Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Policy
No.8 is fully committed to the elimination of unlawful and unfair discrimination and values
the differences that a diverse workforce brings to the organisation.
All employees are responsible for the promotion and advancement of this policy.
Behaviour, actions or words that transgress the policy will not be tolerated and will be
dealt with in line with the organisation's disciplinary policy.
The policy is applicable to all employees, secondees, agency staff, clients, communities,
suppliers and contractors, whether permanent or temporary. The policy applies to all
processes relating to employment and training and to any dealings with customers and
clients. Decisions relating to customers and communities will be based on business-related
criteria only and any irrelevant information will not form part of the process.
The policy will be reviewed on an ongoing basis to reflect changes in the law,
demographics and internal business requirements.
Procedure wording: The publication of a diversity policy enables the organisation to send
out a strong message of commitment, both internally and externally. Although the
diversity policy is a fundamental part of the organisation's diversity strategy, it will be
brought to life only if it is reinforced by a focused and structured strategic diversity plan. In
order to do this the organisation is committed to the following processes.
Leadership
The organisation commits to:
• empower leaders and boards to drive representation and inclusivity by being a
core part of the leadership team’s strategic priorities with clear KPIs, actions and
objectives, transparently communicated.
• ensuring senior leaders must step up, speak secure top-level ownership and
sponsorship for the policy.
• develop and cascade a diversity vision statement.
• create a working environment free of bullying, harassment, victimisation and
unlawful discrimination, promoting dignity and respect for all, and where
individual differences and the contributions of all staff are recognised and
valued.
Audit
The organisation will:
• undertake a full audit in relation to policies and procedures, practice of policy
and perception of policy and process;
• obtain workforce metrics and compare them with sector and best
practice organisations; and
• produce a report for board members to act as a catalyst for future activity
across the business.
• review of all the processes to establish the organisation's position with regard to
compliance and best practice. This will be done by administering a questionnaire
to all staff, undertaking one-to-one interviews with key leaders and stakeholders,
and facilitating focus groups to establish employees' perception in relation to key
areas of the questionnaire.
Policy Development
The organisation will:
• benchmark existing policy statements from other organisations and
advisory groups; and
• develop human resources and other policies (outlining vision, scope,
responsibility, accountability and measurements).
Training and Education
The organisation will:
• enable employees to understand their own privileges and biases to help
them become accountable allies and activists;
• conduct a full training needs analysis relating to the understanding
and management of diversity;
• evaluate training providers and secure budget for training design and delivery;
• integrate diversity into mainstream training and development programmes;
• establish education programmes for all staff (including programmes that
move from awareness to behavioural change);
• integrate diversity competencies into development programmes and
assessment and selection processes; and
• create safe and inclusive spaces to have open and frank conversations about
racism.
Communication and Consultation
The organisation will:
• call out racism and discrimination whenever it is encountered. Everyone is
responsible for this, from the MD to all staff across your organisation. Building
trust creates solidarity in the workforce and provides a psychologically safe
space to work. This can allow for all issues, from micro-aggressions (subtle acts
of discrimination) to outright discrimination, to be addressed;
• establish key lines of communication across the business through consultation
with key stakeholders;
• undertake an audit of existing communications channels so that compliance
and inclusiveness are assured;
• ensure that communication imagery and graphics are inclusive, and reflect
and reinforce the words within the documentation;
• distribute a top-level communications plan to senior management for team
briefings, and develop "reporting back" communication lines to ensure
feedback;
• ensure that mainstream business communications reinforce the inclusive messages
and become mainstreamed into day-to-day processes; and
• communicate and celebrate the organisation's successes in diversity.
Resources
The organisation will:
• establish formal reporting lines for monitoring progress against targets
and objectives;
• select and establish a diversity steering council with representatives from across
all parts of the organisation;
• report progress to the diversity council on a quarterly basis; and
• secure financial sign-off from the chief executive to enable related activities to be
undertaken (for example reasonable adjustments to comply with the Equality Act
2010, and communication and training programmes).
Measurement
The organisation will:
• capture all available workforce metrics from existing databases to
benchmark against sector companies, demographics and best practice
standards;
• agree the aspirational targets for the workforce composition over a five-year
period with the chief executive and the board; and the diversity steering council ;
• establish formal measurement tools to assess the climate in the organisation (for
example regular staff surveys, 360° feedback mechanisms and diversity
perception audits);
• assess progress in achieving its diversity targets;
• develop relationships with appropriate external benchmarking bodies to
assess progress (with, for example, Business in the Community, Stonewall,
Business Disability Forum and the Equality and Human Rights Commission);
and
• evaluate network fairness (both in and out of sector) to assess value
for benchmarking purposes.
External Profile
The organisation will:
• join appropriate organisations in order to network, exchange best practice
and generally raise the organisation's profile;
• build relationships with trade, and the local and national press to develop a
good external image and to position the organisation at the leading edge; and
• develop relationships externally in order to mainstream the diversity context
into business.
Development
The organisation will:
• seek to give all employees the opportunity for planned training and
development. Career progression decisions will be made on the basis of merit
and capability;
• to ensure that all employees have equal access to relevant opportunities.
• ensure development plans are designed to meet specific individual needs,
increase performance in the current role and help to develop knowledge, skills
and experience for potential future roles; and
• be open and transparent about career progression at No.8.
Recruitment
The organisation will:
• recruit the best person for the job. Candidates will be sourced, and the
interviewing processes will be conducted fairly, objectively and without bias;
• avoid stereotyping or using wording that may discourage particular groups
from applying to our job advertisements;
• commit to managing a diverse pipeline of candidates to produce
balanced shortlists for hiring managers;
• target more specific diverse networks when advertising roles;
• carry out recruitment monitoring - to ensure the policy is working effectively with
respect to recruitment and selection No.8 may monitor job applicants’ racial
group, gender, disability, and age as part of the recruitment procedure. Provision
of this information is voluntary and will not adversely affect an individual’s
chances of recruitment or any other decision related to their employment. We will
maintain records of this data (in an anonymised format) as part of the HR system
solely forthe purposes stated in this policy. Hiring managers & decision makers will not be privy
to this information;
• not ask questions about health and disability before a job offer is made –
there are limited exceptions, for example where questions are necessary to
establish if an applicant can perform an intrinsic part of the job (subject to
reasonable adjustments) or to establish if an applicant is fit to attend an
assessment or needs adjustments to be made during the interview process. If
in doubt seek advice before relying on an exception; and
• where advised, we will make reasonable adjustments (if needed) during
the interview process or to ensure the office can be accessed.
Diversity Statement
No.8 is committed to creating a diverse environment, where employees feel
empowered to share different ideas, perspectives and experiences in a collaborative
and creative work environment. Equality and inclusion are at the heart of our culture. All
qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age,
disability, gender confirming surgery, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and
maternity, race (which includes colour, nationality and ethnic or national origins),
religion or belief, sex or sexual orientation).