Diversity, Equality and Inclusion: Can we ever do enough?

66% of the UK’s workforce say that acceptance and inclusion of employees from all backgrounds is important to them when searching for jobs according to People Management (2023). With all the noise around DEI recently, you may think that we must be nearly there – we have reached the pinnacle of our acceptance and inclusivity efforts. When you look into the heart of what Diversity, Equality and Inclusion (DEI) means and what it’s trying to do, you realise that it’s still very much necessary in today’s world of work.

The HVACR industry isn’t unusual in being a male-dominated industry, but it can lead to particular challenges, especially around gender equity. Since I joined the industry in 2018, I can see that progress has been made. There are a lot more women in the industry in more visible positions, and panels at events are becoming more diverse. There’s still work to do – our work in DEI is never done! – and I feel confident that we’re making strides in becoming a more inclusive industry for everyone.

 

Business Benefits

As well as being the right thing to do, there are business benefits to having a more diverse team working around you. McKinsey reported in 2015 that companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians, and those in the top quarter for gender diversity are 15% more likely have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.

There’s also a lot of research around how having a diverse team can lead to a multitude of different ideas, and those ideas may not be things you’ve ever considered – simply because you’re not aware of them or had never considered a particular thing to be an issue. Now is the first time in history where you can find five generations working together – that’s a huge age range and brings with it a lot of different perspectives. Employing people from diverse backgrounds allows your business to benefit from that diverse thought, which can lead to happier customers and increased sales!

 

Easy Actions

In 2023, Climalife was awarded the Diversity & Inclusion Award for Diversity and Inclusivity in Action at the RAC Cooling Awards. We’d taken some actions to increase our team’s awareness of DEI issues, as well as improving our recruitment process. I’ve put some details of easy actions that we’d taken that can be put in place anywhere. We are a small team of 23 and it’s possible for us, so it’s possible for you too!

- Gender neutral bathrooms – sanitary facilities are available in all bathrooms.

- Celebrate cultural diversity day by exploring foods from different backgrounds.

- Making changes to our recruitment process, including;

  • Using anonymous CVs – removing all identifying information from CVs before they are passed to the hiring manager.
  • Using consistent interview questions and using a scoring system based on those questions to minimise bias and more subjective decisions.
  • Using inclusive language in our job descriptions and advertisements.
  • Offering alternative formats for applications.
  • Asking all candidates about adjustments before interview, and when they arrive for interview.

 

Wellbeing

DEI is closely linked to wellbeing. Some companies refer to DEI as DEIB, where the ‘B’ stands for Belonging. If you look at what people need to be their best selves, just above basic needs such as water, food, shelter and safety needs such as health, employment and personal security, is belonging. It’s a human need to feel like you belong in a group that you are part of, so by creating a workplace that is inclusive, you are helping people to bring their best selves to work, getting the best out of them, and making the most of all the fabulous stuff you saw at interview stage as a tangible benefit to your business!

 

Communication

Getting things right and having those uncomfortable conversations can be hard. It’s a process, not an overnight fix. We’ve been working on it for three years, and we’re better than we were, but we’ll never settle for good enough. It can feel scary, and in today’s cancel culture, it can feel like you can’t say anything right, but if you’re approaching a conversation with curiosity and humility, people are understanding and support you in learning and improving. I say this as someone who’s had many uncomfortable conversations over the last few years and facilitated workshops and discussions with our team over tricky subjects like privilege and allyship.

 

Final Words

The best piece of advice I could give anyone who’s hesitant about getting involved in diversity and inclusion is to be genuine and authentic. Ask questions because you’re curious. Be open to being wrong, learning and re-learning things you thought you knew.

The most important thing is to be engaged, to try, and not ignore things that are going on around you that don’t feel right. If we all try, together we can make a difference. Let’s make the HVACR industry of the future a more inclusive and welcoming place for people to come.

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