How to make diversity and inclusion feel authentic (and why it often doesn’t)

People want to know that their identity matters and is respected in the workplace. And making sure every employee feels like their range of intersectional identities are valid and included is the key to a successful DE&I strategy.

There are lots of different factors that make up who we are as an individual, including:

• Race
• Sexual orientation
• Age
• Religion
• Gender
• Medical conditions

As an employer, you need to consider all these things if you want your employees to feel safe and comfortable bringing their whole selves to work.

And action will always speak louder than words. An effective DE&I policy goes further than what is written on paper. It ingrains itself in the culture of an organisation, bringing huge benefits for both customers and employees.

At Virgin Media O₂, for example, we decided to include pronouns in our email signature. A seemingly small gesture, perhaps, but for those it affects it means a lot.

We even took this one step further by allowing our public-facing staff to display their pronouns on their name badges, helping our customers benefit from our inclusive culture too.

Little changes like these add up and can have an enormous impact on your overall DE&I achievements. And I’m proud to say we can now call ourselves a Stonewall top 100 employer.

The first step is understanding the range of diverse voices you already have in your organisation. They can help you shape your DE&I policy based on real-life insight from the people it most affects.

Representation is important. It allows you to have an honest and balanced conversation about your organisation’s current culture and tackle any challenges head-on.

If you feel any intersectional identities are underrepresented, there are organisations out there that can work with you to make sure you’re not unintentionally excluding those identities as you shape your DE&I policy.

Here are a few I would recommend:

• LGBT Foundation
• Scope
• Race Equality Foundation

It’s important for those at the top to lead by example, but changing culture isn’t only senior management’s job. Everyone in your organisation is equally accountable for building and maintaining a culture of inclusivity.

People managers, however, do have extra responsibility when it comes to creating equal opportunities in the recruitment and retention process. They need to make sure the whole of society is represented when it comes to new hires.

One way to help achieve that is by making sure you have a diverse interviewing panel. A lot of people would welcome sitting across an interview table from people they can relate to, whether that’s down to race, gender identity, disability, age or anything else.

Successful candidates will also likely remember this positive recruitment experience, knowing they can bring their authentic selves to work from their very first day.

Changing the culture to speak openly is always going to have its challenges. There may be this sense of: ‘This is my employer, someone who is potentially responsible for my future promotions, can I really say this?’

Ultimately it’s on senior management to understand how to respond to those communications.

As a leader it can be quite hard not to get defensive or trying to offer an instant fix. Instead, it’s important to focus on authentic leadership and being open and honest to feedback.

Creating situations where employees can be heard is a powerful indicator to others that you are serious about inclusion and diversity.

Three simple things:

1. Engage
2. Listen
3. Act

Whether you’re a small local business or an enormous global organisation, these three little words are the key to making a massive difference on DE&I.