Setting Up Your EDI Program For Success

The point of this initial set-up exercise is to arrive at a vision that is extremely well thought through, and which you are able to communicate to a wide audience, succinctly and often.

If you don’t already have a vision for EDI (Equality, Diversity and Inclusion), go through the rest of the process in this playbook then come back here to point 1 and and create a vision last - to wrap around all of your outcomes.

Make your vision bright, ambitious and engaging. Paint a vivid picture of where you want to get to in the future. This can involve plenty of detail for those who are interested, but it’s important to boil it down to a succinct sentence or two for regular, succinct communication.

A vision is long-term, it doesn’t change every year, that’s why it’s crucial that executive sponsors and key Change Makers in your organisation are highly engaged and involved in this stage of the process. If they feel it’s their vision too, they are much more likely to champion it.

A good vision is inspiring and makes people want to get out of bed in the morning and come to work and help you achieve it. A great vision will make people want to pay to help you achieve it (your customers).

Your EDI vision can (and should) be incorporated into (or even better, be) your overall company vision. If you are serious about leveling up the playing field then Equality, Diversity and Inclusion needs to run through absolutely everything you do, say and think as an organisation.

It can be short: “listening to everyone, everyone included”

Or long “Changing the face of outdoor advertising in the UK and setting the benchmark for diversity and inclusion in global media.”

Whatever your vision, it needs to be something your employees (and customers) feel very excited about achieving.

Really great visions can sometimes feel a little out of reach or overambitious, if you’re teetering on the edge of “is this too much?” then think to yourself, If we really prioritised this, could we achieve it one day? If we prioritise this, will our core business work better? Can we weave this all through our core business strategy and operations - do the two sit well together? Can they become part of a whole strategy? If the answers are “yes” you have your vision. Your next step is to make your employees think it was all their idea.

Nicholas, Investor and Founder.

When you get a sec, listen to us in conversation with Debbie Forster MBE, co-founder of the Tech Talent Charter and get her insights on organisations who are doing Diversity, Equality and Inclusion well.

2. Roles & Structure

ROLES

Identify your CHAMPIONS. Champions are influential leaders and decision makers within an organisation, who act as sponsors of the work being done. Business champions need to hold a strong, clear, inspiring vision of what the future state looks like - and be able to communicate this regularly and succinctly across the organisation - and beyond. Champions must believe in the outcomes they're working towards and have the influence and authority to clear blockers from the paths of individuals and groups as they go about creating change.

Identify your CHANGE MAKERS. Change makers are those not at executive (most senior) level who want to help make change happen within an organisation. Change makers are comfortable and experienced working with people in a learning environment and a state of change. They are passionate about the outcomes the organisation wants to achieve. Change Makers also know that managing people through change requires communication, patience, trial and error, and empathy. The mindset and behavioural changes necessary to close gaps and even out imbalance, isn’t going to be achieved through policy and procedure alone. Humans are complex beings that require individual attention. The best change-makers are those who are perceptive and can flex their approach, depending on context and their audience.

It's a good idea to ask for volunteer change makers and onboard them properly.

STRUCTURE

We recommend running your diversity and inclusion efforts an annual programme of work. Choose one or a few focus areas for the year and create a core team of champions and change makers. For agility and decision making, the core team should consist of no more than 8 people.

Wider teams and working groups are great, and can be numerous and varied, however each team or working group should have one or two representatives who can report ideas, outcomes, blockers and updates back to the core team.

Decide on a cadence for meetings, attendees and an agenda. Decide on a cadence for updates, both at leadership level and at an organisational level. It's also a good idea to think up front about whether you plan to communicate anything externally. Think about who will decide this and what might be communicated, when.

TOOLS

The Powered By Diversity Set-up for Success Template

READ

4 Things Successful Change Leaders Do Well by Keryth Mansfield, HR Director, Powered By Diversity Collective Member

5 Ways Leaders Strengthen And Prepare Their Teams For Change Forbes

Best Practices in Change Management Prosci

3. Goals & Outcomes

Setting goals and outcomes is an extremely important step in effecting change.

Goals and outcomes are not the same thing. If a goal is what you are going to achieve, an outcome is why.

If your goal is to clear out the attic, the outcomes might be being able to get a loft conversion, to use it for more effective storage or be able to repair the roof insulation.

If a goal is to lose weight, the outcomes might be to feel more confident, to have more energy or to fit back into a favourite outfit for an occasion.

If a goal is where you want to get to, an outcome is the result of getting there. Outcomes are how things will change once the goal is achieved, what it feels like, looks like and sounds like. Outcomes are what you hope to achieve by accomplishing the goal.

Outcomes can also let you know when you are starting to reach your goals. If you clear part of the attic and are able to move all the boxes from the garage up there, you have already begun to see some of your desired outcomes from your efforts. If you lose half the weight, you might not yet have achieved your goal, but you might already be starting to feel more confident and have more energy.

ACTIVITY

Outcomes can easy to write by starting with goals: Simply write down a goal and ask “why?” to get an outcome.

Goal: Achieve better gender balance in our organisation. Why? So we can better relate to our customers.

Goal: Create a more inclusive culture. Why? To increase our employee engagement.

Goal: Increase diversity. Why? To bring in new perspectives.

Each “Why?” above is an outcome.

Outcomes need to be specific and measurable and to get there, try asking “why?” 4 more times.

Goal: Achieve better gender balance in our organisation.

Why? So we can better relate to our customers

Why? So we can create products and services they want

Why? So we can increase sales

Why? So that we can become more profitable

Why? So that we can improve the financial health of our organisation

Goal: Create a more inclusive culture

Why? To increase employee engagement

Why? So our employees are more productive at work

Why? So our business can become more productive as a whole

Why? So that we can achieve our operating goals for the year

Why? So that we can set more ambitious goals in the future

Goal: Increase diversity

Why? To bring in new perspectives

Why? So we can become more innovative

Why? So we can become more competitive

Why? So we can win business (from our competition)

Why? So that we can grow our market share

4. Objectives & Targets

Objectives relate directly to your goals. If Goals are the ‘what’ and outcomes and are ‘why’, objectives are ‘how’.

The “How” you will reach your goals is your plan for the year; your annual Equality, Diversity and Inclusion strategy, in the form of objectives.

Remember that objectives, especially target-based objectives, drive behaviour - make sure it's the right kind of behaviour.

Think carefully about whether or not the behaviour itself is your objective, rather than a number or percentage target.

Announcing a target of 50% female at leadership level by year x, for example, will drive certain desirable and undesirable behaviours across an entire organisation. Think through the behaviours your targets will drive, and consider how you might get the more of the desirable behaviours with a less of the undesirable. A target of 50/50 gender split at interview stage for example, might drive similar desirable behaviours, with less of the undesirable.

A popular initial objective businesses choose is to "Educate and increase awareness" of a particular topic (eg privilege) across the organisation. This is easily measurable by surveys asking questions around the topic such as "do you feel you have a good understanding of privilege?" "What privileges do you benefit from?" "What are the benefits of becoming aware of our privilege?", "Have you formed a plan of action to code around your own privilege?". You can quickly see how impactful the work has been, by going deeper and deeper when measuring outcomes. The Powered By Diversity Employee Assessment provides many data points like these which can help you to track targets.

Achieving qualitative (feeling/behavioural/attitude or understanding) targets can be just as beneficial as quantitative targets - and qualitative targets are still measurable (especially with the Powered By Diversity Employee Assessment).

When all the reports about Equality and Diversity centre around figures, it can be tempting to set over-ambitious quantitative targets, but not everything has to be so quantitative that human subjectiveness is removed entirely. In fact, removing the human element is counterproductive. Our goal at Powered By Diversity is to change mindsets and behaviours and that’s an entirely human process.

Great objectives begin at executive level and cascade through the entire organisation, filtering into every employee in every department at every level. Some can be similar across most departments (like diverse interview panels, 50/50 interview candidate shortlists, Privilege Training), but some can be more targeted to the departments that can directly achieve them (e.g. marketing might have a specific objective such as “Only Stereotype-smashing imagery allowed in our marketing materials”) and some objectives can play on departmental strengths and skillsets for example, the Technology Department might take in a number of female interns, do some STEM outreach in schools and universities or send volunteers to speak at women in technology events.

5. Strategy

A strategy is simply a plan. Your long-term strategy is to achieve your overall vision, your short term strategy is to achieve your goals and outcomes for the year, using your objectives as the stepping stones. A great strategy tells your audience exactly how, and with whom, you plan to achieve your goals.

Equality, Diversity and Inclusion is a huge topic and achieving it is a journey. With an overall vision so big, losing employee engagement is a significant risk unless they have a clear sight of the path they’re invited to take to take to get there.

With a firm eye on the bigger picture, your organisation needs to get into the mindset of asking ”what’s achievable now/this week/this month/this year”. Time-bound outcomes force the organisation to think in small steps.

Time boxing your outcomes in the form of a strategy - or plan - for the year will enable the organisation to show regular progress, which is more likely to keep the wider business engaged with and contributing to it.

Make sure your initial outcomes are achievable within a year and set objectives that can be cascaded and measurably met by all areas and levels of the organisation. Plan milestones throughout the year. This approach will enable you to track and show progress, and keep the whole organisation engaged and contributing.

6. Understanding Change & Vulnerability

Change

The Zone of Terror is what we, at Powered By Diversity call the "conscious incompetence" stage of learning something new, coupled with the Frustration/ Depression/ Experimentation pendulum zone of the change curve.

People who find themselves in the The Zone of Terror generally feel extremely vulnerable and exposed. They need direction and to be made to feel safe and supported. Without safety, support and direction, they could easily revert back to denial and anger - and disengage from the process.

Not everyone in an organisation will be in the The Zone of Terror, but Identifying individuals entering the Zone is easy. They are the ones showing up but staying quiet, they might be trying a few things, they might be asking for help, they might not be saying anything but they are there, listening. It’s those people taking their first few tremulous steps into EDI that your change makers need to seek out and support. The aim here should be to support them through the process, and turn them into evangelists. This cohort makes for ideal fellow change makers as they will generally score extremely highly on empathy with people on the journey, having just gone through it themselves.

Vulnerability

Vulnerability is the state of being exposed to the possibility of being attacked or harmed, either physically or emotionally. Vulnerability can be a horrifying feeling, which is why many people choose to layer protection over themselves, to avoid having to feel it.

A key job of your change makers is to support people within the organisation through periods of vulnerability. Your support will be required at all levels of the organisation, from leadership outwards and understanding vulnerability, and being able to empathise with and support the vulnerable, is key.

"One thing vulnerable people need is empathy. Even mild vulnerability can feel extremely distressing. Think of the last time you were vulnerable, maybe you arrived at a function completely over, or under dressed, made a joke that nobody laughed at, got someone’s name wrong.

We have all felt that feeling - fishbowl vision, your blood runs cold, you're flooded with adrenaline - all you want to do is run away and hide and never feel that way again.

This is the feeling most people are going to go through, in order to adopt the change in mindset that's required to close EDI gaps. We can’t allow these vulnerable people to run away. Getting them through this stage is crucial if we are to truly effect change."

Keryth Mansfield, HR Director, Powered By Diversity Collective Member

7. Understanding change avoidance

Understanding and recognising the difference between having exited the The Zone of Terror successfully, and avoiding it entirely, is also important. Trying to get to a changed state, whilst bypassing the uncomfortable parts is what many people try to do out of instinct.

People avoiding change might enthusiastically talk about just one or two highly popular topics because they’re “safe” and they don’t have to risk offending or inciting anyone with them.

The idea of asking someone about something they want (or need) to know, may openly scare them because of the possible offence they may cause in asking.

They may shy away from (or appear dismissive of) topics outside their comfort zone so that they don’t have to ask for help to understand something new, and risk offending someone or looking ignorant.

Their secret motto would be something along the lines of “don’t be controversial”. They are unlikely to stick their head above the parapet, and when debate starts, they may back right down, become extremely defensive, angry, or try to shut down the debate entirely - without putting across a constructive point of view.

These are the people you and your organisation’s change makers need to seek out and tip gently over the precipice into vulnerability. They are not there yet, but they soon could be with the right support.

It is vital that each and every leader in your organisation travels through the change curve and gets educated on the topics you are about to embark upon tacking.

We named The Zone of Terror that way for a reason, because it can feel that way at first.

You are learning about things you may have formerly ignored (and may even have been part of the problem on) - it’s time to let go of all that, we are all learning at different paces. Your past behaviours, beliefs and attitudes are just that; own them, acknowledge them, but they are now to become part of your history, not your present, or future.

That feeling of terror (and/or anger, defensiveness, vulnerability, feeling “under attack:”) doesn’t feel good at the time, but as this process goes - it is good. It means you are learning and changing.

This is just the beginning of a journey.

8. Curriculum

The conscious incompetence stage of learning requires people to know what they are about to learn.

Being open with the organisation about the learning schedule for the year is a great idea. People can undertake self-directed learning, volunteer to be a change maker in a particular area they feel very confident in, or join a focus group in areas they feel drawn to.

If your curriculum consists of only one or two areas per year, it's a great idea to focus your annual calendar around the topics, and make events themed around them too. International Women’s Day, Black History Month, Pride Month and Religious festivals are all great opportunities for advancing an organisation’s understanding of a topic through many different intersectional lenses, in more informal and engaging ways.

Be careful not to only focus on Diversity and Inclusion around calendared events e.g. 'doing gender equality' on International Womens Day, or 'doing Anti-Racism' during Black History Month. Equality, diversity and inclusion is an every-day task. Spending a day, a week or a month a year focussing on these important topics won’t have a lasting effect and it may look suspiciously like 'tick-boxing' to your employees - and your customers.

ACTIVITY

Aiming for intersectionality

Inclusion through your individual lens might seem straightforward, but what about when you look at it through the lens of your Black, LGBTQ+ and Disabled communities?

• What does your Powered By Diversity Employee Assessment tell you about your LGBTQ+ employee inclusion?

• What issues do they encounter?

• What about Transgender or non-binary individuals?

• The same goes for race - how do your inclusion results look for Black women and men?

• How do they look for Asian women and men?

• Have you looked at how disabled individuals view your organisation?

• What about those from other religions?

• How do the young, the older and the parents in your workforce feel?

Lean on The Collective

The Powered By Diversity Collective is a group of over 400 subject matter experts including Coaches, Trainers, Diversity & Inclusion Consultants and Facilitators.

Contact us for more information or to find a member with a specific skill-set to help you.

9. Narrative

A powerful narrative is crucial to the success of your EDI program.

Firstly, a strong narrative will engage your employees (and customers if that is what you decide to do).

Secondly, a well thought through narrative will arm your representatives with the confidence to talk about your EDI mission and outcomes confidently.

When preparing your narrative, have your big goals in mind. It’s important to build three pillars into your narrative:

• How your work will benefit the organisation as a whole

• How it will benefit wider society

• How it will benefit the individuals in your organisation

ACTIVITY

Once your narrative is complete, and before going public (whether internally or externally), look at your narrative through a very diverse lens. If your team is not yet as diverse as it could be, engage a diverse team to look over it. The Powered By Diversity Community can help with this. Contact us for more information.

• How does it look to cis women?

• How does it look to cis men?

• How does it look to trans and non binary genders?

• How does it look to parents and non parents?

• How does it look through the lens of anti-racism?

• How does it look through the lens of the LGBTQ+ community?

• How does it look to disabled and neurodivergent individuals?

• What about individuals from different religions, how does it look to them?

• How does it look to people from different socio-economic backgrounds?

• How does it look to different age groups and generations?

Prepare to have your narrative thoroughly challenged. Think carefully through your responses to challenges and prepare for how you will respond to them:

You might get accused of tokenism, positive discrimination, tick boxing, bandwagoning - or all of them. If you are feeling sensitive or worried about this head straight to This free Playbook and work through the exercises - this will help greatly.

Education and personal introspection is key to being able to respond appropriately. Seek to understand the history of the fight for equity for every group, and get to a place where you are able to strongly empathise with the groups who have faced different levels and types of inequality for so long.

Taking an empathic rather than a defensive approach is absolutely crucial.

If, as a leadership team you are not yet able to do that, it’s better to stay in the education phase until you are.

10. Attitude

Attitude is everything when working with change, especially if you are leading a change that you’re not yet an expert in.

We recommend taking a “learn together” approach:

• Facilitate rather than teach

• Seek to understand rather than defend

• Ask rather than tell.

Educate yourself as much as you can first, but don't feel that you need to be a published expert before you begin to draw in others.

Get comfortable with expressing your own vulnerabilities and knowledge gaps to your fellow champions and change makers.

Be ready to express your personal viewpoint on topics, and join in the debate where appropriate. As long as it's an educated standpoint and you can explain it and your reasons for it, you're perfectly valid in having your own standpoint on a topic.

Discussion and debate will help you to firm up your stance on a topic, and will also help others to firm up theirs. Even after you have been educated and have formed your own point of view on a topic, be open to change and further learning.

Above all, don't be afraid of messing up; adopt a pioneering mindset and be resilient in the face of failure.