The Importance of an Inclusion and Diversity Strategy For Employers
Running or managing a business can feel a little strategy-heavy. There’s a strategy for sales, growth, marketing, recruitment, retention - you name it, and there’s a strategy for it.
But one strategy you should never overlook or underestimate is your inclusion and diversity strategy.
Promoting equality and diversity in the workplace isn’t just ethically, morally and legally the right thing to do. It generates significant business benefits that contribute to substantial growth.
And we’re here to explain why.
Recap: what is an inclusion and diversity strategy?
An inclusion and diversity strategy encourages and supports a diverse workforce by valuing every employee as an individual. It spans from the board level right down to interns and reaches across from candidate attraction to retirement.
That’s the official wording, but what does this look like in practice?
Well, it’s about attracting a range of talented candidates to your vacancies, regardless of their background. It’s about welcoming new employees, irrespective of their physical abilities. It’s about paying employees equally, irrespective of their sex. It’s about providing everyone with the opportunity to succeed and grow, regardless of inherent or acquired diversity.
In our line of business specifically, it’s about supporting you to secure exceptional diverse talent for your company, whether that be from an ex-forces talent pool or other areas of our diverse community of talent.
Relevant reading: What Can a Diverse/Ex-Forces Workforce Bring to Your Business
Why is an inclusion and diversity strategy important for employers?
It’s against the law to treat someone less favourably than someone else because of a personal characteristic such as religion, sex, or disability.
But the importance of an inclusion and diversity strategy for employers goes far beyond staying in line with the law; it gives you a competitive advantage.
A wider talent pool to fish from
An inclusion and diversity strategy appeals to candidates of all backgrounds, giving you access to more talent.
A more attractive employer brand
A commitment to diversity and inclusion makes you more attractive to candidates. Two-thirds of active and passive candidates rate diversity as an essential factor when considering employers and job offers.
Better employee retention
A culture supporting different demographic groups directly links to better employee retention and engagement, meaning you’ll spend less time and money replacing talent.
Higher overall performance
Research by ACAS shows diverse teams perform better and solve problems faster. They also make decisions 60% quicker, increasing efficiencies too.
Greater innovation
A workforce full of people with unique skills, backgrounds and experiences, fuels innovation with different ideas, perspectives and thinking.
A better understanding of your customers
Your customers are a diverse bunch of people. Therefore, it makes sense that a diverse workforce helps your business better understand those it seeks to serve.
Return on equity
Companies with a diverse executive board have a 95% higher return on equity than non-diverse boards.
In short, a diversity and inclusion strategy is good business sense.
How to drive inclusion and diversity in the workplace
The reality is that if you don’t implement change now, your business won’t succeed in the future. Inclusion and diversity are becoming increasingly important to candidates, employees, customers, clients, and the public, and soon they’ll start voting with their feet.
We’re going to delve into the details of improving your inclusion and diversity strategy in our next recruitment blog. But for now, concentrate on:
The board: change starts at the top. You need executive buy-in before imparting your inclusion and diversity strategy across the rest of the business.
Culture: inclusion and diversity are for the long-term. Therefore, you must embody them into your business culture, including missions, values, policies, training, and benefits.
Recruitment: the best way to inject inclusivity and diversity into your business is by attracting and recruiting a diverse workforce. Work with a diversity-led recruitment agency to reach and attract the best people for the role, regardless of their background.
Success: be vocal about championing diversity, celebrating your wins, and being an employer of choice for everyone.
How to support employees with diverse needs and backgrounds
Perhaps your biggest worry isn’t driving diversity and inclusion, it’s supporting employees with diverse needs and backgrounds. And this is a topic often overlooked in guides on inclusion and diversity.
To support a diverse workforce, you must make each stage of the employee journey inclusive. This covers:
Recruitment
Ensuring application forms and job descriptions are accessible and readable by all.
Focusing job descriptions on essential criteria, rather than desired.
Encouraging applications from candidates with transferable skills (e.g. ex-forces).
Making reasonable adjustments for interview attendance (e.g. accessible rooms and evening appointments).
Job offer
Offering employees equal benefits, such as pay and pension contributions.
Providing supportive policies such as flexible working and extended parental leave.
Offering adjustments where needed, e.g. assistive technology or different working hours.
Getting a recruitment consultancy to verify your job offers and benchmark your benefits.
Employment
Offering learning and development opportunities to all employees.
Providing everyone with the opportunity to advance their career within the organisation.
Asking employees for feedback on diversity and inclusion.
Having a representative employee focus group.