Marsha Ramroop – Building People’s Equity, Diversity and Inclusion Executive Director
Did
you know that by making some behavioural changes, you could grow your business,
attract talent, work in harmony with people and the planet, and come up with
innovative solutions?
All
studies done on diversity and inclusion show that having a mix of people in an
organisation is not
enough to
create better outcomes; an inclusive culture is equally imperative. Having a
homogenous team rather than a diverse one makes you less likely to be resilient
or grow as effectively.
There
are significant benefits to cultivating a diverse team with an inclusive
culture. Research shows that inclusive leaders make employees feel 84% more
motivated (BITC, 2014). Additionally, organisations with inclusive cultures are
eight times more likely to have overall better business outcomes (Bersin by
Deloitte, 2017), six times more likely to be innovative (ibid), twice as likely
to meet or exceed financial targets (ibid) and three times more likely to be
high performing (ibid).
Why recognising your unconscious bias is important for growth
A
statistic from Professor Timothy Wilson's book ‘Stranger to Ourselves,
Discovering the Adaptive Unconscious’ claims that we process
11 million pieces of information at any given moment but have only the
conscious capacity to process 40, meaning bias is a human biological necessity.
We are therefore all biased, and while some biases are good, many can be
unhelpful, and these are the ones we need to work to manage.
It's
important to be aware that we are using the right framework of behaviours to
create, implement and enforce the procedures, policies and practices that
mitigate the impact of bias.
What does it mean to hire a ‘diverse’ candidate?
Aspects
of diversity include, but are not limited to, age, race, gender, marital
status, physical ability and neurodivergence. Diversity also encompasses
concepts like geographical location, access to technology, the experience of
abuse and body shape - anything that could result in discrimination and
elements that don't.
You
can't hire a ‘diverse candidate.’ You might hire to create a more diverse
workforce, but really, when people talk about diversity they're usually
addressing underrepresentation within their business.
The
Office of National Statistics revealed that in 2021, only 3.1% of the UK
population were white, able-bodied, heterosexual men based in London and the
south east. This demographic is, therefore, overrepresented in leading and
being employed in commercial property, the residential sector, construction,
architecture, planning and engineering. It stands to reason then that there is
a lot of opportunity in addressing this demographic imbalance.
How is an inclusive workplace created?
Being
inclusive in the workplace means creating an environment where people feel that
their identities, values and lifestyles are acknowledged, respected and
accepted.
Ensure that equity is a measured outcome to
implementing diversity and inclusion
Equity is the equality of access
to life/society/opportunities based on individual need and the outcome of
nurturing diversity and inclusion.
Cultural
intelligence is the behavioural framework which allows you to navigate the bias
activated when faced with difference (diversity), so you can behave with
acceptance and understanding (inclusion) to create outcomes that are accessible
to all (equity).
At
Building People, our aim is to be the leading platform enabling diverse people
and organisations to thrive in the built environment, and we’re focused on
developing the business to be a holistic hub for equity, diversity, and
inclusion.
So,
why not join us in our movement towards collaborative change?
Knowing
where to start when it comes to making the steps towards implementing,
enforcing, and supporting inclusive structures and processes can be daunting,
which is why we’re here to help guide you in the right direction.
To
understand more about how you can pioneer positive change within the built
environment, join me at the next Building People event: https://www.buildingpeople.org.uk/Home/Learning-and-Events-V2/View-Activity/id/710