Diversity, Equality & Inclusion, Specialist HR Topics and Masterclasses

Podcast Episode 51: Diversity & Inclusion Masterclass from Covid-19 with Baljit Kaur

13th April 2020

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With the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the business landscape is being re-evaluated across the world, with many seeing it as an opportunity to talk about diversity and inclusion.

This Episode: Diversity & Inclusion Masterclass from Covid-19 with Baljit Kaur

In this HR Uprising Podcast episode, joining Lucinda is Baljit Kaur, a highly successful business consultant. She also aides organisations in increasing and strengthening diversity in the workplace. Baljit Kaur leads this masterclass on diversity and inclusion, as well as discussing how the current climate created by Covid-19 has affected this topic.

Fortunately, in response to the crisis, we have certainly seen an outpouring of humanity and benevolence in all areas of life. The question now becomes, how do we maintain this new spirit when work resumes? And above all, why weren’t these values more visible all along?

Valuable Resources

Join the HR Uprising LinkedIn Group
Host of The HR Uprising Podcast, Lucinda Carney, is also the founder and CEO of Actus Software, where you can find additional free HR Resources: https://actus.co.uk/free-performance-management-resources/

Key Takeaways

Many of us are social animals. Therefore, a hidden risk among the new “homeworking” model being adopted by companies is that isolation may be having a detrimental effect on mental health.
Men taking time off from work is regrettably frowned upon, despite gender equality being a huge cause in modern society. Certainly, quarantine is giving fathers a much-needed chance to reconnect with their home life.
Above all, communication channels must be engendered within the framework of every company. Only through non-judgmental inclusivity and understanding can this generation of business be made more diverse.
During this current crisis, the guidance for people of a certain age may result in reinforcing ageism as a form of discrimination. Ageism is currently one of the only remaining discriminatory acts left to breed in the workplace.
We must encourage intrinsic self-motivation, reflection and thought, in order to encourage attitudes to change. And as a result, a shift in workplace culture.
In order to measure successful inclusion, decide first on the goals you wish to achieve in terms of diversity. After that, understand the root causes of the problems, and then convert these causes into key objectives for your organisation.

Best Moments

‘Organisations have a responsibility to think about how they can affect change’
‘Ageism seems to be the most acceptable form of discrimination in the workplace’
‘In all that we do, feedback and challenge is really important’
‘We’re mis-recognising talent based on the biases that we hold’
‘Look to take this opportunity to refocus on diversity and inclusion’

About The Guest

Baljit Kaur has extensive experience in delivering diversity & inclusion solutions on a multi sector basis, including private and public sectors, she works closely with clients through strategic planning to deliver operational changes . She helps companies design a diverse workforce and inclusive cultures achieving excellence in diverse employee attraction, engagement and retention.

She has experience of delivering training, consultancy and equality audits (reviewing policies from a diversity and inclusion perspective) from both an employment and customer service aspect. She has designed and delivered a range of innovative training and consultancy interventions with particular expertise in unconscious bias; dignity at work, inclusive leadership, inclusive recruitment, and talent management workshops.

Baljit is keen to see organisations anchor diversity in their corporate culture and talent management approaches. In addition, she is a member of a number of practitioner and professional groups including East Midlands Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) and Engage for Success (E4S) providing best practice insights.

Connect with Baljit Kaur on Linkedin
Innate Consultancy

About The Host

Lucinda Carney is a Business Psychologist with 15 years in Senior Corporate L&D roles and a further 10 as CEO of Actus Software where she worked closely with HR colleagues helping them to solve the same challenges across a huge range of industries. It was this breadth of experience that inspired Lucinda to set up the HR Uprising community to facilitate greater collaboration across HR professionals in different sectors, helping them to ‘rise up’ together.

“When we look up we rise up”