Debi’s inside track: how fully inclusive wellbeing is a key thread of a diversity strategy

In recent months a number of employers have told me they run their employee benefits programmes within their diversity and inclusion strategy. Maybe this has been going on for some time and I’ve simply missed the connection, but now that I’ve caught up with the thinking it makes real sense.

So, pulling together conversations that I’ve had recently with large organisations across engineering, construction, global technology, international hotel chains and retail sectors there is a trend that this connection is being driven by Boards (and in turn, their investors).

There are numerous studies proving that having workforces made up of as wide a range of outlooks, ways of thinking, variety in creativity and span of talents will enhance the chances of a business surviving much longer in a world where products and services are adapting and shifting rapidly.

This means employing people from all backgrounds (classes, races, religions, genders, ages, nationalities, physical/mental abilities, languages and so on) in order to have the neurodiversity and skills organisations need to be successful today.

There is also growing global pressure to have truly diverse workforces in order to be able to tender for the juiciest contracts, or get involved in the best deals. Even if you’re a subcontractor, you increasingly need to show the diverse make up of your workforce. Diversity cannot be painted on for a few months, it needs to be fully embedded and sustained at all levels of the organisation to truly reap the benefits.

So how does wellbeing play into diversity and inclusion?

I’ll use women as an example, given we are currently a discriminated group (until we have equal pay and representation at senior levels across all organisations we are still not included – much like the groups listed above).

Generally, employers have ignored the impact of women’s wellbeing on work. Dare I say it aloud: but we are different to men in the physical health department, and this can affect work. Menopause, period pain and maternity are often seen as ‘problems’ we need to handle, and if any of these cause women to miss out on promotions, job opportunities and pay increases due to inconvenient absences, not being our best every day or taking months off for maternity leave, we have to put up with it. Yet, 50% of the population is impacted in some way, at some point in their career despite these being perfectly natural human conditions.

That means your female talent will be affected. Do you really want your highly experienced 50-something talent walking out the door because there are days their memory or anxiety is out of whack. But with support you could keep them contributing at work?

Have you had a close look at the exclusions on many health insurances and noted that there are more exclusions affecting women than men? (I have it on good authority that some of the big insurers are looking at correcting this.) But it is indicative that we have a way to go.

So, if an employer is serious about gender equality in the workplace then attitudes to women’s health needs to shift in order for everyone to perform at their best at work.

As someone pointed out to me recently, we have diversity at work but what we now need to work on is inclusion – for all groups who currently feel excluded.

Fully inclusive wellbeing is one part of the route to diversity and inclusion.

The author is Debi O’Donovan, co-director at REBA.