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Diversity, Equity & Inclusion: 03 Creating a strategy

By Design Business Association

Invest time in creating an authentic Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DE&I) strategy and take your team on the journey with you.

The strategy needs to be bespoke to your business and feel right for the team. It is worth developing a point of view first and a strategy, before jumping into action, so the initiatives you support are in line with your values and feel authentic.

Be realistic about what you as a leadership team and as a company can achieve, taking small steps with success may be more beneficial than a huge plan that fails. 

It is important to take your team on the journey with you and acknowledge that some may find the process difficult, such as the discovery they have unconscious bias. Allow people time to absorb new thinking and to commit for themselves.

Considerations

When writing a DE&I strategy it is useful to consider:

  • Why are we doing this?
  • What do we want to achieve?
  • What kind of business do we want to be?
  • Who will lead the strategy?
  • Who will deliver it?

Diversity statement

It can be helpful to land a diversity statement. Awareness of other companies’ statements, such as Apple’s, can be useful.

The Academy to Innovate HR shares further examples of inspiring diversity and inclusion statements, alongside advice on writing a statement.

A bespoke strategy

It is important to create a strategy that is right for your people and for your business. While the approach of other companies can inform your thinking, ensure your strategy is bespoke to your business and feels right for your team.

This guide was produced by the DBA’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Council – a group of experienced individuals drawn from across the DBA membership, working to strengthen DE&I in the design industry to create a diverse community whose instinct is to design for all. Through a commitment to DE&I and inclusive design, we can all contribute to a more welcoming, responsive and accommodating world.

Every business is different. These pages are a guide to key principles and best practice. They are designed to signpost you towards the types of resources that could help your business on its DE&I journey, but they are no substitute for working with an experienced, expert specialist who can fully understand your business and offer tailored advice.

These guides do not constitute legal advice and the DBA signposts to sources of other advice and information as a guide only.