National Inclusion Week on 14-20 September gives us a chance to pause, reflect and be honest about what inclusion means in practice. For us, this means celebrating progress while also recognising that the work is not complete until everyone experiences Action Hampshire as a place where they can contribute, speak up and feel safe. Claire Vincent, our Head of People shares our story…
Progress isn’t perfect. It’s messy, and we have to start from where we are. That’s how we have approached our inclusion work and wider Equality, Equity, and Diversity work, funded by the National Lottery, as an opportunity to focus on making Action Hampshire an inclusive place to work. We have a wonderful team with great intentions, but we also needed processes and policies in place to drive and support our progress. This work has been long and has often led to more work, but it has been invaluable in setting out our intentions and giving structure and guidance to what we do.
However, inclusion is not just about policies and procedures; it is about embedding inclusion across our culture at Action Hampshire. It starts with everyday conversations, and with how we treat each other in everything we do. We have always said that inclusion should not be a bolt-on, or something only a few people are responsible for, but something everyone takes responsibility for. As a team, we have made real progress. Putting a spotlight on ourselves as an organisation has allowed this work to happen, even where it has identified how we may be falling short.
Sometimes we may feel we are making progress and creating a great workplace, but if not everyone is feeling included or able to speak up, then we still have a long way to go. If some members of the team are not experiencing the psychological safety we are trying to create, then we are not getting it right. We need to keep asking questions of ourselves and listening to everyone. We certainly do not want to gloss over what is not working, even when this leads to uncomfortable conversations. We strive to create different opportunities to build trust, connection and confidence within the team, so people can speak up, share their experiences and feel safe in doing so. We continue to reflect on this, and we need to do more work on the barriers that may prevent some of the team feeling this safety.
Our work is not done. We will continue to build a safe and inclusive space, celebrating the strengths, experiences and value of all our team at Action Hampshire. This will continue beyond our National Lottery funding and as an infrastructure organisation, we continue to share this with the wider voluntary, community & social enterprise sector. Inclusion Week is a reminder that progress is made through continued reflection, honest conversations and shared responsibility and is not something to be worked on and completed.
Want to find out more about how we encourage inclusion?
One of the ways we do this is through the adoption of a coaching culture. This is an approach which views employees as adults with the skills and capabilities to achieve great things. It’s the opposite of micro-managing and directing staff. Instead, it uses trust and support to enable people to see their strengths and feel safe to take risks to develop themselves and explore new opportunities.
