Are you doing diversity without inclusion?

I have been thinking recently how far companies have come on the journey towards diversity and inclusion. To say that the dial has moved on Board agendas would be an understatement.

Brought on by the dual forces of societal attitudes (37% of millennials will check a company’s D&I policy before applying for a job), and the realisation that diverse teams perform better in almost every metric has driven real change in the workplace. A diverse team makes a better decision than a single person 87% of the time, are 1.7x more likely to come up with an innovative idea than a homogenous team and make up to 19% more revenue.

What role does talent acquisition play in making sure your business is diverse? Before worrying about the people you’re getting, it’s up to senior leaders, and then the wider team, to make sure that your culture is one where everyone feels their voice is heard.

In the words of Kate Lanz, a neuropsychologist and CEO of artificial intelligence auditing company Mindbridge, “Business cultures that make it easier for people to stand up, stand out and be who they are – whether it’s diversity in gender or sexuality – are winning.”

Getting this culture right is predicated on making sure you get the ‘inclusion’ part of D&I right. Recruiting diversely, without really thinking about the lives of minority groups within the building, can lead to tokenism and attrition.

Stephen Frost has been a leading voice on D&I in business for a number of years, and now creates programmes for organisations as CEO of his consultancy Frost Included. He argues that a talent acquisition strategy must come second to genuine inclusion: “If you recruit diversely but you don’t include people, this will increase your attrition rate. Start with inclusion, then do talent acquisition.”

That’s not to say that the actions of your talent acquisition teams aren’t crucial. As D&I becomes a more important part of an employer’s value proposition, your TA professionals become your brand ambassadors, and must feel comfortable articulating your D&I strategies.

“It’s the first point of contact that the external world has with the organisation; almost like a shop window,” says Hema Bakhshi, Chief Workplace Officer at Adoptt. Companies must really think about their practices in a much more “holistic” way, she advises, looking at how they can remove any biases from the hiring process.

We’ve come a long way when it comes to D&I, but that doesn’t mean we can rest on our laurels. How can you make sure that your organisation continues to push the envelope on diversity and inclusion?

To learn more about how you can do more to promote greater diversity and inclusion in your business, read ‘Moving the dial on workplace diversity and inclusion’, in issue 3 of Catalyst Magazine.