How to embed inclusion in your policies

Inclusion is no longer a ‘nice to have’ or a tick box exercise. Inclusion is fundamental to the success of your charity. Because when people feel seen, listened to, and valued it’s good for society and good for business.

 

When you bring diverse experiences and thinking into an organisation, you not only enrich it, but you also reflect the people you are there to help and support. 

 

 

Why inclusion matters

 

‘Inclusion’ means giving everyone a seat at the table. It’s rooted in providing everyone with equal access to opportunities and resources, particularly for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalised.

 

Inclusion isn’t about compliance or regulation. It’s about values and feeling like you belong. So, the culture of an organisation is hugely important. Inclusive policies ensure that staff, volunteers, and the people you serve feel valued, respected, and able to participate fully. Having inclusive policies will help you reach more communities, design better services, and live up to the values your organisation was founded on.

 

Recognising the importance of inclusion in the sector, as well as acknowledging the sector’s role in systemic oppression, the National Council for Voluntary Organisations (NCVO) equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) working group have reflected on the current state of the sector and the wider changes that need to be made.

 

“It’s therefore obvious to state the voluntary sector, which is part of society, is not immune to systemic injustice. If we don’t acknowledge how systemic oppressions including racism, sexism, classism, disabilism, homophobia, and transphobia operate in our sector, we risk further harming or oppressing the very people we intend to serve. As a sector we need to look closely at how we might be complicit in these systems and start actively working to dismantle them.”

 

 

Just how inclusive is the UK charity sector?

 

Research by NCVO found that 9% of charity staff are from ethnically diverse backgrounds, compared to 12% in the private and public sectors.

 

ACEVO’s Pay and Equalities survey 2018 found that only 3% of charity CEOs were ethnically diverse and only 9.6% of trustees in the top 100 charities are from ethnic minorities, according to the Charity Commission’s 2017 research into board effectiveness.

 

The mean gender pay gap in charities is 2.8%, according to the Charity Commission gender pay gap report 2022.

 

 

Five steps to embedding inclusion in your policies

 

So how can you ensure that inclusion is at the heart of your organisation and not an afterthought? Start by embedding inclusion in all your policies. Here’s how.

 

 

Audit your existing policies

 

Review all your existing policies, such as your HR policies, safeguarding policies, ethical fundraising policies, environmental policies, DEI policies etc. Look for outdated or non-inclusive language, such as gendered terms or outdated acronyms such as BAME.

 

Also look for any processes that may unintentionally disadvantage certain groups. For example, requiring people to attend in-person interviews without offering online interviews for carers, parents with childcare responsibilities, or people with disabilities. 

 

The Equality Act 2010 is a UK law that protects people from discrimination and harassment based on certain characteristics. The Act identifies nine protected characteristics, which include:

• Age
• Disability
• Gender reassignment
• Marriage and civil partnership
• Pregnancy and maternity
• Race
• Religion and belief
• Sex
• Sexual orientation

Read through your existing policies to ensure there aren’t any missing references to the protected characteristics under the Equality Act.

 

 

Provide safe channels for feedback

 

To get the best out of your policies, they should be created in consultation with staff. Involve people right at the start of your auditing process. Ask them to review them and provide feedback through safe channels. Or, if you’re creating a new policy, make sure that people from diverse backgrounds are included from the beginning.

 

Vishnee Sauntoo, Communications consultant and Inclusion champion, advises: "To embed inclusion into your organisation and policies, it is essential to make sure people are listened to. It is not ticking the boxes, it is embedding a culture of openness and curiosity, no assumptions."

 

 

Rewrite your policies with inclusion in mind

 

Now that you’ve reviewed your existing policies, don’t just add DEI as a bolt-on. Inclusion principles should be woven into every policy.

 

Here is a great example in an online job advert from The Humane League (THL), which clearly shows that inclusion is part of their culture. It also makes it clear to potential employees what their values are.

 

“THL UK is an equal-opportunity employer. We are committed to furthering equity and inclusion, and we value diversity. We seek people from a wide range of backgrounds who will bring a fresh perspective to the team, not just because it is the right thing to do, but because it makes us stronger.

 

We make employment decisions by matching our organisational needs with the skills and experience of candidates, irrespective of race, colour, religion, gender, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, national origin, disability, neurodiversity, age, or veteran status.

 

​We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer, demonstrating our commitment to recruiting, retaining, and supporting disabled people and people with health conditions, based on their skills and talent.

 

You can read more about how The Humane League UK is working on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion here.”

 

 

Check the accessibility of your policies

 

How accessible are your policies? Are they written in plain English, avoiding jargon? Will they be understood by people with English as a second language or who are neurodiverse?

 

Use online readability tools, such as the Hemingway Editor or Grammarly, to assess the reading age of your policy. Aim for a reading age of nine years old.

 

Be sure to offer your policies in different formats, such as large print, PDFs that can be read by screenreaders or even an online audio version. A policy is for everyone: therefore, it should be accessible to everyone.

 

 

Train and embed

 

Now that you’ve reviewed and updated your policies to embed inclusion, don’t just stick them in a metaphorical drawer. Firstly, tell people about it!

 

Next, run regular, practical training sessions so that people not only understand what the policy is about, but how it applies to real world situations.

 

It’s important that policies are regularly reviewed, so assign responsibility to a person or a working group to monitor and update the policy at least annually.

 

Lastly, embed inclusion in the organisation. Trustees and senior leaders need to role model inclusion as an organisational value. Inclusion shouldn’t only be embedded in policies but in strategies, campaigns, decisions and even in how success is measured.  Make sure that inclusion is embedded in inductions, staff appraisals, and trustee reviews so it becomes “how we do things here.” Inclusion should be the norm.