Having an inclusive and diverse culture within the workplace is an essential aspect of people management. UK legislation requires a minimum standard for diversity, covering age, disability, race, religion, gender and sexual orientation. However, the benefits of creating a diverse culture are monumental and can result in adding massive value to your business, while contributing to the well-being and engagement of your people.
A factor HP quickly cottoned on to. To change the way they ensure diversity, HP challenged their main marketing agencies to include more women and people of colour in positions of influence on their accounts of which they have done so successfully with a 61% increase. This is a work in progress as there still needs to be an improvement globally to be more inclusive of minority groups.
HP decided to amend their strategy because they saw a distinct lack of inclusion in the marketing industry as a whole and wanted to pioneer positive change. As a tech company, HP made all positive behaviours they believed should be the new precedent and then published their own employee data, challenging others to do the same. HP see their approach as an excellent way to make sure their teams are a representative of the varied customers they cater for; helping HP communicate effectively with their audiences.
While there was no explicit consequence for agencies to adapt and change, the three big agencies have already taken up the challenge with hopes of more businesses following suit.
As a business, creating an effective diversity strategy can support an organisations business objectives. It helps you appeal to a wider range of audiences and create an inclusive environment.
Organisations like HP are already reaping the benefits. To do the same, we would advise that you create, implement, and manage a diversity strategy which typically includes; communications, training to addressing the workplace behaviour, initiatives to encourage diversity such as mentoring programmes, aligning HR policies and procedures with the strategy, and then evaluate the progress that you make.
At HPC, we would be happy to work with you to create a diversity strategy to help make a change within your business, simply contact us for a free consultation:
T: 0844 800 5932