5 minute GAP - Where are we in our current EDI journey? Part 2
Lauren (Global Action Plan HR Manager) and Natasha (Head of Comms and EDI panel member) continue their conversation about where we are in the current phase of our push to improve our organisational impact around equity, diversity and inclusivity.
"We Share Freely". The change we want to see in the world is bigger than we are. So, we're sharing our knowledge, resources and ideas to help more people and organisations take steps forward towards our vision of a green and thriving planet, where everyone can enjoy happy and healthy lives within the Earth's limits.
As part of this, we've launched our "5 Minute GAP" series, a collection of five minute conversations that will share how we work and what we're working on. We'll talk about what we're trying to achieve and why, how we function as an organisation, and the thinking behind our plans and strategy.
We'll be regularly sharing these conversations, which will feature different members of our team and trustee board, as well as external experts.
We hope you enjoy listening in to our chats, getting to know our team and finding out what makes us who we are.
If you prefer to read rather than watch, the transcription is here:
Natasha: I think the point about inclusion is really important. As you know, I used to work in a university context and a colleague of mine always used to talk about how because there is a focus in universities, as there is in lots of sectors... but you think about around A-level day there’s always you know, how many kids from private school backgrounds get into Oxbridge, how many kids from different... whether that's kind of, ethnic minority backgrounds or whatever it might be. How many... sort of again, looking at that kind of demographic, the equivalent of that kind of demographic data. And a colleague of mine always used to say, “but it's not just about getting in, it's about getting on”. Which I thought was a really kind of a great way of phrasing it. Like once your foot is in the door, what is your experience like? That's about culture, that's about the kind of organisation that you want to be.
And I think, I think we're really lucky at Global Action Plan because I think we've got a supportive, as you say, the staff survey backs it up, we've got the support of leadership. We know that staff are kind of on board with this. But we know that that's not the case universally across the UK. I think we're lucky as an organisation to have that. But I think where you see kind of organisations where this kind of action is struggling to really get traction and you know, the people who are championing the work can be struggling to be heard. I think it's almost because there is this resistance to culture change, but sadly not the recognition that culture change is actually positive for everyone in the long run.
Lauren: Yeah, and I guess it’s that, you know, we are lucky at GAP that we, we have a very good and a very strong organisation culture already so there isn't any... I don't feel that there's any sense of distrust or anything like that when we're talking about change. And I think people are very confident that we're not trying to do things in a tokenistic way but with real thought and meaning into it.
And I guess that's like a strength and weakness for us, at GAP, in the sense that when you think about culture from a diversity perspective and who holds the power, who has the voice or the confidence to voice an opinion, at GAP we’re, you know, we pride ourselves in kind of not being very hierarchical. And in some ways you can think, well, that makes it easier for diverse voices to be heard. But, you know, we have to critique that and not just believe that to be the case. We actually have to talk to our staff and find out if that is the reality, because I'd imagine that it presents just as many difficulties... if you don't have that hierarchy, sometimes it can be even more complicated. Who gets to speak up and who doesn’t?
So I think again, that's one of the sort of challenges we'll have to look at as we're planning our actions over the next coming months.
Natashsa: I'm really glad you used the word power or that you raised it. Because that’s fundamentally what this work is about. It's about critiquing power structures, understanding where power sits and the historical reasons for that, and that's within your organisation, but also just more broadly.
And yeah, how your organisation responds to that and whether that’s appropriate. And I think it is hard because I think I think I think hierarchy can get a bad name. And that's not to say that... I don't want to come out here as a fan of like overly bureaucratic hierarchical systems, because I wouldn't say that I am. But I think and this is where perhaps I'm blurring some terms and that's not fair, but you need ... people need decision makers, right? You need responsibility and you need accountability. You need people who are kind of... you need leaders who have vision, want to take decisions and are committed to kind of seeing them through. And that's actually what everyone needs. And I think having that kind of vision and leadership, I think sometimes can get confused not enormously, but can get confused with the idea of hierarchy.
But I'm just reflecting on kind of on.... I think that that's the idea, as you said, that not having hierarchy can be just as much of a challenge to get things done.
Lauren: And it's the same with this whole thing about our kind of thing at the moment that we're focusing on is putting the processes and systems in place because we've got the attitudes there, the values are there around diversity, but let's get the systems and processes in place. Well the same thing applies, because GAP tends to be, you know, we don't want to be super policy driven, we don't want to be really proscribing to people exactly what they need to do and when. So it's getting that balance right, of saying we need to have clear enough guidance in place that people know what's available to them and the opportunities are all applied fairly, but not putting things in place that restrict the kind of freedoms and flexibilities that are part of our values in terms of how we work and how we make sure that we're agile to change and things like that.
So I think it is about making sure that we don't just pick a sort of diversity program off the shelf and just say, you know, plonk it in to GAP and hope it fits, you know, we really need to work on making sure that it is bespoke and fit for purpose and it suits us. And that is going back to our values. You know, we want to challenge the norm. We don't just want to follow a path that's carved out in diversity or follow along with the systems that we know aren't working for everyone in the kind of communities we operate in. So let's challenge the norm. Let's question what needs to be done, what doesn't need to be done. And yeah, try and kind of improve along that way.
Natasha: Yeah, I think it’s meaningful change, isn't it? That's what we're as you say, that's, that's how that's what we aim to deliver anyway. So why wouldn't we do that through various aspects of our work.