{"id":7443,"date":"2021-07-03T10:19:23","date_gmt":"2021-07-03T02:19:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dollarsandsense.sg\/business\/?p=7443"},"modified":"2021-07-03T10:25:05","modified_gmt":"2021-07-03T02:25:05","slug":"businesses-as-the-greatest-platform-for-inclusion-and-diversity-id-how-to-operationalise-id-with-examples","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dollarsandsense.sg\/business\/businesses-as-the-greatest-platform-for-inclusion-and-diversity-id-how-to-operationalise-id-with-examples\/","title":{"rendered":"Businesses as the greatest platform for inclusion and diversity (I&D): How to operationalise I&D, with examples"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

This article is contributed by Dorothy Khong, a Consulting Analyst with Accenture. It was first published on her LinkedIn<\/a>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

I recently read Trailblazer, <\/em>a book that delivers the inspiring vision of Marc Benioff, the Founder and CEO of Salesforce . In Trailblazer<\/em>, the Silicon Valley leader asserts that businesses are “the greatest platform for change” — a statement that I thought was astonishing because it’s simple, yet packs a punch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Inclusion & Diversity<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Personally, one topic that I am particularly interested in is inclusion and diversity (I&D). As an ENFP and egalitarian myself, equality and equity are two values that I hold closely to heart. With Benioff’s statement in mind and this topic of interest, I thought, could businesses also be the greatest platform for I&D?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Going down the Google rabbit hole, it was not long before I realised that while many articles justify the value of I&D in the workplace, not many address how we could operationalise an I&D program<\/strong>. Many talked about strategy, but there were only just a few about the operation. Perhaps it is because there is no one size fits all solution — which I agree, since no organisation is the same. However, I thought there might still be value in posting an article that consolidates some of the best examples demonstrated by businesses across the globe, and introduce a framework that could potentially help to guide the process in setting up an I&D program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before we go on, I want to acknowledge that I am no subject matter expert in this area, but just someone who enjoys reading and sharing knowledge with the rest. The purpose of this post is to consolidate resources, assets and point out leading industry examples in a single article for anyone who is looking to implement an I&D program in the workplace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With that cleared, let us move on to the framework.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 3Ds – Define, Design, Deliver<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

1. Define your goals and priorities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every program should answer the why<\/em>, and at least have one goal that states what needs to be changed<\/strong> and the extent of the change<\/strong>. This goal would serve as the foundation of the program, serving as an anchor and tying every other aspect of the program back to the foundational goal. The goal should also be measurable<\/strong>, with a timeline<\/strong>, to determine the effectiveness of the program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Diversity and inclusion goals could also be defined and tied with business objectives. For instance, the McKinsey Delivering through Diversity report<\/a> found that top team ethnic and cultural diversity are correlated with financial performance. In this case, the I&D goal defined could be to increase diversity in leadership hiring by X%, tying it back to the business goal to improve financial performance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some examples of goals:<\/p>\n\n\n\n