A senior HR figure explains how her organisation boosted diversity and inclusion while also providing new challenges to eager staff
With employees staying in the workforce for longer than ever before, many organisations are struggling to give millennials the development opportunities they so desperately crave – however, one senior HR figure says there are ways to satisfy their ambition while also benefiting the business.
Vicki Caisley is the chief people and strategy officer for Southern Cross Health Society and is the driving force behind the organisation’s diversity and inclusion forum which was established in 2016.
Comprised of employees from all levels of the business, Caisley says the group has given members the chance to learn new skills and prove themselves in the workplace.
“It’s been a really cool development opportunity for some people because they’ve never been involved in anything like this before so they’ve learned a lot along the way,” she tells HRD.
“They’ve been able to contribute and they’ve been able to see that success at the end so we’ve definitely seen much higher levels of engagement and we know that leads onto productivity and retention and all those other things that businesses want to see from their workforces.”
For many members of the forum, they’ve also been provided opportunities that they wouldn’t necessarily be exposed to in their day-to-day roles.
“We put together a diversity and inclusion strategy and all the members of the forum went through a full strategic planning workshop,” says Caisley. “For somebody who is in our call centre talking to our members day in and day out, they don’t get the opportunity to actually explore what strategy is and how you build up a strategic plan so it’s an awesome opportunity for them.”
Members also have the opportunity to present ideas and initiatives to senior leaders, says Caisley.
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“Of course, you can imagine, they’re nervous as hell but what an amazing opportunity for them to put themselves in the hot seat and really develop those presentation skills in front of the organisation’s board of directors,” she tells HRD.
“We’re creating those moments for them which enable learning that they can hopefully take into their roles and careers and even put on their CVs – that they’ve done it, they’ve been part of it.”
Enabling employees of all levels to get involved with the decision making process, she says, also encourages them to see a future for themselves in the organisation.
“It’s really quite motivational and quite inspirational,” she says. “They get to work with senior leaders in the organisation, they get to know us a bit better and see us as humans and that’s quite impactful in terms of engaging them in the work that we’re asking them to do later on down the track.”