Addison Barnett
Director of Impact, Inclusive Employers
Claire Williams
Non-Executive Director, Inclusive Employers
An inclusive culture within a company, large or small, is making an impact on the way companies attract and retain employees.
With the Government preparing to make legislative changes around working policies, now is the time for all businesses to build the foundations to start an inclusive journey or strengthen existing policies.
Measuring inclusion impact
According to Inclusive Employers, a leading, 450-strong membership organisation for employers committed to prioritising inclusion in the workplace and the founders of National Inclusion Week (NIW), impact definitely matters.
Addison Barnett, Director of Impact, says: “We wanted to make Impact Matters the theme of this year’s NIW (beginning September 23rd) to raise awareness that inclusion is business critical. You need to measure it and gather data that will really scrutinise the way you are doing things.
“It’s the only way you are going to make a real shift in your culture: if you are learning from what your data is telling you. We know that there are big gaps in impact data for many organisations out there.”
If you can demonstrate what you are
doing, it’s a huge attraction for people
who want to be treated as individuals.
Areas of focus
Inclusive Employers has pulled out three key areas that businesses, large and small, should be focusing on now with those changes afoot:
The first is increased regulation and reporting requirements, which will see evermore scrutiny of employers’ data and reporting methods; several changes to the law including a Race Equality Act, updating mental health legislation and better rights for workers; and finally, developing inclusive workplaces that are fit for the future, equipping businesses to attract and retain talent particularly now as AI and tech continue to change the way we work.
How to measure
To help businesses prepare, a tool called the Inclusive Employers Standard (IES) measures exactly where an organisation’s current policies and practices stand around inclusion. Developed in 2018, it comprises an online portal questionnaire and a facility to upload evidence, which is then externally assessed by a pool of external assessors. The end report provides a holistic view of an organisation, from policies and strategy to the whole employee lifecycle, even procurement and the supply chain.
The IES benchmarks a company against its industry sector and provides bespoke, action-focused feedback that you can use to progress your inclusion and diversity strategy and embed workplace inclusion. Claire Williams, Non-Executive Director and co-founder of the organisation, says: “If you can demonstrate what you are doing, it’s a huge attraction for people who want to be treated as individuals.”
