Offering menopause leave supports an intersectional approach to diversity and inclusion
Menopause leave matters. In the UK alone, 60% of women have taken time off work due to menopause symptoms, 900,000 women have left their jobs due to menopause, and 99% of women said menopause symptoms had impacted their careers according to data from CIPD.
Businesses know staff turnover is expensive. And the costs are exponentially greater when staff have more experience and have developed long term organisational knowledge. It’s expensive to lose any staff, it’s even more expensive to lose experienced staff, while the benefits of investing in diversity and inclusion have returns many times greater than any initial investment.
We’ve written before about how employers can be more supportive of women experiencing menopause, and some companies have already moved forward with flexible working for all to help employees deal with whatever issues they have in their own time. Whether or not employees offer flexible working, all employers should be offering menopause leave.
Intersectionality describes the relationship between our multiple identities and how they can create a unique experience of discrimination, bias and privilege.
If a person has more than one marginalised or minority group identity, they are more likely to experience overlapping forms of bias, discrimination and disadvantage, both in the workplace and in wider society.
To tackle these inequalities, we cannot look at each identity and the associated injustices in isolation because people experience injustices intersectionally. Therefore, to tackle inequalities, we need to explore these intersecting identities and the unique experiences they create for people.
People are multi-dimensional in their identities and may identify with several different marginalised or minority groups at the same time. These overlapping identities can result in multiple and intersecting forms of bias, discrimination and disadvantage, both in the workplace and in wider society.
Intersectionality provides a framework for considering our different identities and experiences in order to understand the complexity of biases and prejudices that people can face and take steps to address any resulting inequality or discrimination.
In this webinar, we drew on expert insight, ‘lived experience’ interviews and original drama to look at how an intersectional approach can support inclusion and help to achieve more equitable outcomes.
The webinar covered:
What we mean by ‘intersectionality’
How our intersecting identities can overlap to create privilege or disadvantage
Why taking an intersectional approach is key to more effective inclusion
The importance of collecting and analysing data
How to put an intersectional approach into practice
VinciWorks proudly serves 42 of the top 100 firms who’ve dedicated themselves to LGBTQ+ inclusion
Stonewall’s annual top 100 Employers is the definitive list of workplaces who’ve dedicated themselves to supporting LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace. It’s always an exciting moment for VinciWorks to see just how many of our clients are represented on the annual list. These are firms who use our compliance software to monitor diversity for instance, or who train with our suite of equality, diversity and inclusion courses, or use our e-learning to make their workplaces better. This year, VinciWorks is thrilled to see that 42 firms out of the top 100 of the list is made up of VinciWorks clients.
We are all multi-dimensional in our identities. Someone may be both a woman of colour and a lesbian, for example, or an older man from an economically deprived background may also have a disability. Both of them may well have a faith, and they may also be parents or carers. Few of us see our identity in terms of one sole defining characteristic, but initiatives around inclusion have often tended to take precisely that approach, failing to appreciate the complex interplay between the different characteristics and experiences that make us who we are.
This week is Race Equality Week, an annual UK-wide initiative that brings together thousands of organisations and individuals to raise awareness and address the current barriers to race equality in the workplace.
This year’s theme for UK Race Equality Week is #ItsEveryonesBusiness because tackling race inequality is everyone’s business.
February is LGBT+ history month, the annual month-long celebration that recognises the history and contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and nonbinary (LGBT+) community.
It’s also an opportunity to raise awareness of the issues LGBT+ people face and reflect on the history of LGBT+ rights.
This year’s theme for the month is ‘Behind the Lens’, and the idea is to highlight the contributions of behind-the-scenes workers in the world of film and cinema from the LGBT+ community.
How can organisations participate?
There are many ways for organisations to support and participate in LGBT+ history month, including organising events and workshops, offer training and information, and encouraging employees to bring their whole and authentic selves to work.
Skill Boosters and VinciWorks have published a short but useful workplace awareness guide about LGBT+ history month that gives some background on the month, talks about this year’s theme, and provides a list of actionable ways that organisations and employees can take an active role and participate in LGBT+ history month.
Download your copy of the Inclusion Awareness Calendar today
LGBT+ month is just one of the many dates included in Skill Boosters’ new Inclusion Awareness Calendar, which lists awareness days and campaigns for organisations and individuals to know about and support and participate in throughout the year.
The calendar is available for free, instant download. It can be hung up in your organisation’s offices to raise awareness of the various days throughout the year, helping to create an even more inclusive culture where all workers feel understood, comfortable and valued. Click the button below to download your copy today.
Skill Boosters offers a huge library of video-based training for inclusion, leadership and teamwork. Their video-based training addresses meaningful workplace challenges in equality, diversity and inclusion, leadership and teamwork and feature analysis and advice from industry experts, case studies based on genuine issues from the workplace, high quality contemporary drama scenarios, and real people sharing their real lived experiences.
Skill Boosters Access-all Licensing Plans (ALPs)
Skill Boosters offers Access-all Licensing Plans (ALPs), which are the flexible and cost-effective way to access the entire Skill Boosters catalogue of high-quality, video-based training courses and resources. For a great value annual subscription fee, based on the size of your organisation or region, you get 12-months’ on-demand access to all Skill Boosters courses and resources via our online Membersʼ Resource Centre (MRC). Use as many of our short films, courses, videos and trainer packs as you need.
VinciWorks Diversity and Inclusion resources and tools
Diversity and inclusion training
VinciWorks’ suite of diversity and inclusion courses empowers users to recognise diversity issues in the workplace and gives them the tools to transform office culture.
Diversity and inclusion resource page
Our diversity and inclusion resource page includes dozens of resources, guides, policy templates and assessments to help organisations implement inclusive workplaces that promote equality and do not tolerate racism or harassment.
Diversity questionaire
Our diversity questionaire, powered by our flexible yet powerful data collection and reporting tool, Omnitrack, helps organistations understand their employees’ attitudes towards diversity in the workplace and allows organisations to measure and improve their staff’s perception of workplace inclusion.
Awareness days and campaigns run throughout the year, and organisations can support learning initiatives around these events. To help with your planning, VinciWorks and Skill Boosters have produced a new Inclusion Awareness Calendar, listing relevant dates for each month. We have also created downloadable resource packs for the major events. These resources will be made available for all Skill Boosters members.
What is included in the inclusion awareness calendar?
For each month, the calendar includes the following features:
A positive workplace culture is an environment where employees feel valued, respected, and supported. It is a culture where employees are motivated to do their best work, feel a sense of belonging, and have a clear understanding of the organisation’s mission, values, and goals. Positive workplace culture also includes open communication, trust, and collaboration among employees, as well as a sense of accountability and a focus on achieving common goals. A positive culture can lead to increased employee satisfaction, loyalty, and motivation, which can contribute to success for the organisation.
How to create a positive workplace culture
According to the SRA (Solicitors Regulation Authority), a positive workplace culture is essential for the well-being and effectiveness of solicitors and their firms. The new guidance that the SRA has published on how firms can promote a positive workplace culture includes doing the following:
Encouraging a respectful and inclusive environment
Firms should aim to create a culture where everyone feels valued, respected and able to contribute. This includes promoting diversity and inclusion, and addressing any instances of discrimination or harassment.
In collaboration with our Diversity and Inclusion training partners Skill Boosters, VinciWorks have produced a downloadable, customiseable template to help your workplace celebrate Hanukkah. This one page guide can be posted on a team chat like Slack or sent out by email. It explains what Hanukkah is, how it is celebrated, and encourages participation with people sharing pictures from their Hanukkah celebrations as they would for Christmas.
Hanukkah begins this year on the evening of 18 December 2022, and lasts for eight days until the 26 of December 2022.
