Is it just me, or does anyone else love asking this question?
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I love the question! It has the power to open conversations and initiate so many ideas that can drive significant change - the result: fairer, more inclusive policies, projects, processes and systems. The question is generally asked by public sector organisations as part of the Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) process – but it’s a question all organisations could ask.
Its such a great question! It can protect us from making a potentially discriminatory decision or creating an inaccessible process, policy or project. And you can ask it in any decision-making situation. Ask it of decisions in any team meeting, working group, staff network, one- to-one, Senior Management Team or Board meeting - and don’t forget to check personal decisions in your own head!
Initially, I wasn’t convinced that Equality Impact Assessments, a result of the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, could make a sustainable change. However, when leading a Managing Diversity course, I was challenged to consider how a company could check that its recruitment processes were fair. The initial check in an EIA was the obvious start: Consider each protected characteristic for potential negative impacts against each stage of the recruitment process. Then, if you think of potential adverse impacts, consider the options for mitigation and make appropriate changes. I soon realised the question above could benefit any company. Those managers were basically asking the question, and the first stage of the Equality Impact Assessment process gave them the answer.
I know there is more to a full assessment than this, but if you genuinely want to make fair and inclusive decisions, asking the simple question above is an excellent start. Then, if you want/need the fuller process, you can improve further with the positive impact of consultation on staff and stakeholders.
At Resolve Evolve, we feel strongly about the importance of asking the question and have developed an Equality Impact Assessment training course that emphasises the positive impact of EIAs - and the excitement (I’m serious!) that can be generated from it. (www.resolvevolve.com/leadership-and-management-services). And, as so many small
voluntary sector organisations don’t have the resources, we have a session as part of our low-cost open courses offer (www.resolvevolve.com/all-courses).
Asking this simple and powerful question doesn’t have to be a chore or an afterthought. Asked early in your decision-making, it can help support your company or organisation’s wider equality, diversity, equity and inclusion ambitions.
*Note: I’ve said ‘personal & protected’ characteristics to reflect broader areas than the Equality Act. I hope anyone considering this question will include at least neurodivergence, socio-economic status, gender and education.
Please contact us if you are interested in Equality Impact Assessment training or any of our other courses.
(donna@resolvevolve.com)
