3 Communication

Communicating messages of inclusion throughout your organisation, and sharing the impact of your actions, is an important way to let the workforce know that this a serious, on-going commitment.

Asif Sadiq explains why your communications should always be authentic and honest.

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Transcript: Video 4: Being authentic

Asif Sadiq

Many times, we put together communication when it comes to diversity or when we speak to our staff. And we do it in a corporate way, we make sure that we’ve ticked all the boxes, we’ve not said the wrong thing, we’ve not, we’ve used the right corporate language.

The truth is our staff, our consumers, they want to see the human side to us as organisations. They want to see that authentic want for change. And that doesn’t mean we have to get it perfect, that means that we can show vulnerability. A lot of people talk about what is leadership of the future and D&I?

People don’t want leaders who have all the answers, they don’t want organisations who’ve got all the solutions. But they want organisations who are ready to say, we haven’t got all the solutions but we want to try. Or this is what we want to achieve, and we want to explore how we’re going to do that.

So it’s really important not to get hung up on the fact that we must get it right or we must use the right language. People really do, we as humans engage with humans. And the more human we are within our communication, the more we show our positive intent, our positive emotions in this subject, the more likely people are to embrace it and understand it and understand the journey we’re going on.

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Video 4: Being authentic

There are numerous ways in which effective communication can be used to benefit your organisation’s progress with diversity and inclusion.

In their study on the role of communication and employee engagement in promoting inclusion in the workplace, Afridah & Lubis (2024) spoke to employees and management representatives across a range of creative organisations, from advertising agencies and design firms to media companies and entertainment studios. Effective communication was identified as crucial, and the following examples were given:

• Regular newsletters or emails keeping employees informed about company news and initiatives
• Regular town hall meetings to promote dialogue and encourage employees to contribute their perspectives
• Feedback mechanisms such as open-door policies, surveys or suggestion boxes, enabling participation in organisational decision making.

Some organisations prefer to supplement their activities with more visual messages, such as RS Components ‘Bringing our true selves to work’ film:

Other organisations focus on creating written materials for use by themselves and clients in taking the agenda forward.

Policies

Another way to communicate diversity and inclusion messages is to ensure they run through your organisational policies and procedures. Nayika (2025) suggests 10 policies that your organisation should prioritise, in order to effectively address diversity and inclusion. These are:

1. Equal opportunity employment policy
2. Flexible work arrangements policy
3. Anti-discrimination and anti-harassment policy
4. Pay equity policy
5. LGBTQIA+ inclusion policy
6. Accessibility and disability inclusion policy
7. Mental health and well-being policy
8. Supplier diversity policy
9. Inclusive leadership development policy
10. Cultural sensitivity and awareness policy.

Phillips (no date) offers a guide to prioritising inclusion in policy development, which includes the following advice:

• Use inclusive language – inclusive pronouns, neutral terms and language that reflects a diverse range of perspectives and experiences
• Consider accessibility – use clear headings and bullet points, avoid jargon and provide alternative formats, such as audio or braille
• Incorporate stakeholder input – this can include employees, community members and individuals from marginalised groups
• Understand and address intersectionality – consider the unique challenges experienced by individuals who belong to multiple marginalised groups (you looked at this in Week 3)
• Promote equity and fairness – this will happen when you get policy development right.

Many organisations choose to formulate policy on specific discrimination characteristics, for example:

For more ideas about reviewing and creating policies, see Further reading.