What is DE&I?
Diversity is about recognising our differences. It acknowledges the benefit of having a range of perspectives in decision-making and it recognizes that employees from different cultures, ideologies and backgrounds offer new lenses through which to view the world and in particular the world of our customers.
Equity focuses on fairness and justice. It means giving everyone what they need to be successful regardless of their background or circumstances. It’s about creating equal opportunities and addressing systemic inequalities. In recruitment, this means all candidates should have an equal opportunity to succeed, regardless of factors like background, race or gender. The aim is to level the playing field and promote inclusivity.
Inclusion is where people’s differences are valued and used to enable everyone to thrive at work. An inclusive working environment is one in which everyone feels that they belong without having to conform and that their contribution matters. Employees should feel they are able to perform to their full potential regardless of their background, identity or circumstances. An inclusive workplace has fair and meritorious policies and practices in place and enables a diverse range of people to work together effectively.
In the UK, age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex and sexual orientation, are ‘protected characteristics’ covered by discrimination law to give people protection against being treated unfairly. At Diffblue the DE&I strategy goes beyond legal compliance and seeks to add value to our organisation by creating an inclusive environment resulting in better attraction and retention of a diverse workforce.
Why is it important?
As stated in our Culture document, to help our customers and do our best work, we need to empathize with others. We hire the best people, and are proud that we have a diverse international team. We celebrate our differences, and everyone should feel free to be themselves at work. Everyone at Diffblue stands to benefit when we embrace and value the diversity of thoughts, ideas and ways of working that people from different backgrounds, experiences and identities bring to an organisation.
Over the last year Diffblue has made changes to its hiring procedures where we felt that certain groups of candidates (e.g: female candidates) might be put off.
What can we do?
Knowledge and awareness is key. DE&I initiatives should cut across the lifecycle of employees:
- Attract the best talent from a large and diverse pool of candidates
- We are fair in developing talent and providing opportunities
- Create an inclusive workplace culture
- Leverage DE&I in partnership with customers, suppliers and communities
While Management awareness, commitment and behavior is key, DE&I is everyone’s responsibility.
