Diversity and Inclusion

Diversity and inclusion in the workplace

How do we develop an organisation that reflects the community we operate in and how do we make all our staff feel included and important? Developing Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace  is the one of the biggest challenges facing organisations today.  My experience in this area shows that a working solution is hard and takes time and commitment.  Work with me on my “Diversity and Inclusion Strategy – from planning to action” development process.

One of my key learnings in developing Diversity and Inclusion strategies is that you need to do more than develop an elegant, thoughtful and well packaged strategy.  Diversity and Inclusion happens when you combine that strategy with;

  • An action plan which maps you to actions over a fixed time period
  • A resource plan that commits the appropriate level of investment (people and finances) to be able to implement your action plan
  • A clear measurement framework that defines what good looks like to keep you on track.

My approach to working with organisations who wish to become more diverse and inclusive is to build a strategy and plan, based around seven key pillars.

  1. Leadership and Accountability

Having your organisational leaders take responsibility for shaping, guiding and implementing diversity and inclusion and seeing it as part of their core role and accountability.

  1. Recruitment

Ensuring you can source and select highly capable and diverse talent for your organization

  1. Retention and Progression

Developing systems and processes to ensure you can retain and promote diverse talent in your organisation and removing the barriers to advancement

  1. Learning and Development

How you build an understanding of what diversity and inclusion means for your managers and staff and how you develop the capability in your diverse workforce to allow them to fulfill their potential.

  1. Flexible work

The design of roles and the development of policies in the organisation to maximize the ability of different groups to contribute fully, regardless of location or hours worked.

  1. Remuneration

Constructing remuneration, benefits and incentive processes to ensure that they meet the needs of different groups and do not unintentionally disadvantage or limit the contribution of one group over another

  1. Outreach and Communication

How you build your reputation in the community as a diverse and inclusive place to work and demonstrate that commitment to your staff, providers, stakeholders customers and the community as a whole.