Awarding Bodies: Insights from the Experts – Candace Miller

What are some small steps that have a big impact on an organisation’s inclusivity strategy?

There are four main steps organisations can take to create a welcoming and inclusive culture.

Firstly, think about the language and imagery you use in your recruitment drive.

There are some terms that can inadvertently put people off from applying for a role. Words like ‘active’ or energetic’ might hint that you are looking for younger applicants. Studies have shown that words such as ‘competitive’, ‘leader’ and ‘confident’ can be more appealing to males, while ‘responsible’, ‘dependable’ and ‘committed’ can appeal more towards women.

There is evidence to suggest gendered use of language is a root cause of the gender pay gap, as we see more male bias in leadership and senior positions, while female-coding is focused more on advertising for support roles.

Neutral language expands the talent pool you appeal to and show that you are open to people bringing their whole selves to work. There are online language checkers that you can use to make this easy and quick.

Why would you inadvertently block these people from coming forward when they may be the very individuals that your organisation will benefit from?

Second, be authentic.

Many organisations make public statements about inclusivity, but you must be able to show how you act on it as well. If you look like you’re jumping on the bandwagon without taking real action, it will have the opposite effect to what you are trying to achieve.

Listen to your staff and stakeholders and develop a vision of how you want your organisation to be perceived then build a roadmap of where you want to go.

So, you have listened to the stakeholders of your organisation and have lots of great ideas about how you can be more inclusive – the next stage is building a roadmap that outlines how you will get there.

Set goals and deadlines and continuously collect data as you go. Be realistic with your timelines and have a clear picture of how reaching smaller milestones will get you closer to your overarching goals.

Use your own skills, do what you do elsewhere in the business.

Finally, recognise and celebrate the various festivals and holidays that your workforce and customers recognise

Do you have a staff newsletter or some sort of regular communication that can include the different celebrations that your staff enjoy?

That doesn’t only help your existing staff to feel like they belong, but it might also help you to attract new staff who can see that you support a culture that recognises a genuinely wide range of interests and experiences.