Jill Miller, senior diversity and inclusion policy adviser at the CIPD, the professional body for HR and people development, says:
“While there’s been greater attention and gradual progress on inclusion and diversity in recent years, there’s clearly still a long way to go to create truly inclusive and fair workplaces for all. We need to see real commitment from employers to understand and address the barriers particular groups face in access to work and to progression.
“Effective action to improve equality, diversity, and inclusion requires a systemic approach across the organisation. We urge employers to be proactive and have a clear strategy or action plan in place, tailored to the organisation and workforce needs. There are simple actions that employers can take to improve inclusion, regardless of organisation size or budget. For instance, a focus on inclusive recruitment, people management, development and leadership behaviour can really help create fairer workplaces with equality of opportunity.”
Ian Nicholas, Global Managing Director at Reed, says:
“It’s clear that there’s a lot of work still to be done by businesses throughout the UK when it comes to inclusion and diversity. In the current jobs market, with many organisations crying out for talent, they can’t afford not to be as inclusive as possible and champion talent from all backgrounds.
“While this has been a hot topic for businesses, that hasn’t translated to a formal strategy for almost half. This really needs to be addressed. Until organisations start building inclusion and diversity into strategies and truly incorporating inclusive cultures, we won’t see the level of progress that’s needed. Business leaders need to embrace inclusion and diversity, and measure it more, using data to inform change throughout the organisation, identifying areas where more can be done. Without change you could see your business lagging behind, risking damaging your reputation among new and existing employees and customers.”
The Inclusion at Work 2022 report provides seven key recommendations for employers on how to create diverse and inclusive workplaces, including building a strategy or action plan, taking a long-term and data-driven approach, and enabling and giving responsibility to managers and leaders to champion inclusion and diversity.