Diversity & Inclusion - The Basics

The topic of diversity and inclusion in the workplace has been talked about for years.?Some organisations have taken it seriously, some have initiated band-aid solutions designed for superficial impact.

But things are starting to change – this can no longer be easily dismissed as a trend.?

Valuing diversity and fostering a culture of inclusion is playing a bigger part these days in drawing good quality candidates to organisations, in retaining staff and in attracting investors and shareholders.?It is also increasingly playing a part in gaining and retaining customers and clients.

This has meant that diversity and inclusion initiatives have started to move from a HR-only program to a necessary business strategy, with Board visibility.?In fact, it is even shaping up to be a persuasive element in creating competitive advantage for an organisation.

“Diversity”, briefly

Diversity recognises, accepts and values the unique backgrounds, traits, characteristics and achievements of an individual.?This can include (but is not limited to) gender, age, race, sexual orientation, marital status, cultural background, personality, socio-economic background, life experience, physical attributes, disabilities and educational levels.

It is important to note, however that the definition of “diversity” will be different for different organisations.?What amounts to “diversity” in an organisation will depend on many contributing factors including the current make-up of the organisation’s people and any best-practice standards for that particular industry.?

Also, as time moves on, updating of your organisation’s understanding of “diversity” may also be required.?For example, in the past “diversity” was taken to mean a difference in cultural backgrounds, ethnicities, genders, ages, religions, disabilities and sexual orientations.?However, these days, it may also include diversity in working habits, geographic location and key success parameters.?

And now - “Inclusion”!

Inclusion, on the other hand, is about creating a workplace that is respectful, supportive and collaborative, allowing all employees the ability to contribute or participate freely.?Inclusion gives employees a sense that their views, perspective and personal attributes/circumstances are being taken seriously and properly integrated into the organisation.?This will only work if your organisation properly understands the need for diversity and crafts its inclusive culture accordingly.

Actions matter

Key to the success of an organisation’s diversity and inclusion initiatives will be the visible and tangible evidence of commitment and uptake by those in leadership positions.?Not only will this have to be heavily endorsed by the organisation’s leaders (the Executives and the Board), but they must also be seen to “walk the talk”.?

This can be done in three ways – by elevating the focus of diversity and inclusion initiatives to the Executive and Board level; being clear about the organisation’s expectations on behaviour and by being transparent about the successes (and the failures) of any implemented initiatives.

Taking it seriously

The culture of an organisation is often driven from the top down.?Therefore, it is paramount that the focus and strategy of any diversity and inclusion initiatives come from the organisation’s leaders.?Some suggested actions include:

• The prioritisation of the development and ongoing review of a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan as part of the organisation’s value statement.
• The appointment of a senior executive responsible for leading the diversity and inclusion program and initiatives.
• Linking the diversity and inclusion success factors into senior executive’s performance reviews.

Moulding behaviour

In essence, implementing any diversity and inclusion initiative amounts to a change program.?This will require clear and unambiguous expectations on and active measures to manage behaviour.?This could include:

• Defining and publishing expected behavioural standards to uphold the diversity and inclusion culture and holding people accountable for results.
• Developing or strengthening policies that support the values and objectives of the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan.
• Reviewing practices in recruitment, performance management and leadership assessment to ensure diversity and inclusion values are properly integrated.?For example, creating an externally visible scorecard to measure progress on items like recruitment and gender pay equity.
• Developing training programs to engender and promote diversity and inclusion in the workplace and with customer/client interactions.
• Instituting awards for recognition of those who are leaders in championing these values.

Going public

Another critical step in fostering diversity and valuing a culture of inclusion in the workplace is to be public about the initiatives taken.?Being open and honest about its successes (including reporting on failures and key learnings) sends a signal to employees and the public that the organisation’s investment in diversity and inclusion is important.?Some actions in this regard could include:

• Publishing the organisation’s diversity and inclusion objectives, including a copy of the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan.
• Publishing the organisation’s workplace diversity statistics, comparing it with best-practice industry standards.
• Publishing details of its working initiatives to address any of the shortfalls in achieving the organisation’s diversity and inclusion goals.
• Publishing the Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan’s review frequency and change parameters.

Key takeaways

Increasingly, organisations from government to global corporations are starting to see the benefits of having a more robust understanding of diversity in their workplace and in having a more inclusive workplace culture.?This also being picked up by regulators and by funding bodies.??A recent example was the announcement to the changes to the Code for Sports Governance by Sports England and UK Sports that requires organisations they fund to have an accelerated Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan.

Given the clear benefits of having a diverse workforce working in an inclusive environment, it would be a sound investment for any organisation to ensure that it has a suitable Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan in place.

TEASER - Look out for a future article where I will go through the steps to get a Diversity and Inclusion Action Plan up and running!

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