Advance Inclusion in your workplace
Lead the way to create inclusive workplaces with expert support, tailored resources, and a vibrant member community. Inclusive Employers membership gives you the tools and insights to advance inclusion and make a lasting impact.
Why is it important to empower your employees?
When organisations empower their people, they send a message that employees are valued, respected and have an important role in the success and progress of their workplace.
Empowered colleagues are a vital part of inclusive cultures, which is why Empower is one of the six pillars of inclusion and diversity. At Inclusive Employers the six pillars are used to measure inclusion in our workplace accreditation tool, the Inclusive Employers Standard (IES).
What does the Empower pillar measure?
The Empower pillar reviews how organisations use staff networks, team discussions, Trade Unions, and other channels to give their employees a voice and create opportunities for them to develop their careers. As part of this, it reviews the opportunities workplaces provide for different groups to be empowered to contribute.
When you take part in the Inclusive Employers Standard you respond to a series of in-depth questions that relate to each of the six pillars. The questions in the Empower pillar relate to consultation methods, staff self-organised inclusion activities, how staff contributions to inclusion are recognised, role models and accessibility of career enhancing opportunities.
What questions are asked in the Empower pillar assessment?
• How do you make sure inclusion and diversity makes a positive difference to everyone in your organisation?
• How do you support and encourage employees to develop their careers and increase their contribution to the organisation by enhancing their skills and abilities?
• What consultation methods does your organisation use?
• Do you hold employee self-organised inclusion related activities?
• How do you recognise the contributions of employees who self-organise?
• How do you role model inclusion? Do you have Inclusion Champions?
Empowered colleagues are a vital part of inclusive cultures, which is why Empower is one of the six pillars of inclusion and diversity.
Learn how the six pillars can support you to measure and progress inclusionEmpower case study: Role model campaign to show representation
Read on to learn more about the Institute of Occupational Safety and Health’s (IOSH) role model campaign and how this led them to score highly in the Empower pillar and receive Bronze Standard in the Inclusive Employers Standard 2023.
The Inclusive Employers Standard assessors reflected that IOSH “demonstrated a great example of how to utilise a role model campaign to share colleague stories and show meaningful visibility and representation.”
Empower by sharing stories
The purpose of the IOSH “Stories campaign” was to “improve awareness, reduce siloed working, encourage individuals to celebrate difference and feel empowered to bring their whole selves to work.” These objectives are aligned with the purpose of the Empower pillar of inclusion.
The IES assessors were impressed because IOSH’s approach allowed them to “visibly profile colleagues by linking the campaign to different inclusion events and feature colleagues at all levels.”
The IOSH launched the role model campaign by “showcasing a junior colleague sharing her role, hobbies, family life and South Asian Heritage. The article was deliberately highlighting a junior colleague who worked in an operational role, to recognise that inclusion role models come from all areas and levels of the organisation. The campaign went on to share stories from other role models who “chose to speak about topics such as health conditions, the importance of the correct pronunciation of names and inclusive behaviours.”
Authentically celebrating inclusion and diversity
Why did IOSH chose the Stories campaign? “The campaign was proposed by staff as part of a wider EDI development plan. The internal communications team use a specific structure and guidance to allow them to collect and present information in a way that avoids tokenism and stereotyping and portrays the individual accurately and authentically, rather than simply highlighting an underrepresented characteristic. A great importance is placed in ensuring the individuals profiled always have full control over their stories, controlling the narrative and reviewing the final product.”
Inclusion was a consideration at every stage of the Stories campaign, including presentation and communication: “these articles were presented in engaging and easy to read formats to increase accessibility and impact and were communicated through a range of different internal channels. Senior leadership were also involved in the project both to support the communication and share their own stories to highlight the importance of inclusion in the organisation and demonstrate top-down inclusive role modelling.”
Laura Mack, Senior People Business Partner, IOSH, highlights the impact of the Inclusive Employers Standard:
How can Inclusive Employers support you to Empower your employees?
Recognising what you are currently doing to Empower your employees is the best way to move forward. You can learn what you’re doing well, what is not working, and what can be improved. Taking part in the Inclusive Employers Standard will help you do this, across all six of the pillars of inclusion; Engage, Equip, Embed, Empower, Evaluate and Evolve. As well as helping you learn how effective your current inclusion work is, the IES will support you to make progress by developing a bespoke action plan, based on the results of your IES submission.
If you are a member and would like to participate in the IES, please talk about this with your account manager. For all other interested organisations, please get in touch using the form below. We would love to support you to progress your inclusion impact.
Advance Inclusion in your workplace
Lead the way to create inclusive workplaces with expert support, tailored resources, and a vibrant member community. Inclusive Employers membership gives you the tools and insights to advance inclusion and make a lasting impact.