How do you work with diversity and inclusion in practice? And what are the most important steps to get started in a structured way? Sustainable work on gender equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility starts with answering three fundamental questions for the whole organisation: What is We mean, why it is important and how how we do things in practice.
Here you will find concrete examples, guidance and perspectives that support systematic and long-term work on diversity and inclusion. The content is intended to be used both as inspiration and as practical support in daily work.
An important part of working with gender equality, equality, diversity, inclusion and accessibility is to clarify what the different concepts stand for. What do you mean in your workplace by the terms you use?
Read more about describing concepts
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Making it clear why equality, equity, diversity, inclusion and accessibility are important to your business creates commitment and reduces the risk of work being de-prioritised in tougher times.
Read more about why diversity and inclusion is important
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Whether your gender equality, equity, accessibility, diversity and inclusion initiative covers the whole organisation or part of it, and whether it is a completely new initiative or a reboot of a previous one, it needs to be anchored in the management team first.
Read more about anchoring in the management team
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When we talk about gender equality and diversity, the focus is often on staff composition. That is an important part, but to succeed in this work, the focus also needs to be on the culture of the workplace and on processes and procedures. In other words, what we are like and what we do. Read more about how people, processes and culture play a role in diversity →
An inclusive workplace is an environment where all employees are given equal opportunities to contribute, develop and belong. But what does this mean in practice?
Read more about what characterises an inclusive workplace
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Conducting a situation analysis means mapping and analysing the activities from a gender equality, equity, accessibility, diversity and inclusion perspective.
Read more about conducting a baseline analysis
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The role of senior management in embedding and implementing work on gender equality, equity, accessibility, diversity and inclusion is very important.
Read more about management commitment
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Inclusive leadership is about how leaders create the conditions for participation, trust and responsibility in the workplace. It concerns both how people are treated and how decisions are made, structures are set and goals are followed up. It is about leading ”inwards” and leading ”outwards”.
Read more about inclusive leadership
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There are several important prerequisites for a workplace to succeed in its work on gender equality, equality, accessibility, diversity and inclusion. One of these is good knowledge and high awareness. Increasing knowledge and awareness among managers and employees is important in order to drive the work forward.
Read more about raising awareness
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Our unconscious, automated beliefs and preferences can get in the way of making judgements and decisions. They can lead us to base our decisions on irrelevant information, to behave in an exclusionary rather than an inclusive manner, or to discriminate at work. Therefore, it is important to have a basic knowledge of such unconscious thought traps when working on equality, equity, accessibility, diversity and inclusion. Read more about bias in the workplace.
Read more about bias at work
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Developing organisational culture is crucial in the pursuit of diversity, equality and inclusion. Workplaces can be very diverse, both demographically and cognitively, but unless the culture is inclusive, there is a risk that these different experiences, skills and perspectives - which can enrich and influence the organisation and its activities - will not be expressed or utilised.
Read more about inclusive culture and behaviours
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In many workplaces, meetings are an important forum for sharing information and knowledge, making decisions and developing activities in various ways. These can be meetings of working groups, project teams or management teams. Behaviour and routines at meetings have a major impact on inclusion, and the extent to which the views, knowledge and experiences of those attending the meeting are taken into account.
Read more about organising inclusive meetings
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Feeling safe in the work group is crucial for sharing knowledge, experiences and perspectives. Psychological safety (known in some workplaces as psychological security) is therefore an important prerequisite for diversity, inclusive culture and an inclusive workplace.
Read more about psychological safety
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An accessible physical and digital work environment is a prerequisite for all employees to be able to work, communicate and contribute on equal terms. It is about designing premises, technology, systems and working methods so that they work for people with different needs and conditions. Read more about accessible physical and digital work environments.
Read more about physical and digital work environment
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An important part of the work on diversity, equality and inclusion is to develop and quality assure HR processes and different types of HR documents from a diversity and inclusion perspective, so that these support the work on gender equality, equality, accessibility, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Read more about HR documents
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Diversity-proofing the recruitment process means actively reducing the risk of bias and exclusionary structures at every stage - from requirements profile and advertising to selection, interview and decision. The aim is to ensure that competences and potential are assessed in an equal and transparent way.
Read more about diversity-proofing the recruitment process
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When measuring and monitoring gender equality, equity, accessibility, diversity and inclusion, it is important to measure not only staff composition, but also perceptions of workplace culture, as well as perceptions and outcomes of different processes and practices, such as recruitment and promotion. Read more about measuring diversity and inclusion →.