At 3In Consulting, we realise that diversity and inclusion is key to business success, encouraging greater creativity, competitive advantage and growth.
We believe a Diversity and Inclusion strategy should be part of a business’s People strategy, and that People strategy should be aligned to the organisational strategic goals. This is a fundamental part of any business plan enabling an organisation to grow and improve. A Diversity and Inclusion strategy that is not aligned to the Organisational goals will result in conflict and likely fail.
Having that Diversity and Inclusion strategy provides the direction and a springboard to identify initiatives and build a plan. We recommend aligning a top down leadership high-level plan with a bottom up detailed plan to enable delivery of quality initiatives that meet the organisational goals.
Building this strategic plan is the foundation of the diversity and inclusion journey. Having a plan, that is communicated to employees and other interested parties, ensures that all stakeholders understand and can relate to the initiatives and changes implemented.
It is crucial that diversity initiatives are led by executive sponsors and programmes are proactively managed, tracked and measured to nurture success and to accelerate inclusive maturity.
Strategic Planning is achieved through a two-stage approach;
(1) Defining the strategy and (2) developing the plan that will deliver these goals.
This starts with a review of any existing diversity and inclusion strategy or facilitate development of a strategy where one is not in place. When creating this strategy, it is important to reflect on the organisation’s overall business goals and objectives as well as the business benefits.
Delivering a programme of initiatives for a diversity and inclusion strategy is a critical imperative for organisations.
Achieving success to deliver benefits and successful outcomes from a diversity and inclusion programme requires careful management of a set of initiatives and then continuous improvement activities. Diversity programmes are a cultural initiative, part of the DNA of the business, and that needs both leaders and employees engaged and participating. It should be a pragmatic well planned programme of activity capitalising on the resources available and managed as an enterprise change.
In developing a programme there should be a plan for delivery and implementation using standard agile project management techniques and the right size governance for the organisation. There also needs to be status reporting to the sponsor, executives and all stakeholders. Employees and subject matter experts should be engaged to ensure delivery in agreed timescales and budget.
It is vital to identify both programme and diversity key performance indicators (KPIs) to ensure that not only does the programme deliver, but that the strategic goals have been accomplished.
Your organisation can manage the programme of initiatives on its own or we can do this for you, but it is important to embedded this across the enterprise.
At 3In Consulting we believe that ownership and championing of diversity, and any change programmes implemented, should not reside within the HR department but within the business itself. A business that understands the benefits of diversity and inclusion will reap significant rewards.