Case Study A

What was the problem?

Organisation “ABC” wanted to move from tactical diversity and inclusion (D&I) interventions to an embedded and holistic diversity and inclusion strategy.

Why was it a challenge?

ABC is a sports organisation in the UK. In the past they had developed some fantastic D&I interventions. These interventions were highly regarded by the communities they supported and the employees in the organisation, however the challenge was that the interventions didn’t provide the basis for a long term sustainable strategy that everyone could understand, articulate and own. This left the workforce unsure of the organisation’s commitment to D&I and some employees feeling that more could be done to support them as individuals and within the wider organisational community. 

ABC operates in a sector where there is an increasing focus on the EDEI activities. Organisations are being challenged to demonstrate real diversity within the workforce and considered thought leadership in the development of the culture. 

3 Scope analysis of ONS (August 2017) Labour Force Survey.
Just half of disabled people are in work, compared to 80% of non-disabled people. 

How did they move forward?

ABC went back to the basics and started with understanding the demographics and representation within their workforce, their global customer base and local communities. This data identified that there were discrepancies between the demographics of the workforce, which was weighted towards certain characteristics and the demographics of their customers and local communities. 

Other analysis was undertaken in respect of the organisation’s policies and procedures in all departments not just related to HR – this enable them to identify where there maybe unintended bias built into the framework of the organisation. 

Analysing the data and identifying gaps started to form the narrative around where there was unintended bias, This bias was creating a culture which was fundamentally working against their vision of being diverse and inclusive.

The organisation then set about educating their leaders, managers and teams to understand the importance of diversity and inclusion. This was considered in a number of contexts – including legislative; organisational, reputational and cultural.

This education and training enabled everyone to acquire the same level of understanding and to raise awareness. Additional training was then provided to supplement this basic knowledge and to build internal expertise. 

From there the organisation set about establishing accountability across the management, leaders and their board. This was key to establishing collective ownership, building trust and developing the journey to inclusion. This is not an HR-centric activity. It requires those at the very top to understand the data and why it is important to challenge, address and change the culture. 

Each leader was tasked with developing an action plan which included time-bound deliverables and measures of success. This action plan identified the key gaps that they had identified with their teams in relation to their departmental strategy, and any policies and procedures. They identified risks which needed to be mitigated and opportunities to be explored. 

These action plans were rolled up into one master document covering the entire organisation. A working group was set up to look at all the plans and identify themes across the departments which could be supported by organisation-wide programmes of activity e.g. additional training, support in recruitment, creating talent pipelines, consistent brand assets, one consistent narrative around D&I, networks, surveys and so on. The organisation-wide programmes were added to departmental plans for delivery.

On a quarterly basis the senior managers update on progress against the action plan. New actions are added and completed actions are archived. The plan is available on the intranet and can be viewed and challenged by all employees. 

Also on a quarterly basis a wide and representative group of employees, senior management and leaders come together to discuss the plan and how to keep moving forward by developing and shaping organisational priorities and planning for the long term.

From this work they have collectively identified the overall aim of the EDEI strategy and have a number of objectives which they aspire to linked to their organisation’s values. This gives everyone a narrative to check back to. 

5 The power of parity: How advancing women’s equality can add $12 trillion to global growth, McKinsey Global Institute, September 2015
In 2015, MGI found that countries could add $12 trillion to GDP by 2025 by advancing women’s equality.

How has this impacted the organisation?

1. Awareness – everyone from board level to team member has been given the same information and data. Everyone has the ability to access the organisation’s delivery plan and their own work with an EDEI lens. 
2. Accountability – whilst senior managers are accountable for the action plans their teams are accountable for the delivery into day-to-day activities. Everyone is empowered to adapt outputs to meet the EDEI objectives. 
3. Trust – through transparency and open communication the organisation is creating a culture of trust where people come forward and share their experiences to enable further growth and change. 
4. Engagement – this highly visible work has improved engagement levels with better relationships being built, employees finding their work more meaningful and an improved working environment. 
5. Culture – changing the culture is a considerable undertaking but these structured and well delivered activities have improved employee relations; have called out poor practice; have improved productivity and have attracted new and diverse talent. 
   

ABC organisation is fictitious but the activities are real and the narrative is based on deliverables across a number of organisations.