Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (ED&I)
When we asked HR professionals what their top priority is for this year in our recent HR trends survey, only 5% of businesses named equality, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) as theirs. And when we asked if they have ED&I policies in place, 23% of respondents said they don’t, and out of those that do, nearly two thirds don’t think they’re effective. When we asked if they have ED&I targets in place, most (69%) don’t have any, and for those that do, only 5% of businesses hit all their targets. However, 39% reported hitting most of their targets. For employees to feel safe, a sense of belonging, and empowered to reach their full potential, it’s crucial for businesses to promote and deliver equality, diversity and inclusion within the workplace. According to CIPD, to progress ED&I, businesses should be shaping their strategy to go beyond legal compliance and take an intersectional approach.
When you're looking at equality, diversity and inclusion within the workplace, you should think about the following elements:
Applicant diversity in hiring
Representation across the employee base
DE&I retention
Diversity/gender diversity in leadership
Diversity employee experience/satisfaction/engagement levels
As more companies face cases of discrimination, they also have more access to HR and management support with the creation of ED&I policies and practices than ever before. As an employer, you need to leverage the tools available to you to understand the needs of all your employees, and how bias and discrimination may affect them in and outside the workplace. It’s your responsibility to use these resources to create a more inclusive workplace where inequality and discrimination aren't tolerated.
To achieve diversity and inclusion best practices, you must start by having the relevant policies and procedures in place. This helps solidify and confirm in writing what behaviours you expect your employees to display.
Anything that helps and supports organisations achieve a people-centric workplace where employee contributions are valued and behaviours that encompass all aspects of the equality act are encouraged. Plus, don’t forget any breaches of these laws would potentially mean a disciplinary offence, which could be an act of gross misconduct dependent upon the individual circumstances. So, observing or behaving in the appropriate manner is in everyone’s best interest.
For example, in a recent interview Peter Cheese, CEO of the CIPD, explained that although HR Departments are now very effective at cracking down on racism and harassment, the function is still learning how to do ED&I more effectively. Training is also key, as organisations need to take responsibility for their workforce.
People Management data states that at least half of HR functions would consider themselves to be “somewhat woke”. Where some might also suggest, that having a more culturally diverse workforce representing the communities where they operate might be the key to their success.
You should consider your ED&I impact as a business from the very beginning of an employee's journey, ensuring you have applicant diversity in the hiring process.
Start by removing any biased language from job adverts. Biased language refers to words associated with identity-based stereotypes, such as masculine or younger-age stereotypes. For example, stereotypically masculine language includes words such as ‘decisive’ and ‘ambitious’ and stereotypically feminine language includes words such as ‘compassionate’ and ‘empathetic’.
Place job adverts where they are more likely to be seen by marginalised applicants. To reach women, particularly mothers returning from a maternity or career break, you could advertise on websites such as Mumsnet.
Use the power of data insights to ensure your representation across the employee base is diverse, equal, and inclusive. Collect and analyse data on your workforce for a deeper understanding of your people and the lived experiences of your employees. Once you’ve analysed the data, you can identify any existing biases, gaps or issues and work towards improving them.
Retention should be one of your top priorities as an HR professional, especially when it comes to equality, diversity and inclusion, as employees are more likely to leave a job if they don’t feel a sense of belonging.
A good place to start is by asking your employees how they think the workplace could be more diverse, and you can do this by gathering internal feedback via employee pulse or eNPS surveys. This will allow you to make data-driven decisions, enabling you to improve employee experience, satisfaction, and engagement levels.
There are various strategies you can use to retain diverse talent, such as making everyone feel appreciated with regular recognition. Focusing on peer-to-peer recognition is a great way to make everyone feel included by empowering them to celebrate each other.
Another quick win is to ensure your workplace calendar is inclusive, representing the beliefs of your entire workplace. For example, include holidays such as Ramadan, Diwali, and Rosh Hashanah. Check out our Diversity & Inclusion Calendar.
“Representation on a leadership level is so important – and even the layers below. The more diverse a leadership team is, the better the business will be.”
When looking at your leadership team, make sure you practice what you preach and that the team reflects the diversity you promote, as well as ensuring they’re fully knowledgeable in ED&I ethics. You should also consider building ED&I into your performance review process by involving other voices to reduce bias.
According to various studies and reports, including the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report, the representation of women in senior management roles varies across different industries and regions. However, what’s glaringly obvious is that, across the board, women are generally underrepresented in senior leadership positions compared to men.
Women are generally underrepresented in senior leadership positions compared to men.
In the UK, the representation of women in senior management roles within the top 50 FTSE companies has been improving gradually over the years, but there is still progress to be made.
Whilst some companies have made efforts to increase gender diversity in leadership, the overall percentage of women in senior roles remains lower than desired. It’s important for companies to continue prioritising gender diversity and inclusion, especially in leadership, and to leverage the fresh perspectives and talents that women bring to the table. With this in mind, have a read of our blog article on empowering women to pursue leadership.
We’ve already seen legislation mandate reporting on gender pay gap for certain businesses. Is it only a matter of time before more ED&I reports are compulsory? Here’s a couple of reports to look out for.
Gender gap analysis
Diversity ratios
Pay by segment
Splits by department – giving you an understanding of where to focus efforts
Gather internal diversity feedback via employee surveys (e.g. eNPS, pulse)
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