Commitment and collaboration

Having an EDI policy is a critical aspect of positive employee engagement and provides the perfect platform to outline your organisation’s commitment to ensuring an inclusive workplace that is equitable and diverse. Ensuring that your organisation is inclusive and supports all employees to thrive at work, regardless of their background requires practices and processes in place that value difference and break down barriers.

An EDI policy is also the place to outline the organisation’s commitment to safeguarding those who may face inequality or harassment due to one or more of the nine protected characteristics, and set out procedures for dealing with these should they arise. However, a pioneering approach to developing an EDI policy would look to go beyond legal requirements, for example, by considering social mobility and/or intersectionality. Take a look at this example from the British Council.

To create your EDI policy:

1. Before embarking on creating an EDI policy it is crucial to first set a specific vision on what your EDI policy is and its impact on your company and its customers. 
2. Review existing resources, such as this one from High Speed Training, which includes guidance and a free template.
3. Outline the behaviours expected from the workforce and ensure they align with the organisational and EDI values.
4. Clearly state that any form of discrimination, victimisation, harassment or bullying is unacceptable, in the form of a zero tolerance approach and statement. Set out procedures for dealing with complaints and reporting. Take a look at this resource from Acas.
5. Be clear about how to access support in general, or when reporting concerns.

An effective EDI strategy should detail how the organisation seeks to improve its EDI outcomes over a defined period of time, typically with specific and measurable actions. 

Set a clear EDI vision that articulates what EDI means for your organisation. Be specific about the type of culture you want your organisation to uphold;

Engage key stakeholders (senior management, board members, employees and trade union representatives) to create your EDI strategy - EDI strategies work best when they have the buy-in of senior leadership, and any Employee Resource Groups (ERGs). You can find more information on ERGs in the ‘Building an Inclusive Culture’ section. (Link to Building and Inclusive Culture section for Green Medium orgs once webpage created)

Collect and analyse both quantitative and qualitative data (i.e. surveys, focus groups and interviews) to assess your current workplace demographics, staff experiences and identify any gaps specific to your organisation's needs and situation. This will help set appropriate EDI goals and provide a baseline to benchmark improvements against;

Set an EDI budget - it is important that your organisation has the resources to deliver on any commitments built into the EDI strategy. This budget must be proportionate to the gaps identified across your organisation as well as your EDI ambitions;

Identify the internal / external resources needed to deliver against your EDI strategy and upskill your teams on EDI best practice. Consider creating an EDI team or an EDI Committee to help engage employees across the organisation and work with senior management;

Put your plan into action and communicate progress regularly. Be transparent with your employees about areas where improvement is needed, and how you will go about this. Be sure to regularly consult and share your findings with your organisation’s board members and ERGs;

Senior leadership should visibly lead EDI and revisit the strategy on a regular basis in order to monitor and deliver progress. Agreed goals should be regularly measured and assessed against results, and any necessary changes put in place.  The acronym SMART (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Bound) can be useful in setting goals.

EDI Strategy Best Practice Highlights

In 2022, Compass Group UK & Ireland won the Institute of Hospitality (Large Business) Award for EDI for their commitment to creating an inclusive culture and creating an environment in which everyone can progress. Compass was recognised for their commitment to enhancing career development at all levels. Examples of success include the Kickstart scheme, and a further commitment to launch the ‘Compass Academy’, to support skills development. Compass also signed up to the Race at Work charter in 2020, and has been pushing this agenda forward with its diversity and inclusion (D&I) networks including Pride in Food, Women in Food, Within and YouMatter, which together have hundreds of members that support inclusivity and mental health agendas.

Whitbread (owner of brands such as Premier Inn) has been implementing its EDI strategy for the last two years. In 2020, they shared their commitment to EDI change, including targets to have greater diversity in leadership, with goals of achieving 40% female representation and 8% ethnic minority in their leadership population by the end of 2023. Whitbread was ranked #24 in the Financial Times Diversity Leaders 2022, the 7th highest UK-ranked company in the list.

Diageo has set a target for its global leadership team – a group of roles below board and executive level – to be 50% female by 2030. They have also been working successfully to reduce their gender pay gap. They are a Disability Confident company and have made clear internal and external commitments to EDI, including setting up Asian and African heritage groups to support BAME colleagues and a Rainbow Network for LGBT+ employees. 

Senior leadership support for your organisation’s EDI ambitions is critical as they have influence over organisational priorities and can ensure the EDI vision is effectively communicated. Equally important are middle leaders and managers; without their buy-in, EDI is very difficult to embed.  Spending time ensuring they understand the organisation’s vision, values and expectations on EDI is critical to how the strategy is received and implemented.  

A maturity matrix is a helpful tool to assess your organisation on EDI, review progress, and consider next steps. You can see an example of a maturity matrix. While there is no ‘right-way’ to publicise your EDI progress and future milestones, sharing metrics is a great way of building transparency and accountability for yourself and other organisations in the sector. Inviting feedback from both internal and external stakeholders can provide further opportunities for honest reflection and building on key successes. Equally EDI is an ongoing process of improvement, so it is important to be honest about any challenges, admit mistakes, and be open to constructive criticism.

• In 2022, Marriott International published a Global Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Fact Sheet  which includes key milestones and statistics on representation.
• Greene King calls their EDI strategy ‘Everyday Inclusion’. Read about their work for ideas and inspiration.
• In 2019, Hilton shared an external EDI brochure, setting out their diversity and inclusion statement, executive team support, actions and key milestones.
• While specifically for the US, Hyatt's 2021 report is also an example of a thorough approach to EDI which may provide useful insight when considering your next steps.

Many organisations communicate their commitment to EDI by signing a pledge. This can be helpful in raising industry standards and encouraging open dialogue across organisations. Pledges and charters, such as those highlighted below, often come with a ready-built forum for discussion EDI, sharing best practice and working collaboratively to overcome sector-specific challenges.

Signing up to, or contributing to the creation of, anti-racism campaigns is a great way of demonstrating that you recognise the duty and responsibility to stand up against the racism that so many experience in the hospitality sector. For example, take a look at the Equal Measures Campaign, The Race At Work Charter or read CIPD’s guidance on developing an anti-racism strategy.

Pledges and Anti-Racism Campaigns

The Hotelier’s Charter was created by Royal Lancaster London’s General Manager Sally Beck. It requires signatories to work towards advancing EDI in their organisation and promoting the sector as a good career choice. The Charter contains 10 commitments and has received more than 500 signatures since its creation in 2021.

WiHTL is a collaboration community devoted to increasing Diversity and Inclusion across Hospitality, Travel and Leisure. They have launched a Diversity in Hospitality, Travel and Leisure (HTL) Charter, which sets out a 10-point plan that signatories commit to. Signatories include UKHospitality, Hilton and, IHG, amongst others.

The Race At Work Charter asks businesses to make a public commitment to improving equality of opportunity in the workplace, and has been signed by organisations such as Hilton, Compass, Forest Holidays and Pizza Express. View a full list of signatories.

Collecting pay gap data voluntarily will help your business be compliant before expected changes in law makes recording such information a statutory duty.

Sodexo is one of the signatories to the INvolve ethnicity pay reporting mandate, demonstrating a commitment to transparency and the importance of having conversations about race in the workplace.