Gaining buy-in to managing diversity

Overview

The business case for diversity covers many areas, including reputational issues, attracting best talent, increasing employee effort, retaining staff and maximising productivity and creativity. Gaining buy-in from others is vital and each of these parts of the business case can play an important role. Knowing the areas in which your competitors are successful regarding diversity, for example what awards they’re winning can also help to gain buy-in, especially with senior teams.  

In order to genuinely progress diversity in your organisation, you will need to make sure you have the buy-in from a variety of different people, including Partners/Directors, Senior Managers, General Managers, as well as general employees.  Gaining buy-in can be difficult for a number of reasons including people viewing diversity as 'PC gone mad', something 'they already do', something 'for HR to look after' or just extra work for them on top of already full workloads. This section, will give you hints and tips about how to gain buy-in from others to ensure that you are managing diversity effectively throughout your organisation.

What do I need to know?

There are three main areas of information you are likely to need to draw on when considering how to gain buy-in in your organisation: 

• The business case

Selling the benefits of diversity to the business e.g. enhanced employee performance and supplying to a diverse customer base.

• The legal case

Explaining the legal obligations facing the business and the potential risks if these are not followed.

• The moral case

Linking diversity and the underlying principles of fairness and equality to your personal and business values.

In essence, you need to remember that gaining buy-in for diversity requires a clear case for diversity that supports your broader business goals. Building this case starts with understanding the key characteristics of your employee and customer bases and what, if any, changes you would like to see taking place (for example, an increase in the number of disabled customers). This understanding can then help inform the importance of managing diversity both as an employer and as a supplier.