This March marks the anniversary of CK Group’s diversity and inclusion working group. One year ago, having signed the Business in the Community Race at Work Charter, the business embarked on a journey to put diversity and inclusion at the center of what we do. Along the way we have made steady improvements and had some great conversations, but also learnt a few lessons.

If your organization is looking to start its own D&I journey, here are our 3 top tips on how to get started:

Build the Structure

Central to any successful initiative is knowing where it sits in your organisation and how it will be supported. A successful D&I strategy cannot be the responsibility of one person, although one person can lead the charge and start the change.

Put D&I firmly on the agenda. At CK Group D&I initiatives (and sustainability) are incorporated into our annual business strategy. By having this documented as one of our annual targets, it holds us to account to ensure we deliver.

To deliver on the strategy, decide how you are going to act. Put in place a process that is simple, as the more complex you make it the harder it will be to maintain. At CK Group we have a working group who meet quarterly to air colleague ideas and agree what we can put into action.

Keep the Conversation Going

Now you have a structure, if you are lucky your team will become engaged immediately and ideas and feedback will start flowing. Do not feel defeated if this doesn’t happen, as it is normal that staff will take time to buy in to a new initiative. As you commit to maintaining your process, over time staff will start to take you seriously.

At CK Group we take a couple of approaches to keeping the subject alive within our teams. First, we conduct annual workshops on ‘Unconscious bias in the recruitment process’ to train our team and discuss experiences they have faced that they need support with. We also hold one companywide working group per year, to give the whole company the opportunity to see and hear about what is going on across the business and to give their thoughts and ideas.

Start With What You Have

You don’t need to come up with a shiny new idea that no company has ever previously concocted. Start small, and look at what you have in place already. How do your existing policies and employee benefits include, or exclude, your staff?

At CK Group, we are proud to have a long history of charity recognition, however there has not previously been a process for managing the variety of charities so that they properly reflect the people in the organization. We are therefore currently implementing a quarterly charity recognition scheme, with a plan to change the charities we recognize more regularly and to obtain employee recommendations to ensure we support the issues which matter to them.

Bonus Tip

To look at D&I as a standalone topic diminishes the impact it can have across your organisation. If you want to make a real impact, open up your mind to all the things you can do to make your employees feel they can express themselves.

In January 2023 CK Group introduced additional paid volunteering leave to encourage our staff to go out into their local community and support the causes that matter to them. Whilst not immediately a D&I strategy, it gives our employees the opportunity to express themselves and make a difference in the areas that matter to them outside of work.

In summary, it’s not about doing it right, but instead, doing it right now. Start talking about diversity and inclusion, find a sustainable way that works for your business, and start off with those small changes.