Build organisational commitment

One of the early tasks in implementing an inclusion strategy is building understanding, commitment, and enthusiasm among business leaders. This might seem obvious, but many people will be able to think of examples of workplace strategies that have failed because they never became more than words on a page.

The importance of organisational and leadership commitment

Gaining leadership commitment:

• can help to align inclusion initiatives to other organisational goals and strategies;
• can help to ensure inclusion initiatives are regarded as core business, rather than ‘nice-to-haves’ or separate from strategic priorities;
• can encourage employee commitment, as employees see that leaders view inclusion as being important to their own business unit;
• can support business success, improve market share and financial performance; and
• can help you move beyond inclusion simply being an aspiration, without practical action and resources.

Ideally, all leaders will become advocates for your inclusion efforts, and you will instil sufficient knowledge and enthusiasm for them to build business-wide commitment.

Build support for inclusion

To build commitment, you might need to convince leaders that inclusion is worth the organisation’s time and resources. There are many arguments for building an inclusion strategy. You should think about which ones are likely to be most compelling for the people you work with. Your arguments might include:

• It’s the right thing to do. Providing opportunities for everyone to experience aquatics and recreation is fair, and promotes equitable health and wellbeing outcomes for the community.
• It’s good for business. Focussing on inclusive programming and attracting a diverse range of customers has the potential to broaden your organisation’s customer base. Inclusive design can also benefit and attract more than an initial diversity target population, and improved experiences can lead to customer loyalty. Consider building a business plan that shows the potential benefits of an inclusion strategy, or you could undertake a trial activity to test the market. Inclusive employment strategies are also good for business: research shows very clearly that organisational diversity can contribute to success.
• It’s good for your public image and community connection. Inclusion strategies are all about making your organisation more welcoming. Presenting a welcoming face to the whole community is a great image
• It will help your partners to meet their goals. If you manage a venue for a council, inclusion strategies could be good for your relationship. It is likely that the council’s strategic goals include a focus on engaging underrepresented communities in civic life and in Victoria this is a state government priority.
• It will help you to attract and retain employees. Potential employees are likely to be interested in your internal and external inclusion strategies. For current staff, an inclusive workplace creates engagement, and working towards inclusive goals is likely to make them feel like they are doing valuable work. Building a diverse and inclusive workplace can also make your employees feel respected, welcome, and more likely to stay.

Later sections of this guide provide links to research and inclusive practice guides that will help you to build your case, and to take an evidence-led approach to persuading your team.

Build strategic statements and action plans

We recommend creating a written statement of your commitment. This could be a comprehensive action plan, or this might be a high-level statement of intention, with detailed strategies and action plans to come later. When intentions are confirmed and shared in writing, they are more readily achieved.

Keep in mind that strategic statements and plans don’t just reflect commitment, they can also reinforce and rally it. An action plan can show employees that inclusion is a priority, and your leaders are likely to be interested in meeting high profile goals.

Celebrate diversity

Inclusion strategies should go beyond simply recognising diversity days once a year, but this can be a great way to spark conversations, display welcome, and to recognise the diversity of your staff and community. Consider building diversity days into your strategic plans, and work with your organisation to ensure they are recognised in your facilities. There are lots of days you can recognise. Examples include:

• International Women’s Day;
• Cultural Diversity Week;
• IDAHOBIT (International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexphobia and Transphobia);
• Reconciliation Week;
• NAIDOC Week; and
• International Day of People with Disability.

Maintain commitment and ensure accountability

Building commitment goes beyond building initial enthusiasm, and you should think about how you will maintain support. Your organisation’s existing frameworks may help you. For example, it is likely that your organisation has an employee performance framework and central oversight of venue budgets and business plans. These frameworks could be used to:

• include inclusion-related performance measures in the work plans of leaders;
• encourage leaders to celebrate and recognise inclusive behaviour by team members (e.g. through work plans, awards and recognition);
• include standard inclusion-related targets in business plans for all venues/business units; and
• require venues/business units to devise a certain number of tailored inclusion strategies each year.

Resources