The Open Doors Initiative and DEI strategies with Siobhan Sweeney
In this episode, we have the Open Doors Initiative’s Director of Development, Diversity, Equality, and Inclusion, Siobhan Sweeney with us to discuss DEI and DEI strategies in the workplace. Siobhan previously worked at AIB as Group Diversity and Inclusion Lead, developing strategies to further the DEI mindset and to break down biases, raise awareness and deliver support initiatives across the group.
Siobhan is an award-winning expert in DEI and her work at the Open Doors Initiative has allowed her to help over 90 companies from all sectors to implement strategies and policies to empower diverse teams to perform at their best, fulfilling companies’ statutory equality and diversity requirements.
Currently, Siobhan is undertaking an MSc in Work and Organisational Behaviour/Psychology at DCU to complement her skills.
What is The Open Doors Initiative?
The Open Doors Initiative is a not for profit organisation that works with marginalised groups such as refugees, asylum seekers, non-native English speakers, people with disabilities, or young people with educational barriers to develop employment opportunities in Ireland by creating a pathway that includes training, education and support.
The organisation currently works with more than 100 companies to develop this pathway in order to find a beneficial agreement for both employees and companies. The Open Doors Initiative also develops papers and research about DEI strategies and best practice for collaborators.
Benefits of DEI for companies
Human talent is arguably the most important asset a company possesses. Having a diverse and inclusive population in your company helps support decisions that align better with the reality of the market and the world in general, and strategically avoid blind spots in this regard.
Taking a look at how diverse your management and committees are can give you a hint as to how open you are to make the changes required to build a diverse, equal and inclusive company.
Milestones to measure DEI success
Each company has its own journey with DEI, so it is important to understand why a company wants to apply DEI strategies, what is their main reason. This will give us a starting point. It’s important the goal is legitimate and goes beyond just following a trend or doing yoga day every once in a while.
Other ways of measuring success are looking at your employees’ demographics and insights, counting how many people actually attend corporate events or are content with internal policies, etc. This might give you an idea of how successful your DEI strategies are.
Having sponsors, allies, and follow-up processes that support you is also a great way to monitor success.
How to bring leadership groups together for DEI strategies
The first thing Siobhan recommends, and I strongly agree, is doing some research and gathering information about what colleagues want, what are their beliefs and how can the company meet these needs to promote wellbeing in the workplace.
What will the future of DEI look like?
Last year was a period of learning and our ability to be flexible and adapt was key to landing remarkable results in many cases. This is why Siobhan refers not only to a change in our perspective of DEI but of work in general.
Siobhan says that we have learned that we can be equally as productive, if not more so, while working remotely. The recently announced code of practice on ‘the right to disconnect’ adds extra support to employees looking to avail of flexible working practices in the future . To Siobhan, something companies must start thinking about is how to make this home-office situation work for employees who don't have the proper setup in their homes. Having committed leaders that are listening to the team's needs and planning accordingly is what’s required.
Regarding DEI, it's in a transition phase. Education is the key, according to Siobhan, so the more awareness and education of DEI and relevant topics for employees and leaders alike, the better. With the right environment and support, diversity, equality and inclusion will benefit everyone within your organisation, not to mention the bottom line.
Listen to the entire podcast above or search for ‘The Work Well Podcast’ on your preferred podcast platform (including Spotify), and you can watch the video of our conversation through this link.
About Your Host
Brian Crooke is a wellbeing educator, speaker and adviser, empowering Irish organisations to promote and sustain wellbeing within their workplaces.
He is the founder of The Work Well Institute and the Workplace Wellbeing Ireland community and is Course Director of the Postgraduate Certificate in Workplace Wellness at Tangent, Trinity College Dublin. He is the host of The Work Well Podcast.
If you want to bring sustainable wellbeing to your workplace then check out The Work Well Institute’s flagship programme, Developing a Workplace Wellness Programme that Lasts.
In his spare time, Brian is bringing free resistance training to every county and community in Ireland through his parkHIIT social enterprise.
If you have any suggestions for future topics you'd like to hear on the show, email Brian directly, brian@workwellpodcast.com
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