Over the last five years creative brands and businesses have undergone a seismic shift in how they think about, design and embed diversity, equity and inclusion within their organisation. Yet, despite progress within the industry, the last year has seen growing backlash and mounting opposition to the work of DE&I with complexities to navigate on many fronts.
Despite advances in thinking and approaches, translating strategies and policies into long-lasting inclusive change, and measurable progress, equity and inclusion remain inconsistent. For candidates or colleagues, with diverse characteristics, there can be a lack of inclusion or sense of belonging felt both acutely and across the span of the employee life-cycle, from talent attraction, recruitment and onboarding through to engagement, progression and retention.
While businesses have made public commitments to improve outreach and opportunities for underrepresented groups additional work must be done to ensure that each stage of the employee journey are developed within an authentic culture and framework of inclusion.
Through our research, Blurred x Fashion Minority Alliance found that the fashion and creative industries are still facing three critical challenges related to equity and inclusion in the employee life-cycle, namely:
- Attrition of staff from underrepresented backgrounds at the mid-level which is linked to lack of progression or promotion prospects for these individuals.
- Continued difficulty in creating a sense of inclusion and belonging consistently across corporate culture and business practices, leading to disengagement from affected employees and disruption to the employee lifecycle.
- A disconnect between policies and practice, as well as a lack of preparation and education to avert crises related to representation – both internally and externally – that demonstrate commitment to inclusive practices.