Five Tips for National Inclusion Week 2021

National Inclusion Week hits our calendars on the 27th of September.  It is designed to celebrate everyday inclusion and facilitate a host of activities that highlight the importance of inclusion.

Inclusion is a strategy without which diversity couldn't work.  Diversity focuses on ensuring the widest talent pool is available for your organisation. Inclusion ensures that the benefits of that diversity are realised.

This may be the first time that you or your company is taking part in National Inclusion Week and we hope that this provides a catalyst for inclusive approaches as part of business as usual.  To help you get started we have five tips and ideas for inclusion week.

Tip 1.  Have a Book Club event and research and agree on reading material that highlights different lived experiences in society. A classic that springs to mind is Malorie Blackman’s Noughts and Crosses (which is also available as a series on the BBC Iplayer).

Here’s a link to more suggestions. Or for those who aren’t so keen on fiction Now You Know published by Sound Advice is a collection of sound advice to challenge spatial and racial inequality from 60 architects and urbanists.  Here is a link to the 10 books about diversity and inclusion for 2021. And if books don’t float your boat, pick a podcast, a TED talk or an article that’s made a lasting impression.

Tip 2.   Engage with staff and stakeholders on ways to embed practical inclusion.  While the public health and climate crisis has been devastating and challenging for many, it has given rise to an opportunity to rethink what we do and how we do things, with everything from greater autonomy over working hours, flexibility on locations, and the complete review of accessibility strategies. Open and continue dialogue with individuals on how best to meet needs for them and your organisation.

Tip 3.  Enhance your CPD offering with equality, diversity and inclusion topics.  CPD offers the opportunity to upskill everyone in your organisation.  One of the many reasons that change in EDI has been slow in the construction sector, is a lack of awareness and understanding of the subject.  Start now by ensuring your CPD calendar contains topics on inclusion and diversity.

Tip 4.  Encourage mutual support and knowledge exchange amongst the team via mentoring. Built By Us has successfully used mentoring with an EDI focus to enable discussions amongst individuals to share their experiences and perspectives on EDI and more. You could start with a speed mentoring event to get this underway.

Tip 5.  Focus on mental health and wellbeing. It goes without saying that the past 18 months have been difficult for every single one of us.  As many people prepare to return to their places of work after what for some has been an extended period of isolation. Issues around mental health could come to the fore. Engage with your staff members and colleagues on the best ways to address and mitigate the issues so that people can make a safe and successful return, and can contribute to appropriate solutions.

For more information on how Built By Us can support your journey to creating a more inclusive business check out the Built By Us website.