From Unconscious Exclusion to Conscious Inclusion - How to Avoid the Traps and Make Real Progress: Catherine Garrod

07/17/23 • 42 min

In this episode, Siân Harrington interviews Catherine Garrod, author of Conscious Inclusion: How to ‘do’ EDI one decision at time who helped entertainment company Sky become the Most Inclusive Employer in the UK, about why, despite billions of dollars of investment, little progress has been made in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in organizations.

We discuss the importance of inclusion in the workplace, the challenges organizations face in creating more inclusive cultures and the practical steps they can take to make progress. We also talk about the traps that organizations can fall into when trying to create more inclusive cultures and how to avoid these traps to make real progress towards inclusion.

Key takeaways:

Inclusion is not about ticking boxes or meeting quotas. It's about creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, heard and involved
There are three main traps that organizations can fall into when trying to create more inclusive cultures: fear, accountability and the illusion of inclusion
The first step to creating a more inclusive culture is to start with inclusion, not diversity
Create a clear plan for inclusion and track progress regularly
Identify the good things that you're already doing and the gaps that need to be filled
Be aware of the challenges of flexible working and the evolution of technology and how to ensure that these changes are inclusive for everyone.

If you're interested in learning more about how to make your organization more inclusive, then this episode is for you.

About Catherine Garrod

Catherine is the founder of Compelling Culture and author of Conscious Inclusion: How to ‘do’ EDI one decision at time. She led Sky to become the Most Inclusive Employer in the UK, with 80% of teams increasing their diversity. Now as a consultant, she combines the power of listening, employee engagement, diversity and inclusion, to make the complex simple. And collaborates to define practical actions people can implement today, tomorrow and the day after, to transform the organisations she works with. Clients using her inclusion diagnostic are achieving a 15% improvement within 18 months.

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Key takeaways:

Inclusion is not about ticking boxes or meeting quotas. It's about creating a workplace where everyone feels valued, heard and involved
There are three main traps that organizations can fall into when trying to create more inclusive cultures: fear, accountability and the illusion of inclusion
The first step to creating a more inclusive culture is to start with inclusion, not diversity
Create a clear plan for inclusion and track progress regularly
Identify the good things that you're already doing and the gaps that need to be filled
Be aware of the challenges of flexible working and the evolution of technology and how to ensure that these changes are inclusive for everyone.

If you're interested in learning more about how to make your organization more inclusive, then this episode is for you.

About Catherine Garrod

Sign up for our free fortnightly newsletter
Follow Siân on LinkedIn
HR vendor or consultant? Check our the HR PR and Content Marketing Tips Blog
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Previous Episode

Turbocharge Innovation Through Psychological Safety: Daniel Strode

In this podcast, Siân Harrington interviews Daniel Strode about the connection between culture, innovation and a growth mindset, emphasising the importance of psychological safety in fostering a growth mindset within organisations.
Dan argues that culture is the primary factor driving innovation, regardless of business size or type. He highlights the rapid pace of technological advancements in the Fourth Industrial Revolution and the need for companies to innovate daily to stay relevant and competitive.
Daniel discusses eight consistent principles for creating a culture of innovation:

Rethinking business models
Fostering creativity with constraints
Embracing a growth mindset
Leveraging the wisdom of crowds
Embracing technology
Hire well
Putting your people first
Ensuring leadership participation in culture.

He stresses the significance of culture in shaping behaviour and mindset, defining it as "the way we do things around here when no one is looking" and emphasising the importance of caring for all stakeholders.
Dan discusses the impact of a growth mindset on individuals and organisations, highlighting the importance of taking risks, learning from failure and embracing change. He offers advice to overcome the challenges of creating a culture of psychological safety, where employees feel safe to take risks, share ideas and engage in open dialogue.
He concludes by encouraging individuals to try new things and embrace new experiences as a way to develop a growth mindset. He advises organisations to implement structured feedback models, create safe spaces for open debate and learn from successful leaders to improve psychological safety and foster a culture of growth and innovation.
About Daniel Strode

Daniel Strode is head of culture for Banco Santander – a 200,000 strong global bank – where he leads the global effort to implement a strong common culture across the whole workforce. For the past five years his culture work sees him cross 32 different countries globally, implementing “The Santander Way” and embedding the culture across a range of activities.

Dan is also an academic, teaching at universities and business schools around the world including Madrid’s IE Business School in Spain, and Bologna Business School in Italy. His main topics of teaching focus on how to create cultures where innovation can thrive, how to lead in the digital era, and, how to give and receive world class feedback.

In 2023 he released The Culture Advantage – Empowering your people to drive innovation published by Kogan Page.

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HR vendor or consultant? Check our the HR PR and Content Marketing Tips Blog
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Next Episode

How to Use Humour and Improv to Communicate in a VUCA World: Neil Mullarkey

In this episode of Work's Not Working... Let's Fix It, Siân Harrington chats to celebrated comedian and communications expert Neil Mullarkey about why we need to improve communication in the workplace and the potential of improvisation as a tool for doing so.

Neil recounts his journey from teaming up with Mike Myers in the 1980s and co-founding the Comedy Store Players to exploring how improvisation can enhance workplace collaboration. Delving into the business realm, he emphasizes how crucial 'soft skills' like listening and adaptability have become, especially with research highlighting the lack of communication skills in modern work environments. In fact, poor communication has been estimated to cost businesses dearly in terms of productivity.
Key takeaways:

Modern communication platforms (eg emails, WhatsApp, Teams) have increased, leading to confusion and overwhelm
Pandemic lockdown revealed an abundance of formal communication but a lack of informal communication, affecting rapport-building
The importance of oracy: the ability to express oneself fluently in speech.
Key improv skills: the philosophy of 'Yes, and,' where one listens, accepts and then adds to the conversation.
From LAGER to LASER: tools to approach improvisation
Tips for improving virtual collaboration
In a fast-changing world, predictability is a myth; leaders should be prepared for uncertainty
How to bridge the gap between structured strategy and spontaneous adaptability
How leaders can develop an 'In the Moment' mindset
Humour's role in work today
Siân and Neil do some live improv!

If you want to cultivate environments where effective communication fosters productivity, creativity and confidence - or you want to build these skills - then this episode is for you.
About Neil Mullarkey

Neil is a communication expert based in London, UK. He has delivered hundreds of keynotes and workshops to various organizations across the world in 25 countries and counting including Microsoft, KPMG, WPP, Saatchi & Saatchi, Vodafone, EY, Google, Deloitte and GSK. He is a guest speaker at London Business School, London Business Forum and Bayes Business School.
He is also a prominent comedian. He performs weekly with the Comedy Store Players, Europe’s top improv troupe which he co-founded in 1985 and often appears on TV and radio shows such as QI and The Pentaverate. He has also appeared in two Austin Powers movies. He is author of In the Moment: Build your confidence, communication and creativity at work published by Kogan Page.

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Follow Siân on LinkedIn
HR vendor or consultant? Check our the HR PR and Content Marketing Tips Blog
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Work's Not Working... Let's Fix It! - From Unconscious Exclusion to Conscious Inclusion - How to Avoid the Traps and Make Real Progress: Catherine Garrod

Transcript

Catherine Garrod [00.00]

The diversity washing and the green washing challenges that we may be experiencing actually comes from not a lack of commitment and a lack of authenticity. I think it comes from a lack of experience and understanding. So I take heart in that because I don't think organisations are out there trying to fake it. I think what organisations are trying to do is catch up. quickly to a whole world of information that they just haven't got the skill set o