Outside the box: Fair and free

Q: How inclusive is our internal audit team and how can we foster better understanding of diversity and differences?

Your team – and your organisation – is only as good as the people in it. However much we talk about artificial intelligence and technology, this has never been more true. The major challenges we see today, from COVID-19 to climate change, fraud, reputation and corporate culture are all rooted in the actions and beliefs of the people who work with us and manage us, as well as those who buy our products and services.

Now we are also facing a staffing crisis. Where have all the people gone, is a common cry. Vacancies in teams are putting additional stress on those still in post and forcing organisations to delay new implementations or launches. Some are even having to restrict opening hours. This could, potentially, slow down growth, but it also increases risks of other kinds as people get tired, take on unfamiliar roles, cut corners and make mistakes.

So this is an ideal time to look at your equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) performance. Not only should you be attracting the widest possible range of applicants for your vacant roles, but you need to hang on to the people you already have. Salaries in some sectors are rising, but money is a crude tool when employees can pick and choose who they work for – cash is easily matched and often exceeded by rivals.

This is why the reputation of the organisation and, sometimes, of the team has become crucial. Recruiters are warning that employers who failed to look after staff during lockdowns will struggle to rehire the people they lost, and that applicants are expecting flexible hours and hybrid working as standard.

Continuing staff shortages will also mean that one team’s gain will be another’s loss – people will jump from employers who have lost their trust to those that offer a better environment. Whether or not the predicted “great resignation” materialises, this could seriously affect those hiring people with specific skills who are in limited supply.

It’s therefore time to focus on your team’s culture, motivation, inclusiveness and wellbeing as never before. It is no longer enough to claim that you have a diverse team purely on the grounds of statistics showing people’s race, age, sex, sexual orientation, physical abilities or religion. True diversity of thought stems not only from past and present experiences of the world, but also from perceived freedom and confidence to express dissent and alternative world views. This is created by an inclusive attitude and an environment that encourages people to relax and believe that they are accepted and listened to as themselves and do not have to be the person the organisation expects them to be.

Don’t take things for granted – just because you feel relaxed and confident doesn’t mean everyone else feels the same. January is a great time to reassess and ask vital questions: How do people in the team feel about expressing differing views (and how often do they do it)? What do people in the team think makes them different and would they feel happy talking about this? Could you do more to share experiences and to encourage people to talk about what their ideal team would look like – and why? Is there a forum or space for people to express concerns or anxieties, or where they can suggest changes that would make the team more inclusive?

It’s also worth remembering that inclusiveness doesn’t just mean including people who have obvious “differences” such as race or sex. Being inclusive may mean learning to listen to, and work constructively with, people who look the same as others in the team, but who have views others find absurd or even offensive – for example, about creationism, abortion, animal rights, Brexit or vaccines.

Most crucially, would team members suggest to close friends and contacts that they join the team? And what kind of “low down” would they give them, privately, about it before they applied?

There are a host of ways to improve equality and inclusiveness and each team has a different starting point. However, lack of dissent in any team is usually a bad sign, since it indicates either that there is no diversity of thought, or that there is a received wisdom that no one diverges from. This is not a strong culture, but cultural totalitarianism. Make 2022 a year for breaking down barriers, and you may reap unexpected rewards. 

This article was published in January 2022.