Inclusion, Diversity & Equity: Creating a Safe Space in the Workplace

Inclusion, diversity and equity (IDE) is vital for encouraging a sense of belonging, respect and empowerment in the workplace. At Kinetica we are committed to embracing IDE to ensure that all our employees, regardless of background, feel valued and respected for their unique perspectives and contributions. We want to foster an inclusive environment that promotes creativity, innovation, and collaboration among team members and ultimately leads to greater job satisfaction as our employees feel free to be themselves. 

So as a company that is committed to IDE, we asked ourselves: How can we as a business integrate IDE into our workplace?

Where to Start? At Kinetica, our IDE journey began last year, as we established a committee comprised of employees that are passionate about championing IDE within the workplace. Their goal so far has been to analyse our internal policies and understand what we would need to do to fully embrace IDE throughout our company and reflect this in our culture. After careful discussions we realised that the first point of call is education. If we don’t know enough about IDE then how can we promote it in our business.

Education: We decided to bring in an external training partner to educate our company on IDE; to help everyone understand what it really means and the impact it can have. Last week we were visited by Karen Marshall from All About Inclusion, who delivered an in depth training session to all our staff. It provided us with the basis we need to understand this enormous subject matter, including cover important topics such as cultural competence, unconscious bias and understanding our privilege. It was a fantastic learning opportunity, and whilst is sparked some difficult conversations, it really helped everyone to reflect on what IDE means to them and how they can be better ally’s within our business.  

What's Next?: After a successful training session, our IDE committee will be meeting next week to discuss some of the key take home points and to create an action plan to achieve our wider IDE goals. Watch this space as we will be working to update our IDE policies, develop a code of conduct, develop a mission statement based on our culture with reference to IDE, ensure we use inclusive language in all our material, implementing mental health first aiders and most importantly creating a safe space so everyone can ultimately be themselves.

We truly are committed to our IDE goals and we are excited to see how the business changes and the positive impact that it will have on our employees and the company. Ultimately, prioritising IDE in the workplace will help us to create a more positive and supportive atmosphere where every employee can thrive. 

For more information on our IDE policies or if you are interested in learning more about the culture at Kinetica, then reach out to Emma West: emma@kinetica.co.uk

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