There is an inclusive and positive culture of continuous learning and improvement. This is based on meeting the needs of people who use services and wider communities, and all leaders and staff share this. Leaders proactively support staff and collaborate with partners to deliver care that is safe, integrated, person-centred and sustainable, and to reduce inequalities.

There are effective governance and management systems. Information about risks, performance and outcomes is used effectively to improve care.

Workforce equality, diversity and inclusion

• Our managers and leaders are committed to ensuring there is ownership and action taken to ensure we are an equal, diverse, and inclusive organisation that is free from bias.
• We can evidence that we have a fair and inclusive culture that promotes equality of opportunity and anti-discriminatory practice across all protected characteristics.
• We ensure that values related to equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) is central our internal and external recruitment and development opportunities across all levels of our organisation.
• We are committed to protecting staff from bullying and harassment, and ensuring how we support the human rights of our workforce complies with the Equality Act 2010.
• We are committed to ensuring EDI applies to all our workers and involve them in practical ways to strengthen this further (e.g., strategy development, review of values, staff feedback, surveys etc.).
• Our staff team reflects the diversity and diverse needs of the people we support. We value, understand and respect different cultures across our workforce.
• Our leaders and managers make reasonable adjustments to support disabled staff to carry out their roles well.
• We expect workforce is treated with fairness and respect from the people they support, their families and friends. We address issues where this is not the case at the earliest opportunity.
• We can evidence how EDI enables us to provide higher levels of care to the people we support, including testimonials and documented examples.
• Our managers and leaders are working towards implementing specific EDI objectives. We can evidence what these are and our progress towards achieving them.
• We have clear roles and responsibilities in relation to supporting EDI. This is an important responsibility for all our workforce, but we additionally have specialist roles (e.g., EDI champion).
• We provide specialist training (e.g., EDI awareness, cultural competency, anti-racism training etc.) to support to our managers and staff teams and help strengthen their understanding.
• We regularly discuss and review feedback from our workforce to inform how we can further strengthen EDI at our service. This includes the use of 1-2-1 discussions, team meetings, and surveys.
• We are actively involved in promoting EDI at a local, regional and/or national level.
• We work in partnership with other organisations to challenge inequalities and promote better EDI in our sector.
• We have documented evidence of our EDI related activity to support the workforce in our policy and procedures, staff development and support.

‍

What is equality, diversity, and inclusion?

Equality

First used in the early 15th century is ‘the state of being equal’.  In modern usage in the UK, equality is about ensuring equality of access, treatment, outcomes and impact in both employment and service delivery. It is rooted in ideas of justice and fairness and enshrined in the United Kingdom Equality Act 2010 (EA10) which highlights that every individual must have an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives and talents. It is also the belief that no one should have poorer life chances because of their background, personal identity or experience.

The achievement of equality of outcomes requires identifying the barriers and biases and taking targeted action (including positive action as permitted under the EA10) to overcome specific inequalities, discrimination, disadvantages and marginalisation experienced by certain groups and individuals including those protected characteristics under the EA10. Inequalities can be manifested through prejudice, oppression and discrimination – direct and indirect – and can be systemic through behaviour, policies, practices and cultures. Equally vital is to identify the EDI benefits for the workforce and business/service delivery which will ensure that the EDI strategy is positively framed to add value to the organisation.

Equality of impact assessments through feedback from discriminated against and marginalised individuals are therefore essential in determining whether the EDI strategy is effective and is achieving the desired outcomes.

Some users of the term equality have associated it with the idea of ‘sameness – same access or treatment’. However, this is a grossly inaccurate interpretation, as sameness is akin to ‘colour blind’ approaches – which can be discriminatory. Equality is not the same as equity. Equity is concerned with the actions taken to achieve a state of equality of outcomes.

Diversity

Diversity is the differences in colour, ethnicity, abilities, age, gender, beliefs, interests, socioeconomic (class), marital or partnership status, sexual orientation, geographic, academic/professional backgrounds, opinions, backgrounds, thinking, experiences and many other characteristics

Diversity recognises that everyone is different in a variety of visible and non-visible ways, and that those differences are to be recognised, respected, valued, promoted and celebrated. They may include, but are not limited to, differences protected by equalities law.

Research shows that diverse workforces are beneficial for decision making, innovation and problem solving as people bring a diverse range of backgrounds and experiences with them. However, it's important to note that just simple tolerance of difference and having a diverse workforce is not enough - people need to feel empowered, a sense of belonging, and feel safe to contribute their ideas and viewpoints and to achieve their full potential.

Inclusion

Inclusion is the practice of including people in a way that is fair for all, values everyone’s differences, and empowers and enables each person to be themselves and achieve their full potential and thrive at work.

An inclusive workplace culture is one in which everyone feels that they belong through feeling safe in being themselves, that their contribution matters, policies and practices are fair and diverse range of people are supported to work together effectively.

To achieve genuine inclusion there must be positive action, including measures under the Equality Act 2010 to address past, present and potential discrimination and barriers to enable and empower:

• Equal access
• Equal opportunities
• Equal treatment
• Equal resources
• Equal outcomes
• Equal impact

The moral case for building fairer and more inclusive labour markets and workplaces is indisputable: recognising and valuing our identity, background or circumstance, we all have a right to the opportunity to develop our skills and talents to our full potential, work in a safe, supportive and inclusive environment, be fairly rewarded and recognised for our work and have a meaningful voice on matters that affect us.

It’s also vital for the sustainability of businesses and economies. Everyone stands to benefit when we embrace and value the diversity of thoughts, ideas and ways of working that people from different backgrounds, experiences and identities bring to an organisation. So, organisations must ensure their people management approaches do not put any group at a disadvantage. People professionals are seen as the guardians and custodians of EDI policy and practice and therefore have a critical role to play in role modelling and championing EDI best practice in their organisation - find out more about this in our Profession Map.

Standards, such as the BSI and ISO human resource management suite and Investors in People (IiP), provide principle-based frameworks and guidelines to help organisations recognise the actual and potential value of their people and ensure their people polices and working practices are bias free. See more on HR and standards.

The concept of ‘intersectionality’ is that we all have multiple, overlapping identities that impact on our experience, including multiple discrimination and disadvantage.

Differences include visible and non-visible factors, for instance, personal characteristics such as background, culture, personality, work-style, accent and language. It’s important to recognise that a ‘one-size-fits all’ approach to managing people does not achieve fairness and equality of opportunity and outcomes for everyone. People have different personal needs, values and beliefs. Good people management practice needs to be consistently fair but also flexible and inclusive to support both individual and business needs.

In the UK, age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation are ‘protected characteristics’ covered by discrimination law to give people protection against being treated unfairly.

Discrimination can:

• Impact an individual’s wellbeing, performance at work and intention to stay.
• Adversely affect employment opportunities.
• Result in failure to recognise skills-based abilities, potential and experience.
• Result in significant legal costs, compensation and settlements paid to avoid defending expensive discrimination claims.

For example, ‘neurodiversity’ is a growing area of workplace inclusion. It refers to the natural range of differences in human brain function. Among employers, it’s used to describe alternative thinking styles including dyslexia, autism and ADHD. Together with Uptimize, we’ve produced Neurodiversity at work, a practical guide for employers to help create a neurodiversity-friendly workplace where people can utilise their strengths. Most adjustments are simple and low-cost, but can make a significant difference to an individual’s working life. Listen to our Neurodiversity podcast.

‍