At a Glance
Positive About Inclusion were commissioned by the Housing Quality Network (HQN) to create an equality, diversity and inclusion toolkit for the housing sector, a resource to support housing organisations on their journey to embed inclusivity and to provide a webinar/workshop to launch the toolkit to HQN members.
“Why did we ask Lucy and Karen to write this for us? It’s because we like how they go about their work. Here’s what they say: “What makes us different is that we fundamentally believe that creating inclusive workplaces is not about one-off interventions, but working with you, your values, and your people to create a legacy of sustained and embedded inclusion.”
Alistair McIntosh, HQN Chief Executive
About the Client
HQN was established in 1997 and provides high-quality advice, tailored support and training to housing associations, councils, ALMOs and other housing providers. It is a membership organisation providing a range of services and network groups including The Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Network.
Challenges and Objectives
As a movement steeped in social justice, delivered by people-focused organisations, equality, diversity and inclusion has always been high on the agenda for the social housing sector. Whilst there is an understanding in the sector of the value in creating an inclusive workplace and a recognition of the need within organisations to reflect the diversity of the communities served, organisations are at different stages on their journey to embed inclusivity. The toolkit was required to be accessible across the sector, to recognise the different stages of the journey, to be comprehensive and challenging and to provide insight on further action that can be taken to support organisations move forward.
The webinar/workshop to launch the toolkit was required to be informative and engaging. Providing opportunities for participants to share their challenges as well as reflect on their internal support requirements.
“Your session this afternoon was brilliant – really useful and informative so thank you. There were some really good take aways for me and I feel confident that our organisation is on the right track.”
Emma Wells, Risk and Policy Manager at The Wrekin Housing Group
Solution
The toolkit we have created is a self-assessment health check covering the key components to embedding an inclusive culture; from the role of the Board and senior leaders to embedding EDI in the supply chain. By completing the assessment organisations gain an insight into where they are at on their journey to effectively embed EDI along with an understanding on further action that can be taken.
By setting the webinar/workshop within a societal context and through the use of real-life examples from Lucy and Karen’s experience working in the Housing sector the workshop provided an opportunity for open discussion and the sharing of best practice.
“Fabulous HQN session today with Lucy Malarkey and Karen Faulkner from Positive About Inclusion looking at their excellent EDI assessment toolkit.”
Caroline Parr, Senior People Services Manager at Community Gateway Association
Impact
The toolkit has been really well received and the positive comments made on social media platforms from some of the participants at the webinar speak for themselves!
“Your presentation was very inspiring. Made me think our task might actually be achievable in terms of collecting data from our customers!”
Julia Gavriel, Service Improvement Officer at Thanet District Council
