Diversity & Inclusion: Has it hit the buffers? | by Trisha Husbands

What does diversity mean?

“In a workplace, diversity means that the workforce is made up of employees with different races, gender identities, career backgrounds, skills, and life experiences. Diversity is proven to make communities and workplaces more productive, tolerant, and welcoming.”(What Is Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace? | Built In)

As a woman from a Global Majority background who has been active in making the workplace more inclusive and diverse, I wanted to take a step and sense check how far we have come and where we need to go next. While there is no doubt we have made fantastic strides in addressing diversity and inclusion in the workplace, I am sensing a slimming-down of how much resources organizations are really investing in D&I. This blog seeks to understand and scratch the surface to see if Diversity and Inclusion has hit the buffers

How far have we come?

A few years ago there was a groundswell from businesses and organizations, (everything from retail to banks), proudly promoting how diverse and inclusive their workplace is. Go onto most company websites and you will see a dedicated page on what their policy is when it comes to D&I or EDI (Equity - formerly equality, diversity, and inclusion, as its newest iteration) yet you look at most organizations and who is part of ELT and it doesn't mirror what is being said.

• According to the McGregor-Smith Review (2017), the employment rate in the UK for black and ethnic minority groups is only 62.8% compared with an employment rate for White workers of 75.6%. This gap is even worse for some ethnic minority groups; for instance, the employment rate for those from a Pakistani or Bangladeshi background is only 54.9%. 
• Overall, about 1 in 8 of the working-age population are from an ethnic minority background, yet these individuals make up only 10% of the workforce and hold only 6% of top management positions.  Parker Review (2016) of the ethnicity of UK boards found that only 85 of the 1,050 director positions in the FTSE 100 are held by directors of colour. Source:  Race inclusion in the workplace | CIPD

Most medium to large workplaces in the UK now have dedicated D&I teams who are tasked with making their organization reflect the wider population. Training and workshops are organized for staff to attend to understand what D&I is and what you can do both as individuals and people leaders to make your team and department more diverse and inclusive. Reverse mentoring is where an employee from and minority background mentors a manager or someone in a leadership role.  This became much more pronounced after the murder of George Floyd which was a turning point for the world.

When I compare the workplace now to when I first started to work over 25 years ago, huge advances have been made. D&I teams did not exist, there was no unconscious bias training or a space for people from diverse backgrounds to speak about their experiences without feeling it would hinder their future careers. 

I decided to take a look and see where we are now and see if the initial drive is still going strong or are companies and their employee’s suffering from D&I fatigue. I ask this question because speaking to friends and family about what's happening in their workplace, the general consensus is that they are continuing to drive D&I but staff are not engaging as much and the conversions, training, and workshops are becoming less frequent. What could be the cause of this? There have been reports that for some organizations, it has slid down the list of priorities choosing to focus their resources elsewhere and even dismantle their D&I teams. There is also frustration at the lack of progress or pace from leaders which lends to people feeling discouraged and disheartened. Are people who are not part of a minority background feeling these same frustrations or are they experiencing something different?

What still needs to be done?

Changing a company culture cannot be achieved overnight and has to be embedded into the ethos of that organization. A clear strategy comes from the top and is filtered down throughout so everyone who is part of that organization or joins it knows D&I is taken seriously and is an integral part of their business. Let’s continue to hold organizations to account if you feel that your place of work is not holding up their D&I end of the bargain and make sure all our workplaces are diverse and inclusive.

Trisha Husbands is a Project Management Alum based in London and is writing for the Apprentice Lens as part of the Blogging Team. Here's more about her:

"I've always had a lot to say and thought it's about time I put my ideas down and write about things that matter to me. Lots of things inspire me and I'm passionate about lots of things. Writing these blogs will be a great way to hone my writing skills and challenge myself."