# Why diversity and inclusion is critical for the third sector as we move out of lockdown

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/2021/03/05/why-diversity-and-inclusion-is-critical-for-the-third-sector-as-we-move-out-of-lockdown/
- Published: 2021-03-05T13:05:38+00:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**They say birds of a feather flock together. It is therefore unsurprising that 
in many workplaces across the world you find clusters of similar people with limited
diversity.**

The communication industry, for instance, in comparison to other sectors has a very
low percentage of BAME employees – and in fact there is a charity; the Taylor Bennet
Foundation; which aims to address this imbalance by training BAME graduates and 
finding placements for them in agencies around the UK.

For the LGBTQ community there are also no-go sectors. Each year the Human Rights
Campaign Foundation puts out an annual [Corporate Equality Index](https://www.hrc.org/resources/corporate-equality-index)(
CEI) to measure the LGBTQ equality policies of companies. Each one is scored on 
a scale of 0 to 100, based on criteria such as non-discrimination policies, equivalent
spouse and partner benefits and public commitment. The engineering sector was found
to be the least LGBTQ progressive with no companies scoring 100%. And outrageously
in the US it is still legal for employers to fire gay and transgender workers for
their sexuality in 17 states.

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And in terms of gender, according to the [30% Club](https://30percentclub.org/),
only 20 per cent of FTSE 350 CEOs are currently female. However, in the past 10 
years since the Club’s inception the representation of women on boards has risen
by 20 per cent.

Age is also an issue. Age discrimination for tech workers now starts at 29 [according to recruitment firm CWJobs](https://www.cwjobs.co.uk/advice/ageism-in-tech).
It’s no surprise then that 61 per cent of workers in the sector answered ‘yes’ when
asked if, in the tech industry employees experience prejudice when considered to
be older, the highest of any UK sector.

And despite the Equality Act one fifth of disabled workers feel like they are discriminated
against at work. Three quarters do not disclose a disability on their CV for fear
of being overlooked.

Moreover, a million people in the UK have experienced religion -elated discrimination
according to research from the [ComRes Faith Research Centre](https://comresglobal.com/what-we-do/faith/)
and there are calls for internal training to educate employees about the beliefs
held by religious groups and how these can be facilitated in the workplace.

The third sector experiences many of these issues and despite significant lobbying
over the last five years charity trustees and workforces still do not reflect the
communities that they support.

A study by a specialist charity recruitment company revealed that 38 per cent of
charity job seekers felt they’d suffered age discrimination, whilst 25 per cent 
felt disadvantaged due to their ethnicity and 26 per cent believed they had been
discriminated against because of their gender.

Given, the progressive and more aware era we are currently in, we must face it that
the positive impact of diversity and inclusion is no longer up for debate.

For some charities, simply doing the right thing may be enough to promote action.
Others may be moved by data which highlights that diversity and inclusion can boost
the quality of decision-making and that a diverse workplace encourages individuals
to be more creative, more diligent, and harder-working.

Research suggests that when donors, employees, board members, and others who shape
the values and activities of a charity come from a wide array of backgrounds, they
bring unique perspectives which influence how the charity approaches its mission
in more inclusive and innovative ways.

 

## The five benefits of a diverse workforce

In addition to ultimately better representing the society they serve, the benefits
of diversity and inclusion starting from the inside are clear:

### 1. A larger talent pool

Expanding recruitment searches to include more diverse applicants – including age,
ethnicity, background etc. – widens the potential talent pool which increases chances
of finding the best candidate.

### 2. Increased employee engagement and trust

Diversity leads to improved employee engagement and highly engaged employees go 
the extra mile for their organisation which has a ripple effect on team morale, 
retention, and output. Not to mention the 75 per cent fewer sick days taken and 
the 50 per cent lower turnover risk as outlined in a report by Headstart.

### 3. New perspectives and innovation

A diverse workforce promotes the development of new ideas. Research highlights a
statistically significant relationship between diversity and innovation outcomes.
This can help teams better identify new fundraising methods but also have greater
empathy with the cause.

### 4. Better decision-making

Data suggests that teams diverse in geography, gender, age, and ethnicity make better
decisions as alternative perspectives are considered more widely.

### 5. Improved performance

Diversity and inclusion has a direct correlation to an increase in fundraising but
this outcome is a direct result of increased productivity and performance. Diversity
is a competitive differentiator.  Furthermore, beyond being beneficial to employees’
mental health, diversity and inclusion also has downstream impacts that make good
fiscal sense. According to a McKinsey report, organisations that are in the top 
quartile for racial, ethnic, and gender diversity have a 25% greater likelihood 
of being more successful than the national median for their respective industry.

 

## The window of opportunity for charities

The global pandemic has had far reaching repercussions and with many fundraising
initiatives cancelled due to social distancing and lockdowns many charities are 
facing a funding crisis unseen since the early 2000s. Clearly innovation will be
key in finding ways to fill the funding gap. Charities, consequently, have an open
window of opportunity for reinvigoration and diversity and inclusion should be front
and centre.

Nothing changes overnight, but it is critical that charitable organisations up-skill
their existing teams in inclusivity, including understanding about issues such as
ageing in the workplace or how different disabilities can impact the working day,
as well as looking to implement more progressive HR policies such as blind recruitment.
This practice is based on blind auditions that were introduced to orchestras in 
the 1970s when it was recognised that only five per cent of chairs were occupied
by women. To address this, orchestras put candidates behind a screen so that the
judging panel (typically male) couldn’t see the gender of the musician and so the
individual was selected on the basis of their talent alone. It worked. Within a 
decade the proportion of women in orchestras doubled, and the number of disabled,
LGBTQ and BAME members also grew. Increasingly, industry is borrowing this technique
and asking candidates to anonymise their CVs by removing name, address, age, university
and schools attended. This technique is proven to reduce unconscious bias in terms
of all types of discrimination from ageism, racism and elitism.

The old adage is true; an organisation is only as good as the people in it, it therefore
makes sense to get the best people possible. You might have to work harder in terms
of establishing a culture that embraces inclusivity, but in the end the dividends
will far outweigh the barriers.

 

_**Louisa Osmond**, Head of Executive Education, [Edinburgh Business School](https://www.hw.ac.uk/ebs/)_