Inclusive Employers announce the theme for National Inclusion Week 2024

What the theme ‘Impact Matters’ means and why it’s important

This year’s theme ‘Impact Matters’ builds upon 2023’s ‘Take Action Make Impact’, which centred on taking action immediately in a meaningful way, a call to action for all of those in an organisation to think about what actions they can take and what impacts these actions could and should have for marginalised people in your workplaces.

‘Impact Matters’ takes this idea even further.

We asked our Director of Impact, Addison Barnett, to elaborate further:

“As Director of Impact my job is to measure the impact we make on the organisations we work with, and to promote an impact mindset in everything we do.

Making a start on your inclusion work through celebrating diversity days and setting up awareness events are great first and critical steps, but ‘inclusion by entertainment’ rarely truly changes people’s behaviour. 2023’s ‘Take Action Make Impact’ encouraged us to be discerning with our inclusion work and reminded us to focus on what will make a difference.

With ‘Impact Matters’, we know that it is not enough to focus on what makes a difference, we need to apply an impact mindset to inclusion and diversity.

In what can feel like an increasingly hostile environment for inclusion and diversity (I&D) work, having an accurate insight into your organisation through in-depth data and being able to demonstrate measurable impact is more important than ever. We can’t take it for granted that I&D being ‘the right thing to do’ is enough of a driver for everyone in our organisations.

Whether we’re inclusion professionals, staff network members or simply committed to inclusion, ‘Impact Matters’ helps us consider the impact on marginalised groups, the impact on business success and identify the blockers and opportunities for making genuine, sustainable change.”

How does this apply to our individual actions and organisations?

The key to using the theme to inform your workplace inclusion progress this year is to think about using data to inform strategy. This could be at an organisational, team or individual level. When considering how to properly track if your impact is mattering, ask yourself these questions:

• How can we measure the impact of our efforts?
• How can we establish a baseline and track changes over time?
• How can we use an ‘Impact Matters’ mindset to prioritise the work that will make the most difference, in a time of limited budgets and even more limited capacity?

It’s also incredibly important to look your actions holistically too, so when you’re considering the above questions – don’t forget the following questions to ask yourself and other stakeholders:

• What impact do you think these actions are going to produce?
• Why do you think that?
• Who will benefit from these actions?
• Are there any unintended consequences?
• Have I consulted with those who need this action/support to find out what they think?
• Is this approach intersectional?
• And is this a fully inclusive approach?

Being mindful and thinking through your strategy with the questions above will provide you with some insight and inform more about what your actions should be and what the resulting impact will be so that you can make the most inclusive decision.

Where can I find out more information?

You and your organisation can join us for National Inclusion Week 2024, this September from the 23rd – 29th to make a difference in your organisation and make an impact that truly matters.

We have a complementary toolkit containing guides, branding, printable assets as well as other resources to take your participation forward.

Register here and access our free toolkit and then you can sign up for a free place on each of our webinars for the week. If you’re a Member, you are automatically able to access and take part in National Inclusion Week so please just login as normal.

From the Inclusive Employers team, we look forward to celebrating with you – whether this is your first or twelfth National Inclusion Week.