HR decision-makers and diversity and inclusion (D&I) professionals have clear D&I goals, but their organisations are letting them down on implementation, says creative agency Radley Yeldar.
Their research found that while corporate attitudes towards diversity and inclusion are more positive; 80% of HR decision-makers believe their firm is transparent on D&I and 70% said it should be mandatory to publicly report progress, firms aren’t supporting them to take D&I into action.
Clearly, HR decision-makers know what needs to change; with 41% wanting their organisations to collect more D&I data and 30% wanting to see D&I data published more widely. A further 32% want their firms to “better utilise employee groups” while 28% want to involve more stakeholders.
However, 30% say budget and time are the biggest barriers to their businesses achieving their D&I ambitions. A further 15% report a lack of clarity on who holds responsibility for D&I as the biggest issue, while 11% say their organisation can’t agree on a clear narrative for their D&I agenda, and the same amount believes their organisation has no clear purpose or “joined-up thinking” behind its D&I work.
Lack of responsibility and transparency are also issues holding firms back from effective D&I strategies. Out of those that do report on D&I today, only 59% do so because they want to be “held accountable for their plans,” with only 5% making their D&I record publicly available on their company website.
Sharn Kleiss, Head of Employee Experience at Radley Yeldar said: ‘It’s a huge positive that ambition and passion for progress on D&I has clearly found its way to UK businesses’ top-tables. While we’ve come a long way, it’s clear that more needs to be done.
“Our research shows that people up and down the country are calling on their businesses to prioritise D&I – that means more budget, a greater focus on reporting, and a more joined-up, coherent direction.
“Businesses need to get D&I right, and not just because it’s the right thing to do – diverse, inclusive workforces are more innovative and creative. Good D&I reporting is critical to progress because it sets a business up for accountability, helps to track progress, and drives belief across all audiences.”
