Sian Thomas
With the equality bill expected to come into force this spring, all organisations will have an increased accountability regarding race, disability and gender.
The bill places an increased emphasis on accountability, monitoring and enforcement and gives new powers to the Equality and Human Rights Commission to actively challenge organisations regarding their practice.
As well as the new bill, the Care Quality Commission, the independent regulator in my own sector, health, is introducing a new registration process signalling an intention to proactively address compliance issues regarding equality and diversity practices.
An ageing workforce
Beyond these important developments lies the indisputable fact that we live in a society with an ageing workforce. Embedding equality and diversity in the day–to-day operations of an organisation no longer just makes good business sense, it is also now a business necessity.
Today, my organisation, NHS Employers, hosts a conference to provide delegates with the latest information on the impact of these changes and an opportunity to hear how they can manage diversity effectively.
Over the past few years we have worked closely with the NHS workforce to look at the key factors required to help employers embed diversity throughout organisations.
We found the single most important ingredient for any organisation is
leadership and specifically leadership at the highest level. Only where equality and diversity is positioned as a core strategic boardroom issue - and then proactively championed at the highest level - can it really be seen to be adopted across an organisation.
For this to happen leaders must visibly and proactively demonstrate a commitment to equality and diversity in practice. This requires leaders to engage in frequent interaction with staff, building dedicated time with assigned diversity leads in particular.
Putting in place simple steps that break down the approach into smaller manageable parts also helps ensure momentum can be maintained throughout an organisation.
In addition, each board executive should take a personal and a collective responsibility to work with others to ensure the organisation achieves its diversity goals and has appropriate accountability mechanisms.
Most importantly, especially in the current financial climate, an organisation's diversity goals and vision should be aligned with their broader organisational business goals. After all, every year millions is spent on recruitment and therefore it is in the interest of employers to attract and retain the best recruits and increase productivity - two key business benefits of managing diversity
effectively.
This week, NHS Employers launches a new online guide to support employers embed equality and diversity within their organisations. We have also launched two briefing papers, 'Connecting diversity with leadership' to support leaders to develop good practice and 'Human rights and human resources in the NHS: implications for the workplace,' providing a summary on key areas of consideration for employers in terms of their approach to human rights in the workplace, including a summary of key Acts and legislation.
No longer the bridesmaid in 2010, the benefits of wedding equality and diversity to the core aims and objectives of every workplace are set to be fully realised.
Sian Thomas, director at NHS Employers
