progress???

Leadership??

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion engagement increases when it is led from the top down in an organisation, so authentic leadership buy-in is crucial.? Talking about diversity and inclusion for leaders can be an uncomfortable topic where they are not subject matter experts.? For positive progress to happen, leaders need to be open to listening, educating themselves and understanding the need and value of change.? This is the first step towards shifting the dial. But knowing where to start means leaning into what people have called ‘difficult conversations’.??

Some leaders may have felt it was not their place to speak up about diversity and inclusion, or felt too uncomfortable to ask questions, or too afraid of making mistakes.??

• It’s time to reframe these ‘difficult conversations’?

Talking about differences should not be a challenge.??

Leaders need to engage fully with their team by reaching out and bringing people in to voice their opinions. These are opportunities to learn and grow together. Leaders shouldn’t be so paralyzed with fear of doing the wrong thing that they do…nothing. We would always encourage leaders to gather data to understand the makeup of their organisation, create safe spaces to ask what the pertinent issues are, then create a meaningful plan where the organisation understands what actions are being taken and why this is so important. For meaningful change to happen leaders should have KPIs set that include creating and sustaining an inclusive working culture. These objectives should trickle down into to everyone in the organisation to make the change one where everyone is accountable.?

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• Invest in training?

This doesn’t mean forcing the team to sit through an endless diversity training workshop about what is and isn’t appropriate in the workplace. We’d encourage leaders to make sure all their training is delivered by a diverse group of people from different backgrounds, We’d also encourage organisations to have a clear development plan for each person in the business which supports every individual to develop and grow.?

It was disheartening to hear that people from marginalized groups often found that there was a ‘veil’ in how they could develop within organisation, with unclear guides for promotion or new opportunities.??

• Invest in hiring diverse senior talent?

We all know that there has been a considerable amount of effort to hire diverse talent for junior and entry level roles but there is still room to do more to make change meaningful.?? Organisations need to sharpen up their hiring practices.? We would always push for the following:?

• An accessible application process and job descriptions,??
• Using recruiters that will provide you a diverse shortlist of candidates????
• Salary and package benchmarking and therefore delivering fair and equitable remuneration for the role ?
• Creating an unbiased and job-relevant selection process, including blind CVs??
• Having a clear evaluation criterion for all candidates in the process?

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We often hear from leadership that they ‘just can’t find the talent they need at that level’. Tobi Asare, one of the speakers at the IPA conference, believes one way to tackle this is by looking at highly-skilled people from alternate industries with transferable skills.? We need to stop looking at the barriers and be more creative about how we make positive changes.?

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Allyship??

As we approach Pride Month, a lot of organisations will be planning campaigns across their socials to show their support. While this is a great way to show your alliance, it shouldn’t be a moment. It should be a movement. We need to have continual focus and attention on EDI within our organisations to generate positive change.?

And let’s not forget that it is not up to marginalized groups to drive systemic progress. Allyship is about more than believing everyone deserves a seat at the table. Rather, it’s about empowering and giving people the opportunity to speak up. If you have a platform, stop and think about what you’re doing with it, and what you could be doing better? (If you’re not sure, just ask). We would encourage all organisations to have a Code of Conduct or Allyship policy, and a Diversity Statement in their employee handbook. All employees should then receive some training around what this means and what behaviours and actions are expected of them at work.?

Policies in handbooks should reflect and support your current employees and future employees too.??

If you have, for example a Trans-Inclusion Policy, this may impact less than 1% of your employees. This makes some leaders think they shouldn’t have one, because it doesn’t affect their team.??

Michael Brown, the Managing Partner at UM, believes that due to the small number of transpeople, we as individuals are unlikely to have any friends or family members who are trans, which hinders us from understanding. By knowing people from different identity groups, you grow to see them as a person. We spend the majority of our lives at work, and so having an organisation committed to representation drives change.??

And these minority groups need support in our allyship. The organisation Just Like Us conducted a study in 2023 which found that 9 in 10 trans people in the UK have experienced suicidal thoughts. By having an allyship or trans-inclusion policy, you demonstrate that, as an organisation, you care about the minority. And the growing feeling now is that we want to work with businesses that care about the minority – that consider a group that may not even be in their organization yet – but would be supported if they were.??

Are you ready to make a positive change???

If you’re ready to instigate real, systemic change within your organisation – reach out to us at JourneyHR Whether it’s recruitment, retention or training, we’re here to help you have those conversations and find out what more you can be doing. And we should always want to be doing more.??