To successfully achieve diversity in leadership at your organisation, you need a strategy and a plan of action.
What is a workplace diversity and inclusion strategy?
A diversity and inclusion strategy tells you where you are now, where you aspire to be in three to five years, and sets out an action plan to get there.
Why does your workplace need a diversity and inclusion strategy?
Your strategy will help you focus on which areas of your company need priority attention to achieve your goals for diversity and inclusion. It hard-wires diversity and inclusion into everything you do, committing everyone in the organisation to a plan of action.
Leading by Example
Your Diversity and Inclusion Strategy needs to be championed by the people at the top of the organisation. Leaders, particularly the CEO, need to show loudly and proudly how much diversity matters – to them personally and the organisation.
As a company operating in New Zealand, your organisation represents and serves the many different cultures and diverse voices that makes Aotearoa the amazing place it is.
If, like Global Women, you truly believe that the chances provided to people shouldn’t be linked to sex or skin colour, where someone grew up or went to school, it is essential to welcome diverse voices and views and to give opportunities to people irrespective of background.
By setting out a strategy you can issue a bold statement of what you want to have achieved by the end of the period covered. The BBC, whose 2016-2020 strategy is an excellent example, says that ‘By the time we have delivered this strategy we want to be able to say that we have built an understanding of diversity in everything we do.’
We encourage you to be ambitious, to lead by example, and to use your influence to bring about real change across your industry and across New Zealand.