The death of George Floyd in 2020 rocked society worldwide, leading organizations to reaffirm their dedication to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the wake of these events. Building and scaling a successful worldwide program would be practically impossible without a shared baseline or established D&I set of international standards.
Intending to resolve this issue, the ISO has just published ISO 30415:2021, an HRM standard that provides guidelines on what is required to establish and use the advantages of diverse and inclusive company culture.
A diverse and inclusive workplace reflects society, according to ISO 30415 Project Leader and Global HR Expert Lorelei Carobolante, who led Workgroup 8’s multinational team of experts from 14 countries. There is usually always an unsolved conflict and an impression of unfairness when we detect a gap between what society looks like and the work environment.
It is possible to identify and address workplace disparities by implementing the new HRM standard. As part of its mission, it is designed to assist organizations in achieving D&I goals and assessing their impact on individuals, communities, and society as a whole. As part of the ISO 30415 certification process, organizations can have their D&I initiatives independently and externally validated.
People worldwide have a hard time agreeing on what is acceptable when there is no clearly defined standard, says Cristina Schwenke, who worked on the development of ISO 30415. There is a lot more discord in your music. Your organization can use ISO 30415 to improve its diversity & inclusion efforts.
Assess Your Company’s Position
Regardless of where you are, how big your company is, or what industry you’re in, the new standard can help you improve diversity and inclusion. ISO 30415 was purposefully designed to be adopted by companies of any size. D&I steps advised by the Annex include a checklist for assessing the current status and comparing it to recommended actions, which should be reviewed with sample measures and possible outcomes to find the means to demonstrate their achievement. According to Carobolante, the document serves as a roadmap for putting the standard into practice at your firm.
Heather Bond-Shuhaibar states that this standard can be used as a self-assessment tool to evaluate where you’re falling short. In other words, We’re offering a toolkit. Use ISO 30415 to determine where your organization’s diversity and inclusion activities fall short of the baseline it sets and where there are areas for development.
Using D&I Standards to Assess Success
Human Resources Management (HRM) is outlined in ISO-30415 as a step-by-step guide. Actions, metrics, and results are all broken down into sub-clauses.
- Actions: What actions should you do to obtain your desired results?
- Metrics: If you want to know if your activities were successful, what metrics can you use?
- Results: Is there a certain D&I outcome that you are pursuing?
Consistent commitment from all levels of a business, especially those in charge, is required to foster an inclusive culture. Sensitive topics, cultural customs, and discriminatory conduct must all be considered when working with a diverse group of people. However, a diverse and inclusive society has many advantages and addresses some of the most basic human rights.
The standard provides a framework for incorporating evidence-based practices into existing human resource management policies, processes, and practices. It also supports evidence-based practice by giving prospective key outcomes to track progress toward your goals. As a registered expert of Workgroup 8 and a former professor at the University of Manchester in the UK, Helge Hoel stresses setting goals. We must proceed methodically. You can track the growth of your company by using the standard.
Make A Plan and Commit to Make a Difference
Ensuring a company’s long-term transformation involves iterative approaches that are closely monitored. According to the standard, the diversity and inclusion recommendations, examples, and possible outcomes outlined in ISO 30415 can all be tracked and improved over time. Learning how to promote an inclusive workplace culture, this criterion is vital for HR management, Carobolante explains. For that to happen, everyone in the organization must be committed, especially those at the top.
ISO 30415:2021 can be used by HR teams to strategically increase diversity and inclusion to create a more productive, healthful, and the inventive working environment if leadership commits to implementing, maintaining, and measuring actions indicated by the standard.
According to ISO 30415:2021, HRCI’s Certificate for Diversity and Inclusion in HR Management lays the framework for creating an office where all employees are valued and acknowledged for their valuable contributions to the company, may engage in work-related opportunities, and can pursue career paths that make the most of their abilities and knowledge while also receiving fair compensation.
Leaders of companies who demonstrate their commitment to diversity and inclusion by implementing the new standard ISO 30415 will have a strong awareness of the results of employees and external stakeholders. Actions, principles, and measures are included in the standard and their accompanying accountability and obligations, which are tailored to each workplace’s particular circumstances. As an ISO 30415 standard, it is intended to be scalable to the needs of all types of organizations across all sectors of the economy regardless of their size or type, their activity, their industry or sector or their growth phase, or the external influences and country-specific requirements of their respective countries.
According to Lewis, this standard aids firms in integrating diversity and inclusion throughout the entirety of the employment life cycle and their supply chain and partnerships with third parties. A continuous improvement approach is needed to achieve diversity and inclusion goals and support external validation processes.
Conclusion
By cultivating a diverse and inclusive corporate culture, individuals and teams may thrive and perform at their best in environments that foster successful collaboration and participation. People of various backgrounds, identities, and circumstances can gain access to work and develop the information, skills, and talents essential to their personal growth and well-being if organizations are more inclusive and equitable.
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