IWD 2024: Inspiring inclusion with the British Malaysian Society, Women in the Livery and UK Chinese Business Women Association.
Earlier in March, we celebrated International Women’s Day with our friends at the British Malaysian Society, Women in the Livery, a group Founded and Chaired by Mei Sim Lai OBE and the UK Chinese Business Women Association, Founded by Connie Alexander.
This year’s theme for IWD was ‘inspiring inclusion’. But with the announcement of the UK falling into recession, you’re not alone if you’re a business wondering how you can still inspire inclusivity in your company. Especially if you’re on a budget.
The good news is The British Malaysian Society’s Question Time panel wholeheartedly believes inclusion should still be front of mind. Long story short, if you’re a business that wants to thrive in the long run, being inclusive is key to attracting top talent and retention. But it’s no secret that DE&I budgets are usually amongst the first to be reviewed when businesses face a budget cut.
So how can you inspire inclusion all year round?
In this blog, we reflect on what we learnt during the International Women’s Day panel on Inspiring Inclusion.
Introducing the International Women’s Day Question time panel
Image credit: The British Malaysian Society
Mei Sim’s esteemed panel included:
David Stringer-Lamarre: Immediate Past Master of Worshipful Company of Glaziers and Painters of Glass
Bianca Yau: Global Co-Chair of NatWest Group Multicultural Network
Sabila Din: CEO and Co-Founder of Din Consultants and specialist in gender-inclusive commercial growth
Nzube Ufodike: Entrepreneur/Advisor of next generation of business, investor, Content Creator and Chair of IoD Young Executive Group
Dame Neslyn Watson-Druee, DBE: Professional Executive Business Coach and LEadership Development Consultant. Managing Director of Beacon Organizational Development Ltd
Christine Ennew, OBE: Professor Emeritus at University of Warwick and Warwick Business School. Govenbor at Harper Adam’s.
Inspiring inclusion: then and now
What do you think of when you imagine the future?
What comes to mind? Naturally, there’s no one-size-fits-all all framework when it comes to inclusion.
But as history and culture reminds us, we need not look far to see how gender plays a huge role in the way many of us view inclusion through a gender lens perspective. In the last 100 years, those who identify as female have gone through it all. From the suffragettes fighting for the right to vote and enter the workplace, to the gender pay gap. Which still exists today.
David Stringer-Lamarre suggests that today, “inspiring inclusion is an everybody issue.” Acknowledging how we should not be deterred by the minority that complains about the effort behind helping female colleagues in particular. Especially as there’s still a lot that needs to be done to close the gender pay gap.
Christine Ennew, OBE, suggests that there’s actually “an economic case for inclusion that speaks to the individual versus structure and policies they’re up against in the workplace.” Citing how women play a role in society pre-determined by gender including caring responsibilities and motherhood. Curious about this statistic, our writer-in-residence looked this up back home and found that in the UK alone 1 in 10 women in their 30s is out of the labour market because of caring responsibilities alone. That accounts for 450,000 people.
Sabila Din suggests that by creating workplace policies to empower this population to go back to the workplace, the UK’s GDP could grow at a higher rate.
How to build a business case for your investors.
A common problem, particularly amongst growing startups is the rising conflict between a business wanting to implement policies that help them build an inclusive workplace, but are worried about the backlash from investors.
Should this be something you’re experiencing, the panel suggest reminding invesotrs of the return on investment they get by investing more into DE&I.
Nzube Ufodike believes that not only does doing so create authenticity, but it also allows your team to bring their whole selves to work.
If you’re looking for hard data, Sabila suggests checking out Bloomberg's Financial Services Gender-Equality index. It was launched in 2016 to provide investors and organizations with standardised aggregated data across company gender statistics, employee policies, gender-conscious product offerings and external community support and engagement.
What else can you do to inspire inclusion in the workplace?
There are a few things you can start doing to build a more inclusive workspace.
Adopt a servant leadership style
According to Forbes, in 1970, retired AT&T executive Robert K. Greenleaf first coined the term ‘servant leader’. A servant leadership style, as Doug Flaig puts it, focuses on the needs of the customer and employees first.
Dame Neslyn-Watson-Druee, DBE, believes it is crucial to be a role model to show what good looks like from the top.
Introduce inclusive workplace policies
To build an inclusive workplace, the policies you have in place need to reflect and empower your team. Consider for instance:
Remote-first policies, helps you widen your talent pool to include persons with disability, working parents and carers.
Menstruation leave policies, helps you support people who identify as female who experience endometriosis.
Partner leave policy, Bianca Yau cites NatWest’s partner leave policy as a great example for inclusivity.
As you look into new workplace policies, don’t forget to consider the language you use. That is important in both workplace policies and correspondence.
Create community-building opportunities
Bianca Yau suggests allowing your team to find and create a space for everyone. As Co-Chair of NatWest Group’s Multicultural Network, she believes that it is important to give people the chance to find their people or the chance to create their groups, to avoid the feeling of feeling left out.