For those who are passionate about driving the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion agenda, but whose day-to-day role does not involve the creation of the EDI vision, it can be easy to assume that the path to creating a culture of belonging is being laid without you.
Making sure that you’re part of the progression story is (gladly) an important part of working life for so many people.
Topics relevant to diversity and inclusion can chime very personally with many, and are very sensitive for some. In a very polarised world it’s so important to be the best ally as well as be an ambassador for the business we work for wherever possible, in order to be a driving force of social justice.
But sometimes, for those who aren’t EDI Leads, it’s hard to know how to channel your enthusiasm, and sometimes difficult to see improvements which may be happening beneath the surface of ‘BAU’.
For a Head of Diversity and Inclusion, and the EDI team, passion isn’t enough.
Those leading the vision and writing and implementing the EDI strategy should be coming from a place of having:
- Extensive knowledge of the Equality Act and relevant employment law.
- The foresight of new potential legislative change for all characteristics.
- An understanding of additional employment standards set by industry associations and regulators.
- A knowledge of how your business compares to others in the sector across a wide range of metrics.
- The next right steps for your business as part of a timeline of greater change.
- A good working relationship with all senior people in your organisation to effectively weave EDI aspirations into other strategies.
- A plan for using resources and budgets effectively to achieve the vision.
- Their own personal passion.
That’s a big place to be coming from!
EDI leads need support around them, but also need enthusiasm to be demonstrated constructively if progress is to be made in the quickest possible way.
Creating a collaborative vision which involves every employee, as well as ties in with top-line corporate goals, and external stakeholders is a gargantuan task for EDI leads, and ideally, it should involve everybody by consulting and surveying teams and departments in a range of ways.
Here are some ways to get involved and make sure that your voice and passion makes a positive difference:
- Contribute your thoughts by completing colleague engagement surveys and encouraging peers to do the same. This will be a major driver of how any organisation builds the next phase of its strategy. Any good business should be drawing on trends and opinions to identify gaps in their approach and resources.
- Know what your organisation’s strategic vision is regarding EDI, and ask questions about key focuses if you do feel there are gaps or unclear agendas, knowing that every strategy should represent the next right step for the business. The strategy needs to demonstrate aspiration, at the same time as being achievable and meaningful, so whilst there may be gaps, and some steps may seem small, they may be purposefully so, to bring about cultural change in the right way.
- Join an Employee Network Group. You can even ask to start or lead one if you have lived experiences of overcoming challenges relating to your own characteristics and life experiences.
- Balance your urge to challenge with an ethos of celebrating achievements. – This can be difficult when you don’t see much change, or don’t see it happening quickly enough, but an effective mix can ensure you’re taken seriously regarding both.
- Use what you know, but be honest about the gaps in your knowledge. E.g. If you have lived experience of a non-visible disability, then you can offer unique insight IF you feel comfortable sharing it. Remain open to learning and respectfully curious about other people’s experiences and visible/ non-visible diversities too.
If your daily role is not one which enables you to easily see the scale of improvement, it can be easy to miss ongoing work to approach the various parts of the employee life cycle through an EDI lens. There may be strong particular focuses on attraction and recruitment, or retention and progression, or perhaps a fair exit process which provides insight into employee experience.
There may be lots of ongoing work which you haven’t seen or experienced, in which case your challenge needs to be an ‘ask’ for communication or transparency.
And yes, in some cases, maybe there hasn’t been sufficient progress, and your interest can be part of an essential catalyst for change.
Know that every ally makes a difference, and that as you challenge what’s missing, and recognise progress, you’re making more and more people accountable, and reducing spaces for biases to exist in the working world.
