Show your organisation is a better kind of business

Culturally competent workplaces are critical to the success of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Building workplace culture is more than writing a rule book of all the things not to do, or how to dress, and getting the foundations right is critical to creating inclusive and accessible organisations for all people.

First up, inclusive business isn’t a stand-alone process. To build inclusive spaces, we need to have diversity and equity incorporated into our design approach.

Diversity, equity and inclusion gets hurled about as both the answer to solving all of the world’s problems and as a summary of all the problems with the world.

In reality? It’s none of these.

Some people believe that DEI is all about race and ethnicity, sexuality and gender and rewarding people with positions and privileges based upon those and not merit.

Others see it as PR bullshit, green (pink, black) washing and corporate spin.

The truth is, that it is all of those things – when it’s done poorly. 

I’ll support you to do it well.

 Diversity, equity and inclusion programs need to be strategic and well-constructed in order to be effective.

Inclusion is a feeling which means it isn’t something a lot of businesses want to prioritise – it’s hard to see the return of an investment that doesn’t appear to be tangible: How do you qualify the value of a feeling?

Well, the same way we qualify the value of trust, honesty and integrity.

You don’t need a business case to prioritise anything related to diversity, equity and inclusion. What you need to do is get clear on the outcomes you want to achieve and how you’re going to measure those – just like every other facet of your business.

To do this well you need to understand where to start in your business, and how to roll out interventions so that they are effective, that they are not just tokenistic and that they are most likely to succeed – aka are worth the investment.

That’s where hiring an expert is important.

Social equity is about the risks that we’re willing to take, and this starts with unlearning a lot of what we already know and the discomfort we’re willing to go through in order to grow.

If you’re ready to throw out the excuse of “we’ve always done it this way” then I can help you to put simple steps in place to ensure your business is ready to commit to more equitable results for people.

Together we’ll work through the process of how to create a strong framework and the what’s involved in achieving your goals with measurable outcomes, ensuring you succeed at honouring your best assets – the people at the heart of your business.

Coaching: What’s involved?

First, we kōrero for a ‘fit check’. I want to know that I can help you and that involves me asking lots of questions about your business and your future intentions. It’s also about making sure we ‘vibe’.

We’ll cover topics such as:

• Understanding diversity, equity and inclusion
• Inclusive business
• Equity and justice
• Intersectionality
• Retention and succession
• Psychological safety
• Policies and procedures
• Wellbeing
• Communication and engagement
• Te Tiriti o Waitangi and business
• Cultural responsibility
• Strategy and action planning
• Self-assessment
• Data measurement

Inclusive business takes work and commitment, and I want to know that you’re prepared for this. You need to know that you’re prepared for this. At the most basic level this is going to take several months to learn key elements and put things into action – if you’re after a quick fix, this isn’t it.

WHO IS THIS FOR?

Do you have staff? What about volunteers?
Do you run a membership, or organise teams of people in any way?
What about events?

If you work with people and are in control of how things operate, then this coaching is for you.

The next question is at, what level do you need support?

For people that want to make their business more inclusive but don’t know where to start I recommend my six-week introduction to inclusive business, either as one-one coaching or in group coaching format. You’ll learn the basics, and walk away with an understanding on how to implement the building blocks of change in your business to make it more inclusive and accessible.

This is a great first step for those running community events or memberships.

For the six week introduction to inclusive business (one-one coaching) the starting rate is $1,980 (excl GST).

If you’re someone that likes to learn alongside others or if you have a tighter budget, the group coaching cohort opens each school term. The cost for this is $675 (excl GST) upfront.

Instalment arrangements are available.

For larger organisations with teams of people, this service varies in price and timeframe depending on the size and type of organisation, and how much of the basics you’ve already got in place.

Tailored coaching and strategy requires a “fit check” kōrero. If you’re ready to take it to the next level, then time is the biggest cost of this mahi for us.

There are a few options for implementing a strategic diversity equity and inclusion framework to your business.

1. Coaching: We talk about what it is you want to achieve, and where you’re currently. The basic introduction is the six week program starting at $1980. The next tier starts at $6,800 and has a strategic approach to implementation.

2. Consultation: I can review your existing structure and processes (hands on, in depth review) and make recommendations on what I think should occur and what this looks like strategically. For consultation like this the start rate is approximately $15k (depending on size and structure of organisation and processes and whether team interviews are required).

3. Done with you: To have me walk alongside you in strategy and implementation you can expect to discuss costs starting from approx 6-18 months of project management and $15 –$60k in retainer fees.