What Mona and Richard said about meaningful change
Mona: Who's responsible for actioning meaningful change towards diversity & inclusion in an organisation?
Richard: So I think that this is probably my favourite question because, in a consultant's mind, you have that racy matrix where everyone's automatically trying to work out who's responsible, who's accountable and who's consulted.
The reality is, while those at the top level will remain accountable for the culture, as well as the results and the outcomes of any decisions they make, the responsibility of building a culture actually sits within each and every member of that firm.
So there is a power that we all have. Whether you’re a brand new joiner, whether you've been here for 10 to 15 years, or you’re an analyst or a partner, each one of us has a responsibility to contribute to this culture.
And if our culture wants to include meaningful change, and wants to be a diverse and inclusive culture – you have to be willing and ready to take the opportunity to live and embody that culture that you want to see.
What can you take away from this?
- Empower your employees to take steps to improve diversity & inclusion
- Create a platform for regular dialogue to take place
- Don’t be scared to have people speak up when the company does something which doesn’t embody your D&I stance
How can you achieve this?
- Ask people of all seniority levels to be diversity & inclusion ambassadors in your company
- Hold regular company-wide meetings to discuss diversity – and stick to them even if you have nothing new to report
- Solicit honest feedback from employees and allow them to share what they’re really thinking – anonymous surveys are a great way to do this
- Facilitate listening sessions or focus groups for employees to talk freely about D&I – ask for notes to be shared and enable those speaking to remain anonymous if they wish
- Take the name, gender and age out from CVs to remove unconscious bias and only judge candidates on their experience
- Make job postings more inclusive by writing them in a gender-neutral tone or having audio description options
- Do your research just like you would your target customers – learn about experiences of minority groups in the workplace and make changes to support them before they join
Read next: Understanding and improving equality in the workplace
So how do you feel about diversity & inclusion in your workplace?
For even more insight on improving D&I in your workplace, watch the full ‘How can workplaces improve D&I in the New Working World?’ webinar on-demand.
By watching, you’ll learn more about:
- The power of diverse and inclusive workplaces
- The key action points to progress diversity and inclusion
- What most leaders miss when it comes to diversity and inclusion
- How managers can start to make a difference today
To see the recording on-demand, click here.