Blog

​​Inclusive Socials 

Post-work drinks have been an acceptable norm for so long, but these can actually leave out whole groups of people. This is something in more recent years we have tackled internally at Camino. 

To ensure evenings out is about more than just drinking, including an activity, there are so many things you can do in the city, including; crazy golf, bounce ping pong, virtual darts, axe throwing at the BoomBar at the O2, giant monopoly and more!! 

You should also think about day-time socials like a gym session, a walk or cinema trip. 

You want to create a sense of belonging for all and this is something that bar culture doesn’t always represent. 

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Cultural Calendars, more than just Christmas! 

Acknowledging all cultures' various holidays throughout the year is something which is easy to do but will harness diversity. 

You especially need to ensure to include holidays relevant to employees and if you can get them involved in sharing a piece of their culture that will make them feel seen and cared about. 

In larger businesses you will want to acknowledge them all but this could be as small as a mention in your weekly comms.

Values, values, values 

In the same way you want to centre your hiring process on clearly outlined competencies, you also want to clearly define a list of values that your company culture is centred around. 

Definitions will eliminate any grey areas and ambiguity, ultimately making employees feel more comfortable. 

Once defined, your values should be a huge part of your inductions and onboarding, discussing why they are important to you as a business and how the employee demonstrated they align with them prior to joining the business. This will make all employees feel as though they have company ground in what they value and make them feel more aligned with the company mission. 

Mentoring Programmes 

Providing either internal or external mentors for all employees is a great way to create opportunities for providing support on both professional and external issues. 

External mentors can additionally provide an objective point of view and help to navigate promotion and upskilling opportunities in a way that is unbiased but still aligned with the needs of the mentee. 

Progression Pathways 

By clearly outlining progression pathways from the start you can remove the opportunity for unconscious bias and give your employees confidence in the pathway that is available to them. 

Pathways should be transparent, fair and based on merit with achievable milestones. 

If you can celebrate and clearly evidence a diversity of talent in both internal and external comms surrounding promotions, prospective talent will see you as an employer who is aware of, and both an advocate and ally to diverse employees. 

Regular Recognition 

Following on from the previous point, celebrating everyone in your organisation in comms creates both a positive environment and demonstrates to diverse talent they are valued and appreciated. 

Recognition should be authentic, accessible and encouraging. 

Packages and Rewards 

You need a benefits and rewards package that will appeal to varying demographics. You can do this by researching popular benefits online or even better if you send quarterly or half yearly anonymous surveys internally to find out what employees actually want. 

Of course you can’t please everyone all of the time but considering the needs of people with children, people who are carers, people with disabilities, people who may have had to relocate for work or are less advantaged economically is a good place to start. You can see our Benefits Recruitment Industry Report here. 

Safe Cultures

You want to create an environment where everyone feels safe to voice opinions, issues and ideas. Feeling safe and empowered at work is what makes inclusion a reality. 

You can facilitate spaces for employees to share their thoughts and opinions, such as in company or team meetings or in employee engagement surveys. The important part is that you always acknowledge feedback and consider implementing them. When you do choose to implement something, it would be a nice touch, to ask the employee if they feel comfortable for you to acknowledge them when the new benefit or process is announced in internal and external comms. For example, it might be Saskia’s Maternity Package. 

EDI Training for all!

There may be some employees in your organisation who have little knowledge of EDI issues. If the team doesn’t feel knowledgeable or confident enough to intervene on matters relating to diversity or discussing topics that relate then other efforts will lack meaningful impact. 

If right for your business, encouraging employees to advocate for EDI issues online, once they have had the training to effectively 

You should invest in EDI training for the whole organisation, and additional training for leadership and hiring positions. If you haven’t had any formal hiring training, there are loads of resources online and you should read our Job Ads without Bias article linked here. 

EDI Groups and Committees

If you are undergoing a process of change in your organisation or are just starting your commitment to EDI, groups and committees are great for giving current employees spaces of support, while also offering advice and helping you to understand what you need or where to prioritise your efforts. 

The critical factors are assigning budget, resource, time and leadership team representation. If you are creating an internal group, remember to set clear goals, benchmarks and objectives. Make sure every member is given the time away from their desk to create real change, this should not give employees in these groups more responsibility or additional work.  

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All of the above can be tastefully marketed through social posts and mentions in newsletters or emails and will help to attract diverse talent to your business.