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Commitment and collaboration

Demonstrating your organisation’s commitment to EDI is a key step in any EDI strategy.  In this section, you will be provided with guidelines and options as to how you can develop and express your commitment to EDI. Organisations that are explicit, clear and engaged with their EDI strategy have a greater chance of succeeding and enjoy a better reputation among stakeholders.

Commitment also brings accountability, which is critical to the overall success of any strategy. Whether your organisation is only a few people, or a global player with several offices, demonstrating your commitment to EDI can be powerful.

Learn about EDI and how it applies to your sector

Senior figures should visibly lead EDI and be accountable for monitoring and delivering on EDI. In order to do that effectively, the starting point will be learning about EDI and how it applies in your sector, so you have a good understanding of the opportunities that come with having a more diverse workforce, as well as the challenges faced by underrepresented groups in the hospitality sector.

Learn about EDI in the hospitality industry.

There are specific reports available which will help give you a solid grounding in the concerns facing your particular sub-sector.  Sharing those that are relevant to you with others in your organisation and outside will give you an opportunity to digest what you have read, discuss ideas, and disseminate key information about supporting the Priority Groups.

Collect data on the diversity of your organisation

Data is fundamental to any successful EDI initiative. Without understanding the breakdown of who is in your workforce, it is difficult to identify where particular interventions will successfully improve EDI outcomes. You can find information and resources to help you collate your organisation's data. Undertaking an annual EDI audit can be beneficial to ensuring your organisation is able to keep track of changes in EDI outcomes and has an opportunity to refresh your strategic EDI approach.

Although current pay-gap reporting is only required for gender and for organisations with more than 250 employees, many organisations are understanding the power of collecting and sharing this data. WiHTL found that, on average, organisations in the sector had 61% males in the highest-paid 25% of their workforce, but 54% females in the lowest-paid 25%. The Resolution Foundation (2020) identified that, across all age groups, hospitality workers from Black African/Caribbean and Black British backgrounds are among the least likely to be in the highest paying occupations.

We recommended that organisations are transparent with their data and any steps for action that result from the findings. This helps build trust among staff and shows accountability. It is also a chance to get ahead and put in place pay reporting measures that are likely to become law in the near future.

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.

Embed EDI into your business plan as a strategic priority

An EDI policy is a written agreement for your organisation which addresses how you will promote equity and create a safe and inclusive atmosphere for your employees and service users. Equal Measures was founded in 2020 to deliver greater equity in the drinks industry, and provides an adaptable EDI policy template that you could use.

Small business owners are always squeezed for time, and wear many hats in the organisations they run. Setting aside time regularly to consider EDI will help to create a regular habit. Even 30 minutes a fortnight or a month will help you to build EDI into your organisation.

Where you can, allocate a specific pot of money for EDI. This pot of money could be used to:

  • Upskill yourself or key people in your team on EDI best practices, for example, inclusive recruitment practices training for anyone who makes hiring decisions in your organisation;
  • Attend networking conferences led by diverse hospitality businesses;
  • Update your website to include your EDI vision statement, strategy or commitment.

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. 

Engage with other industry organisations and trade unions to access advice and support on EDI

For Priority Group individuals not currently working in the sector, seeing a whole industry committed to positive change may help alter perceptions that the industry is not for them.

Engaging with other industry organisations can help organisations access advice and support, whilst also sharing lessons learnt and best practice. It provides an opportunity for the industry to evolve into a sector committed to inclusion.

Trade unions are also an authoritative source of guidance on equality issues in the workplace. If your employees are members of a union, their representatives will be an important stakeholder in consulting on and developing your EDI strategy. Whether your employees are members or not, the Trades Union Congress has a range of helpful resources on EDI issues.

Here are some of the ways that your organisation can start to think about engaging and collaborating:

  1. Encourage and support employees to speak on external industry panels and publicise these events explicitly via all appropriate channels;
  2. Attend networking events for Priority Groups within the industry and highlight role hospitality sector EDI best practice with other organisations, as well as obtaining guidance on how best to facilitate a robust EDI strategy and culture. Share collaborations publicly to bolster accountability;
  3. Consider cross sector mentoring and reverse mentoring; 
  4. Take part in research within the sector to improve data disclosure, data gathering, and data analysis in relation to EDI.

Micro-enterprises can find a list of organisations that can provide support, while organisations of any size can use those same resources to consider what actions they could be taking to support micro-enterprises in the sector.