Toby Mildon: You can become a diversity and inclusivity architect too
Today was the PRCA Equality and Inclusivity Advisory Council Conference. I was privileged to have a role speaking about my not-for-profit PR school Socially Mobile and to be part of a panel session discussing the importance of fair pay in building an inclusive industry.
The keynote speaker was Diversity and Inclusion architect Toby Mildon.
Toby has worked with the BBC, big four consultancy firms and is the author of Inclusive Growth.
Toby opened by addressing the issues that often face businesses implementing diversity and inclusivity strategies. Regular and consistent challenges include:
Not having enough data
Previous events or training haven’t had a major impact
Diversity and inclusivity is seen as a HR problem with no shared responsibility
The focus has been on raising profile externally and not on internal culture (the rhetoric gap)
There is little support from the senior leadership team
There is no change management process in place to evaluate progress
Areas of best practice
To move past these issues, Toby had some useful advice. His first recommendation was to gain clarity about how representative your organisation is to get a baseline place to work from.
His next step was then to establish the WHY before moving to the HOW and the WHAT to achieve sustainable change.
A key message was that leaders have to embrace discomfort to make change happen.
“The fear of causing hurt and embarrassment holds us back. Senior leaders have to move past the awkwardness to have the difficult conversations and be a role model.”
As ever, planning and measurement is crucial to success for any change management programme. Before putting anything into action, Toby suggested that management teams should agree:
What success looks like
What the ROI should be
What the roadmap or delivery plan will be
How the responsibility will be owned
Consideration should also be given to the steps needed to create inclusive employee journeys and the technology needed to scale up D&I efforts.
Toby’s book includes a full seven step process that leaders can follow to make a meaningful difference in their organisations. At just £12.99 it’s well worth your time and investment.