Where are all the opportunities for diversity and inclusion in your organisation?

By looking around for advice and support you have already made a start. You aren’t going to be able to tackle everything in one go so have a think about key issues that concern you and start with these. We can help categorise the work and discuss the challenges with you. 

How do I get our managers and leadership to understand the importance of EDEI in our organisation?

The first step is helping them to understand why EDEI is critical to their business. Internal and external data and research can make a really powerful argument – if you can tie this back to real issues within the organisation it can bring everything to life. ODISEE can help with this and bring education and awareness to the organisation through bespoke training.

The Equality and Human Rights commission states -

Human rights are the basic rights and freedoms that belong to every person in the world, from birth until death. 

They apply regardless of where you are from, what you believe or how you choose to live your life.

They can never be taken away, although they can sometimes be restricted – for example if a person breaks the law, or in the interests of national security.

These basic rights are based on shared values like dignity, fairness, equality, respect and independence. 

These values are defined and protected by law.

In Britain our human rights are protected by the Human Rights Act 1998.

‍https://equalityhumanrights.com/

Creating a diverse working environment does not necessarily mean you will achieve an inclusive organisation. They are connected but both require specific and sustainable actions. Promoting diversity brings into the organisation a rich mix of different cultures and backgrounds with different experiences and thinking. Inclusion is how people are treated and integrated into the organisation and a high value is placed on these different perspectives and contributions ensuring that everyone has a voice and a sense of belonging.

Equality, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – at ODISEE we believe that all four of these areas are key to organisational success.

Equality is about ensuring every individual has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents. 

It is also the belief that no one should have poorer life chances because of the way the were born, where they come from, what they believe or whether they have a disability. 

Equality recognises that historically certain groups with protected characteristics such as race, disability, sex and sexual orientation have experienced discrimination. 

Source: Equality and Human Rights Commission

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/

https://www.gov.uk/

Equity is the quality of being fair and reasonable in a way that gives equal treatment to everyone

Source: Collins English Dictionary

When considering how these two elements work together in an organisation you need think about equality in terms of equal opportunities and fairness for all employees and for candidates in the recruitment and selection process. With equity this is about considering individual needs when ensuring opportunities are fairly accessed by all.   

The Human Resources team has a key role in ensuring that EDEI is understood and actively embedded into their organisation. There is a high cost to the business and HR in terms of reputation, time and financial implications if EDEI is not appropriately considered and implemented. But, HR teams tend to under resourced and  are often focused on day to day operational activities. How do they balance a long “to do” list with the need to bring robust and sustainable EDEI in their organisation? It is a big task with everything to consider from leadership engagement to redesigning policies and procedures. Often the best answer is to look for expert advice and practical support – ODISEE and our expert partners can help. 

Accessing data in key areas such as workforce demographics and recruitment and selection enables an organisation to use the insights to build targeted attraction strategies and create a wider, more diverse talent pool. It also identifies where there are underrepresented groups in the organisation’s structure, for example at management or C-suite levels. This insight can be used to build development and career progression programmes to address these gaps.