We are proud to be celebrating our 10 year anniversary, and to mark the occasion we hosted a number of round table dinners to discuss equity, diversity and inclusion journeys, and how these can, and should, change in the future.
For each dinner we provided our guests with a “discussion menu” – a different topic to discuss over each course – which provoked some incredibly insightful conversations.
Here are some of the key takeaways (of many) from the evenings:
Readiness is crucial when investing in diverse talent; we need to recruit for difference, but only when the organisation or team is ready for it. Organisations need to invest in onboarding to ensure diverse talent is welcomed, provided with the right support so they can land on their feet, and ensure there is an inclusive environment and culture so they are retained long term.
“Equality” is a word of the past. We need to drop the term “equality” and adopt “equity”; equality assumes equal status, whereas equity readdresses the issues, tackles them head on, recognises that each person has different circumstances, and allocates the right resources needed to reach an equal outcome.
EDI must not be a tick box exercise; policies, procedures and training do not work in isolation. We need to move away from textbook models to tackle EDI; the only way we will see real change and success is by increasing accountability, changing cultural behaviours, and having leaders that champion, model and believe in the changes they are making.
It is importance to create space to have open, honest, and courageous conversations; there is power in creating personal connections and sharing stories so people can be curious, relate and be open to positive change.
EDI strategies and actions need to be more ambitious; there is a lack of aspiration, and we need to harness the energy and enthusiasm and reset the ambition, this is non-negotiable.
We need to move towards a world of love and justice; humanising our approach to EDI with kindness and empathy.
Thank you again to our EDI championing guests, Marcia Bluck, Sonya Trivedy, Agnes Fletcher, Ruth Davison, Rob Berkeley MBE, Stephen Burns, Bushra Baig-Daykin, Kate Husselbee, Dale Cox, Dr Sarah Hughes, Paul Farmer, Arvinda Gohil OBE, Tracie Jolliff, Roger Kline, Jo Larbie, Chris Sherwood, James Watson-O'Neill and Hilary Sears, for attending and providing your open, honest and very important contributions. And of course, a big thank you to Rob McDavitt for chairing the evenings!
