We recently held the seventh instalment of our ED&I event series, Women in Transformation, focusing on disability within the workplace, the creation of inclusive work environments and the use of data in ED&I.

After receiving feedback from our attendees at our previous event asking for more tangible examples they can use in their workplaces to radically improve ED&I, we decided to make some changes for this iteration. Rather than our usual discussion-led panel format, we instead invited individual speakers to share their lived-experiences to help guide our attendees on increasing and facilitating ED&I in the workplace.

We were lucky enough to be joined by Ken Kittoe, EDI Lead at AXA XL, Lynn Evison, Managing Director of Large-Scale Transformation & Turnaround at Alvarez & Marsal and Adil Ghani, Lead Consultant at The Ability People.

While the format may have been slightly different for this event, our mission to provide invaluable insights and encourage rich and open conversation was still very much achieved.

If you couldn’t make it to our event, we’ve compiled all of the main talking points in our round-up below so you can still be a part of this vital conversation.

Demystifying data in ED&I

In recent years, organisations have been under increasing pressure to collect a broad range of ED&I data to understand the diversity within their teams. This data can be an invaluable tool that can identify areas for improvement, track ED&I progress and allow organisations to set measurable goals.

In fact, a study by McKinsey and Company found that organisations that actively collect and analyse ED&I data are three times more likely to improve their diversity and inclusion metrics. However, despite its value, collecting this data can be challenging as teams often don’t understand its purpose or trust how it will be used.

To tackle this mistrust and reassure teams that their ED&I data is being used to create a more inclusive culture, it’s vital for leaders to understand the purpose of the programme and use their influence to encourage greater participation.

Our speaker, Ken Kittoe explained:

“If you can get your senior leadership to really understand why we need this data, people will listen to the strategic direction they give. Find your champions, educate them in why we’re doing this and get them to use their voice”.

Having this buy-in from the top can help to create a clearer, more concise narrative about ED&I data and remove suspicion from the process, making it far easier to collect the data needed for change.

Enriching Colleagues' Experiences

Creating enriching experiences for their teams within environments that fosters diversity and inclusivity is a goal for many organisations. While the use of data can be a keystone in this continuous ED&I development, our discussion with our attendees highlighted that it has to be combined with tangible action in order to be effective.

While explaining some of the various ED&I-centric actions A&M had made over the past 18 months, our speaker Lynn Evison shared:

“Data will give you one point and one fact. But actually, a conversation goes a long way. That’s one of the biggest things I’ve learned”.

Organisations can invest time, money and energy into supercharging their ED&I efforts using data alone, but without actually opening the floor to their teams and listening to their thoughts and concerns, little progress can be made.

This is backed up by the results of a recent LinkedIn study which found that employees that feel heard by their employer are 4.6 times more likely to excel in their work performance.

By combining their ED&I data findings with consistent group or 1-2-1 sessions, organisations can start to make more inclusive plans for their ED&I goals, whilst also seeing an improvement to their employee’s engagement, performance and retention rates.

Disability Inclusion in the Workplace

When it comes to making workplaces more accessible and inclusive for those with disabilities, it’s evident that more work needs to be done. In the findings from our ED&I 2024 report, we found that 30% of our respondents who have a disability shared that their workplace doesn’t meet their needs, with a further 20% admitting they were unsure.

While these figures have regressed since our report last year, they highlight that progress continues to be slow in providing disabled employees with a work environment and culture they can thrive in.

When talking about his own lived experiences as a disabled person with limb-girdle muscular dystrophy, a rare combination of diseases which causes the deterioration of muscles over time, our speaker Adil Ghani shared that open and consistent conversation could be the key to change.

He shared:

“We should be talking about inclusion all the time. Not just when events like the Paralympics happen or when it’s International Women’s Day or International Autism Day. Accessibility should be talked about all the time”

There’s no denying that awareness days and events like the Paralympics can spark valuable conversations about ED&I and raise awareness to teams. But if organisations are only having these conversations at specific points during the year, it’s clear to see why little progress is being made.

To turn this around, organisations should be providing a safe space and ample opportunities for their disabled employees to regularly share what their needs are and work with them to ensure they are being met. Providing further education into disability awareness to every level of the business should also be a top priority to ensure employees with disabilities feel valued at work, while also providing further momentum to ED&I progress.

With plenty of interesting discussions and useful advice on offer, we felt the event provided our attendees with plenty of food for thought on how to proceed next with their ED&I efforts.

We’d like to say a big thank you to each of our speakers for their honesty and willingness to share their experiences in order to help others. We’d also like to thank our official event sponsor, Alvarez & Marsal for helping to make this event possible for a second time.

If you’re interested in attending our next Women In Transformation event, you can register your interest here.

If you’d like to read a copy of our ED&I Report 2024, you can get that here.

Also, if you’d like to become a mentor to one of our fantastic mentees, you can join our Deltra Mentoring Programme here.