The case for improving Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in your business

There are some fascinating facts about equality, diversity, and inclusion (ED&I) in the workplace. For example, while the gap between female and male employment rates in the UK is the lowest since it was first recorded in 1971, as recently as 2018 FTSE 100 CEOs in 2018 were more likely to be called Dave or Steve than be female!

According to the CIPD, ED&I is “about creating working environments and cultures where every individual can feel safe and a sense of belonging and is empowered to achieve their full potential” (CIPD Factsheet, November 2022). But why should we spend precious time and scarce resources in pursuing this culture development as a priority?

There is the obvious Legal Case for this. Ever since the Magna Carta in 1215, there have been laws in the UK to further equality. In recent times, the 1965 Race Relations Act was the precursor to 45 years of equality and diversity legislation voted in by successive governments of all hues, leading up to the 2010 Equalities Act which identifies nine protected characteristics such as sex and race.

Then there is an overwhelmingly strong Business Case for becoming more equal, diverse and inclusive in your business. Corporations identified as more diverse and inclusive are 35% more likely to outperform their competitors (McKinsey), diverse teams are 87% better at making decisions (People Management), and inclusive companies get 2.3 times more cash flow per employee (Josh Bersin).

But probably the biggest driver for greater ED&I in your workplace is the Ethical Case. Why shouldn’t all employees in the 21st century feel valued and a sense of belonging in work? And why shouldn’t companies strive to shape their corner of the collective culture to be fairer and more reflective of their local populations? As the CIPD says, “creating shared value and distributing it to various stakeholders in its different forms is more important than driving business performance for financial stakeholders alone”. We run regular Discussion Forums for leading L&D practitioners and were delighted when a delegate said their retail company runs a ‘Joy at Work’ survey. We spend a third of our adult lives in work, so why shouldn’t the experience be joyful?

You can probably tell that we are passionate about helping our clients in the ED&I space. We are increasingly being asked to provide training programmes to improve workplace ED&I. This began with our highly successful Active Bystander course, which we’ve now rolled out to dozens of organisations across all sectors. Following this, a large European bank requested we roll-out psychological safety training. And now, forming a 3-part ED&I programme, we have created an Introduction to ED&I course.

Written by Steve Morley