5 Steps to Plan Your Diversity and Inclusion Strategy

When it comes to creating a diversity and inclusion strategy that has impact and creates behaviour change, planning is key. Our Inclusion Experts outline 5 steps that explain where to start, what to prioritise and who to involve when you’re planning your diversity and inclusion strategy.

Why you need to prioritise inclusion planning?

When it comes to taking action around inclusion it can be easy to fall into the trap of being reactive or into taking a ‘scatter gun approach’ without having a clear strategic vision.

Any activity requires resources, budget, time and hard work so we want to make sure it genuinely makes a difference. Proactive planning is vital if you really want to drive change and deliver sustainable, impactful results and achieve a strong return on investment.

How to begin planning your diversity and inclusion strategy

Whether you are at the start of your inclusion journey or exploring your next steps, here are a few simple ways to plan a diversity and inclusion strategy with impact:

1. Review progress

A good way to start planning for next year is to review all the progress you’ve made this year. It may surprise you quite how much you’ve done.

When you review progress there might be some obvious tasks to carry over into next year, things that didn’t get done or that are ongoing. There might also be some lessons you’ve learned or some areas that arose that you didn’t anticipate, and you can build into your thinking for the coming year.

2. Use your data to inform decisions

Good diversity data can give you an insight into areas of priority. For example, recruitment and workforce data gives a snapshot of your organisation’s diversity, allowing you to identify untapped communities that could bring fresh perspectives to your workforce.

Data around the attrition levels of different cohorts can give you an insight into how engaged different employee groups are, how included people feel, employee experiences and whether all people have an equal opportunity to progress. You can use your people data to identify any issues or trends, which can inform your priorities.

3. Engage key stakeholders across your organisation

As part of your planning, make sure you involve key groups from across your organisation. If you have staff networks or ERGs (Employee Resource Groups) talk to them to understand their priorities. Use focus groups and surveys to gain an insight into experiences within your workplace. Reach out to I&D leads from other organisations to share best practice and gain ideas to shape your next steps. Having leaders as advocates of inclusion initiatives is key in your planning and execution of current and future programmes, as they can leverage their positions to implement changes and support ongoing culture change.