Over the last two weeks we have heard from our key stakeholders – our young people and our corporate partners and colleagues so we can start moving from talking to action; working together to develop workplaces where all talent can flourish. We listened to views from our young people about their opinions of diversity in the workplace, whether they felt they had a fair chance to get into the industry they aspired too, and importantly what the Black Lives Matter movement meant to them. We took this insight to our Corporate Leaders Forum and listened to 20 senior leaders who were passionate about creating genuine change in this area.
Many valuable insights and suggestions came out of the Youth Forum and Corporate Leaders Form which we’ve summarised below, to build on our original ’10 things corporates can do to create change’ article. It was really clear that corporates can, and should, be playing a role both in the community to reach young people as well as growing the culture of their organisation, and many of our corporate partners were already taking action.
For young people:
- CHANGE PERCEPTIONS
Reach out into your communities and talk to young people – show them that roles in your organisations are achievable and accessible. - PROMOTE AWARENESS
Again, reach out into communities and to young people you may not usually reach. The Brokerage can help you do this with our outreach programmes, ensuring you are providing opportunities to diverse talent. - HELP TO EDUCATE AND BUST THE MYTHS
Help educate and bust the myths: tell young people what it’s like in your organisation, help get rid of their fears and tell them you won’t be assessing them on how many violin lessons they have had – you should be interested in their potential and ability NOT how many extracurricular activities they have.
In the workplace, corporates can:
- LOOK HARD AT THEIR ORGANISATION
Hold that mirror up, ask yourself if you are doing the right things. We can help you with our diagnostic tool to provide an impartial, external lens. - LISTEN TO HOW IT FEELS
Hear from your colleagues about what it’s like in your organisation, and listen to our young people so you understand the views and insights of your future talent. - LOOK AT THE WHOLE RECRUITMENT CYCLE
Challenge your processes and look at where you recruit, how you recruit and how you promote. - GROWING YOUR CULTURE
Young people won’t want to be ‘included’ into a culture which is archaic and analogous. Start thinking beyond inclusivity and more about how you can grow your culture into one where all talent can flourish and everyone feels like they can belong.
Please click here to read more and contact Susheel Sharma to discuss change in your organisation.
'