How to Win at Inclusion This Year

Diversity made headlines the world over in 2016 for all the wrong reasons. So where do you start if you want to make 2017 the year of change for diversity and inclusion in your business?

1. Stop calling it a project. There is no beginning or end to inclusion. It is a mindset we must adopt collectively to make inclusivity part and parcel of everything we do.
2. Get your leaders talking about the areas of inclusion that they each feel passionately about. They set the tone in the organisation so encourage them to bring their own experience and knowledge to the table.
3. Don't forget your external audience. You are talking to potential employees as well people already working for you. Many people are also more likely to read company news on social media than your intranet.
4. Don't let leadership be the barometer for readiness alone. If 20 Account Execs are pushing for something and one key leader is hesitant, chance are the Account Execs are onto something.
5. Go back to basics and fix your policies. There is a difference between a compliant policy and an inclusive policy. Words matter.
6. Measure where you are today. You wouldn't spend a client's money without looking at data, don't invest yours blind either.
7. Set a goal. Whether to improve your engagement scores that relate to inclusion or be recognised as an employer of choice by Stonewall, without a clear goal progress is much harder.
8. Repeat yourself. It takes time to transform culture. It's also easy to forget great work when the next shiny news story comes along. Remind people what you stand for and what you've already done to prove it.
9. Spend your time wisely. 20 percent of people are already on board, 20 percent never will be and 60 are persuadable. Focus your energy where change can happen.
10. Do stuff and apologise. If you ask for permission too often you will water down your ideas and deliver way less. If it goes wildly wrong, own it but take pride in your ability to TRY.
11. Stop saying "pale, male and stale." It completely ignores the vast depth of diversity not visible to the human eye, and which you should be recognising in your inclusion work.
12. Keep the invite open. Women's initiatives that don't talk to men, or LGBT+ initiatives that don't engage straight allies ignore enormous change potential.
13. Be resilient. Naysayers can smell despondency a mile off. Smile politely and focus on the 60 percent.
14. Don't question people's motives for supporting inclusion. I got involved in this field of work because it got me more face time with senior leaders (clearly a convert now). People have their own 'lightbulb moments' at different points in the journey.
15. Champion Total Diversity. Focussing solely on one aspect of identity in your inclusion initiatives can actually engender resistance. Make explicit reference to different aspects of identity in your people communications. Yep, words matter.
16. Rethink what you mean by The Business Case for Diversity and Inclusion. Simply reciting that McKinsey report isn't going to win you any friends. Understand the challenges and drivers for different areas of your business, and explore where inclusion can be a solution or enabler for those specific needs.
17. Be diverse in your delivery. Ask yourself how your people learn and communicate outside of work. There won't be one answer, so be holistic and go to several of those places.

Criticism can be avoided easily by saying nothing, doing nothing and being nothing.

Say something. Do something. Be something. 

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Benjamin Antoniou is Diversity and Inclusion Manager for the UK and Ireland at Dentsu Aegis Network, one of the world's largest media and advertising groups with 35,000+ passionate people in 140 countries. He is also a part-time gardener and retired Airbnb Superhost. You can follow him on Twitter for cool diversity and inclusion stuff @benjaminclusion.