Capturing perceptions of inclusivity
CPI, part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, incorporated inclusion measurements into their annual employee survey to provide baseline data in order to measure progress in the coming years as they complete their roadmap activities.
Enabling employees to thrive
Early in 2021, CPI started to capture employee perceptions of inclusivity alongside the traditional diversity metrics. CPI contextualised Gartner’s Inclusion Index that contains a multifaceted definition of inclusion with seven key dimensions indicating how respected, supported and valued people feel. The seven dimensions are;
- Fair treatment: When their employees help CPI to achieve its goals, they are fairly rewarded and recognised
- Integrating differences: Colleagues respect and value each other’s opinions and differences
- Decision making: Team members give fair consideration to ideas and suggestions offered by oth-er colleagues
- Psychological safety: “I feel welcome to express my true feelings at work”
- Trust: The communication received from CPI is honest and open
- Belonging: “My colleagues across the organisation care about me”
- Diversity: The workforce at CPI is diverse.
CPI added an eighth dimension relating to leadership: “My line manager creates an open and motivating environment to enable myself and others to thrive and reach our goals.”
CPI employees scored each statement out of 5 according to how strongly they agreed with it. CPI employees numbered 496 at the time of the survey and 56% responded, giving statistically 99% confidence level and 5% confidence interval in the data. The results were as follows:
| Dimension | score |
|---|---|
| Fair treatment | 3.48 |
| Integrating differences | 3.98 |
| Decision making | 4.34 |
| Psychological | 3.99 |
| Trust | 4.09 |
| Belonging | 3.93 |
| Leadership | 4.35 |
| Diversity | 4.00 |
The metrics were vital in providing a true picture of where CPI is as an organisation. In response to the employee perceptions survey, CPI created a wellbeing webinar series to begin to explore some of the topics related to equality, diversity and inclusion.
These included:
Integrating Differences (69 attendees): A senior colleague from the Catapult Network delivered a webinar on living with Bipolar Disorder. As CPI continue to develop appreciation of the impact mental health can have on our lives, and the importance of talking openly about it, they are encouraging people with experience of a mental health challenge, whether their own or of a loved one, to share their stories.
Reward (253 attendees): Fair treatment is underpinned by fair salaries, and equal access to development and progression.
Belonging (66 attendees): To educate staff on menopause, Sharon MacArthur the owner of Red Handbag delivered a webinar covering what the menopause is and the impact it may have.
It was really useful for CPI to bring topics like the menopause to the table and forefront of our conversations, the way the session was delivered made you feel like you were all just sat together round a table having a chat – it was a really comfortable environment that gave you the opportunity to discuss topics that may not naturally just come up in conversation. It’s really important that everyone is learning about these parts of life, both men and women; it could be relevant to your family members, your colleagues, your direct reports or your manager. People may have felt embarrassed previously to talk about these things but by getting everyone together, it felt a very safe and inclusive place to do so, and I think we should continue to do more of it.