Real Talk - The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Backlash: what this means for the fight for equity

It was standing room only in our packed out panel at the recent International Womens Day event at City Hall in Bristol.
The panel was titled "Real Talk - The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Backlash: what this means for the fight for equity" and the panelists discussed a wide range of related topics.

Panel facilitator and Charter Ambassador Helen Farmer started the questioning by asking what role psychological safety plays in the workplace.

The response from the panel was unanimous in that it is crucial for employees to feel safe to be themselves in the workplace and not feel that they have to change to fit in.

Charter Ambassador and fellow facilitator Anita Sawhney shared that managers have a vital role to play in making all  people, and not just those from, marginalised groups feel like they belong and are included. This starts from the outset during the onboarding process. Managers should go the extra mile to integrate new team members into the workplace. We all have a role to play to make people feel like they have a voice, but also remember to show our own vulnerabilities.  She also spoke about the role of data in measuring the return on investment for DEI and if we can look at measuring how inclusive and psychologically safe workplaces are we can postulate that the organisation probably has very high performing teams and therefore make the business case for DEI, hence mitigating the DEI backlash.

Charter Director Kristal McNamara talked about the importance of data - but also that data can be a hinderance, for example in a small business where it may not be possible for people to share their protected characteristics anonymously. Equally even in a large organisation, people may not feel comfortable in sharing this information if they don't trust their employer.

Panelist Ximena Alarcon talked about her work studying sound patterns and observed that how we speak and our accents are a part of our identity. For many people who speak English as a second language, this means continuously translating which can be tiring. Lots of stereotypes are assumed based only on the way that people speak.

Panelist Sibusiso T. shared that the trend in demographics suggests that the UK will go from having a 16% ethnic minority population today to 27% by 2061. This means that organisations who don't take EDI seriously will face a real problem recruiting and retaining staff in future. Put simply, people don't stay in organisations where they won't progress. 
In addition to recruitment, businesses need to remember that the shift in demographic will also change spending power and those without a diverse workforce are not likely to produce products and services that appeal to diverse consumers.

Several audience members commented that the backlash is gaining more attention with some prominent characters giving a platform to people who oppose EDI. This prompted a discussion on what individuals can do to speak out against this type of backlash. Ultimately we were reminded that everyone has the power to grab attention and change the narrative - and the more we each do this, the louder we will be.

The final question of the day was this - How do you truly create that psychological safety in your organisation? A really great question! The panelists shared their views on how they would go about it:

• Being careful with ourselves and recognising that our own experiences are not necessarily the same of others around us.
• Seek out collective opportunities for improvement
• Recognise our own biases and privilege and work to improve them
• Better listening leads to better decision making, which leads to better action and outcomes

At the end of the session, we were reminded of the well known quote from Maya Angelou: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” The intention was to close the panel with the powerful thought that it is all of our responsibility to stand up against the backlash and create inclusive environments for all.

​A huge thank you to all who came along!