COVENTRY and Warwickshire businesses attended an event which gave an insight into the equality, diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Coventry City Council and Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce hosted the event at St Mary’s Guildhall – ‘Business Growth: Harnessing Equality, Diversity and Inclusion for Success.’
Around 100 representatives attended the event chaired by Andy Williams, who gave an insight into his career path as well as what the council is doing to champion the importance of equality, diversity and inclusion.
Andy is Coventry City Council’s first executive sponsor for Race at Work.
Natasha Broomfield-Reid, of diversity and inclusion consultancy Diverse Matters, spoke about the differences between equity, equality, diversity and inclusion, and the benefits of investing in it.
Followed by a panel session with Christabelle Amoakoh, of The Highfield Centre; Tina Chander, of Wright Hassall; Sharonjit Clare, of WMCA; Kennedy Campbell, of Skint2Mint and Richard Easter, of The Yard, who gave their own thoughts on inclusivity in the workplace and what can be done to enhance this.
Natasha said: “Every business wants the very best in talent that they could possibly reach, but sadly a lot of people don’t assess how they can reach the widest pool of people and may recruit in the same way every time.
“This often results in insufficient people applying and not having a wider range of applicants.
“Businesses need to do things differently so that people believe that they are an organisation that’s welcoming to them, whoever they are.
“There is a wealth of communities within Coventry and those recruiting need to be looking deeper into how to both recruit and retain these talented people, as studies have shown that a diverse workforce enhances the performance of a business.
“This event was a fantastic opportunity to bring businesses together and give some advice on what more they could be doing to develop a diverse workforce.”
The event was funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund through Business Growth West Midlands as part of its Business Support Roadshows.
