9
find,” she urges. “Don’t
forget, you must be open
and transparent about
the diverse talent you are
looking for, as this will
show community
founders that you are
serious about adding real
value and passionate
about connecting with
them.”
However, before you
invite new, diverse talent
into your business, you
must check your own
workplace culture,
Bentil-Dhue notes. “Look
internally and find ways to
create a more inclusive
work environment, which
will help grow and retain
the workforce of BAME
employees,” she says.
“To begin with, be sure
to check your attitudes,
behaviours and actions,”
Bentil-Dhue advises, as
they may not be as
inclusive as they first
appeared, which could
leave you shocked. To
support this process,
Bentil-Dhue suggests
investing in qualified diversity
and inclusion partners
like Diversity Ally to help
you understand and
discover where in your
recruitment process and
current workplace culture
you have blind spots. She
stresses it is acceptable
to do the initial work
privately and reassures it
is okay to take a step
back and evaluate your
own diversity situation
first.
“You can even check in
closer to home by starting
a conversation with your
black employees, in order
to build trust and move
forward” towards a more
inclusive work
environment,” she says.
She adds that many
BAME employees usually
navigate these
environments in silence
and this may be their first
time being asked about
their experiences.
“Because of this, it is
imperative to reassure
them there will be no
disadvantages or
repercussions of sharing
these experiences with
you. You must be willing
to listen, learn and grow.”
As Bentil-Dhue
Diversity
concludes: “In order to
avoid inaction, we need
to have open
conversations and
commit to making
necessary changes.
Doing this is the start of
moving towards creating
an anti-racist culture in
the events industry”.
Follow @BlackInEvents
and @DiversityAlly on
Twitter and Linkedin.
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