| "A worthy New Year's resolution, perhaps, is to take no hatred into the New Year without requiring it to restate its purpose."
~ Robert Brault |
Hello,
Welcome to our first newsletter of 2023!
It is our custom in January to set ourselves a theme for the year ahead. The theme is the area of the business in which we want to learn more and to bring more to our clients and community, once we are ready. And, as ever, the work that we will be doing with our clients is synergistic with the work that we need to do as a team. This year our theme is sustainability.
The challenges on us all are complex at the moment and the need for sustainability greater than ever. This year we will be incorporating the theme of sustainable leadership into our own internal objective setting, building our knowledge of the topics and bringing more of it to our clients and community. We don't have all of the answers yet but are committed to learning, discussing and bringing our expertise to the wider community. At the moment, we are thinking about it on three levels:
Sustainable careers and working practices: Covid, recession, inflation, technology and other macro shifts all mean that it is harder than ever to work in a sustainable manner. However, for our own personal health and the health of our businesses, we must find a way to do this.
Sustainable leadership: What are the wider impacts of our leadership on society and the environment? We increasingly see confidence in creating a diverse and inclusive workforce as just one of the emergent skills that today's leaders need. What other emerging skills are going to be required for the workplace of the future?
Sustainable lives: Europe is experiencing an extreme weather event at the moment. As I'm writing this, it is 20 degrees Celsius in Prague which is terrifying. We want to ensure our business has no negative impact on the environment and also that our team is also working towards net Zero outside of the workplace.
Part of becoming a sustainable business is keeping the future in mind by investing in diversity and inclusion initiatives now that will make a difference to your workforce of the future. Clearly recruitment is one of the most critical levers. For example, this recent article places inclusive recruitment at the heart of Black progression in the workplace. Less than 1.5% of management roles in UK companies are held by Black individuals, and non-inclusive recruitment practices (e.g. consistent replication of the same type of candidate) are a key barrier to recruiting senior Black talent. Current working practices are often not sustainable and we love this intention statement regarding recruitment : 'We need to widen the gate, not lower the bar'.
One of the steps we are taking to support this, is a virtual 1/2 Day Inclusive Recruitment Training on 21st February from 9.30am to 1pm. The workshop aims to help line managers and HR leaders understand the challenges of recruiting diverse teams across all minority groups. Our interactive exercises and practical tools will help them to positively impact employee engagement and drive long-term retention of diverse talent in their business.
For more information on the training, and how to register please click here.
We've also included a copy of our January and February DEI events calendar including workshops and webinars that we can offer.
Get in touch with us and we'll explore how we can support your DEI journey!