Transcript

JESSICA LEIGH JONES:

As employers, we can build more inclusive workplaces by firstly adopting a triple-A approach to recruitment and provision of opportunities. So triple-A is attitude first, then aptitude, and then ambition. So what that means is, rather than thinking about qualifications, previous experience, we're thinking about the potential that individuals have to offer our organisation. And we're thinking about where those individuals could grow in the future, and the value that they could add once we've made an investment in them, be that through L&D, or intrapreneurship, or other mechanisms. We may have hired somebody into an administration role who happens to know a lot about social media, for example. So how can we migrate those into those roles?

PORNNARAI NILDUANG:

The upside of working for a company who is at the forefront of hybrid working, and flexible working, and Workplace 4.0 is that we utilise everyone's skills, whether it be within their job description or not. So we don't want to confide anyone to just their role. If they want to work in a project that's outside of their department, and we know that they've got the skill sets for that, even if they don't, we welcome them to try new skills and develop their existing ones. So I think that's, I think more companies are doing that, trusting their employees’ initiatives, and rolling with it, and seeing how it goes.

JESSICA LEIGH JONES:

So this framework really helps employers to take that broader, longer-term, holistic view as to how they develop their workforce to get the best. Organisations need to pivot their business models and create new strategies in order to take them forward in a new era. And this is really where intrapreneurship comes in.

So is intrapreneurship is less of a formal L&D intervention and more about harnessing the unique experiences, qualities, and attributes of a socially diverse workforce to help them kind of take the organisation to the next level. So it's very much about innovation. And I think lots of people think that you have to be an entrepreneur, you have to set up your own business in order to be entrepreneurial. But actually, these are the exact kind of qualities that socially diverse people can bring to our companies to help us make the boat go faster.

Intrapreneurship is a mindset that we can adopt at all levels of the business, but particularly for those individuals who may be underemployed, it's a really good opportunity to elevate their profile, to sponsor them to work on a new initiative, and to really help build their confidence and their social mobility and progression within the organisation.

So we've developed a framework within the report that helps employers to think holistically about how they recruit, reward, and retain socially diverse talent within their organisations. So thinking about what the key business needs are, thinking about those skills deficits, looking at where potentially we can pull skills from different areas of the business that we may not have thought of.

So first and foremost, I would say adopt a triple-A approach. Secondly, to build an inclusive workplace, we really need to create a culture of understanding. So we need to understand the social diversity of our workforce, and then be able to identify and develop mechanisms for addressing specific barriers so that we are levelling the playing field and giving everybody an opportunity to bring their best to work.