What is Diversity and Inclusion (D&I)?
Diversity and Inclusion focuses on the reduction of discrimination and the promotion of equal opportunities.
Diversity means the conscious handling of variety in society. There are a few common core dimensions of diversity, to which people usually refer: Age, gender, ethnicity, social origin, sexual orientation and physical and mental condition.
Inclusion refers to the effort to create an environment and culture (within a business) which enables people regardless of who they are and dimensions of diversity to flourish and bring their full selves to work.
How does D&I apply to supplier relationships?
Having suppliers which represent the customer base of a company can help contribute to that company's competitiveness and provide new ideas, services, and/or products. A supplier diversity program is a proactive business program that encourages the use of minority, women, veteran, LGBT , veteran-disabled, historically under-utilised, and Small Business Administration (SBA) businesses as suppliers.
For an example of how to set up a supplier diversity program, take a look at this article here.
Who is usually responsible for D&I initiatives internally?
D&I usually sits within the HR function of a business, and there might be someone within your business who is specifically responsible for D&I initiatives. If you need additional input in regards to this assessment and would like to invite a colleague to fill out this assessment, please refer to this article here on inviting a colleague.
How can I improve my status?
Whether you clicked on 'Yes' or 'No' has less of an impact in this assessment than in others: In this assessment it is important that you did not answer any of the questions with 'No Answer'.
- If you have answered a question with 'No Answer', your status will remain yellow.
- If you have answered the questions truthfully, your status will move towards the green area - no matter what the answer is.
- The more you can demonstrate that diversity and inclusion are values which are reflected in your business, the more you will move into the green area of the assessment.
It is not possible to receive a red status in this assessment, but your status will remain in yellow if answers to the assessment reflect that diversity is not a value which is promoted in the business.