Incorporating D&I into your business

Corine Sheratte from Green Park’s Diversity, Inclusion, Culture and Ethics Consultancy shares her best practice tips for incorporating D&I into your business 

Corine suggests the first place to start when developing a D&I programme is your employees. Listen to your people. Every organisation is different so best practice and research should only be the beginning, trial your strategies, get feedback and most of all communicate.

Clear communication throughout the process explaining the D&I rationale is essential to build and maintain the confidence of employees. Diversity and inclusion is a journey not an end point so ensure metrics are created and what works for your organisation is measured to monitor progression through this journey.

The implementation of your D&I strategy should have a collective approach however the tone should be set and led from the top. Corine states that moving the onus from HR to senior leadership to then filter through the rest of the workforce has seen success in creating a shift in the leadership mindset from being committed to D&I to being accountable for it.

Our clients are now considering how to go beyond written policy and are starting to understand that what is perhaps more constructive than an established policy is its consistent application in the workplace.

One of the common mistakes seen in attempting to improve D&I is lack of diversity data within organisations. It is crucial in making informed decisions and establishing a baseline to set diversity targets.

All of these tips help incorporate D&I into your business which in turn helps to create a more supportive inclusive workplace which has many commercial benefits, now more than ever.

If companies want to attract and retain diverse talent, they will need to authentically reflect a diverse workforce and an inclusive working environment. As a result, those that embrace D&I are likely to see better than average profits.

Corine shares other benefits of investing in D&I in the full article in the Bridges and Commercial Magazine.