Stop Talking Diversity & Inclusion - tips from a diversity consultancy

Top tips for D&I from a diversity consultancy

The trouble is that just talking about it isn’t enough. To truly embrace a change in your D&I strategy and for your business to benefit from having a diverse workforce it has to actually be diverse. 1/3 of employees and job seekers wouldn’t apply for a job if the company lacked diversity. Diverse workforces drive business success.  Here’s some tips from a diversity consultancy (that’s us at Culture Consultancy)…

Is there a box I can just tick? 

Let’s be clear, diversity is not simply a tick box exercise in response to external pressure. Nor is it a quota-filling attempt to balance gender or ethnicity or any other criteria. In fact, diversity can be just as much about differences in approach and experience as it is about anything else. Tick-box exercises are easy to spot, in that they are too short, sharp, and shallow. They do nothing by way of advocating, supporting, and enabling diversity in a business. Your employees will pick up on these quickly, particularly if they are new joiners, and contributes to high employee turnover. 

Why bother with diversity? 

Quite simply, because when a diverse workforce represents diversity within the organisation’s sphere of influence then it speaks far more closely to its consumer base. And when a business is in tune with customers not only is it more likely to deliver customer excellence, but it is also far more likely to deliver innovative solutions which resonate with its consumers. 

As the ex-CEO of Ford, Alan Mullally, said ‘diversity is the only business case we need – the only way to satisfy diverse customers is to include their perspectives inside the company.’ 

Diversity is a broad spectrum that encapsulates age, gender, ethnicity, religion, orientation, neurodiversity, education, social mobility, and so much more. 

What is the role of recruitment? 

So hiring a diverse workforce with a view to cultural fit is imperative for those organisations which want to really deliver something in terms of customer excellence and results. And yes this does require organisations to take a good hard look at their recruitment process, how they define job descriptions, review applications and their interview process. And yes it may also require organisations to look again at the way in which jobs are structured; offering part-time, flexible and job share roles in a bid to attract the most suitable candidates. 

76% of people would consider looking for a new job if they found their employer had an unfair gender pay gap or no diversity and inclusion policy.

Are my competitors doing it? 

Diversity is not something that is going to disappear. It’s been much higher on businesses agenda in more recent years. So many businesses worry about what their competitors are up to. In reality a culture of innovation is about creating a difference between your business and your competitors that is not based on price. If embracing a culture of D&I is one of the ways to do this, why wouldn’t you? 

How can a diversity consultancy help?  

Using an external diversity consultancy will give an unbiased and holistic picture of what’s going on, so that the changes you can then make will be fit for your business today, and future-proofed to match your aims and ambitions. 

A diversity consultancy can help assess how diverse and inclusive your culture truly is, identifying the inhibitors, enablers, as well as opportunities.  

They can then design and implement what you need – it might be a change in policy, strategy, more training for your leadership, or a switch in hiring procedures. 

 

Not sure where to start with making your company more diverse and inclusive? Find out more about the Company  Culture Assessment and how it can set you up for success.