‘Getting in’, ‘staying in’ and ‘moving on’: using standards to achieve diversity and inclusion

The British Standards Institution (BSI) recently launched a new standard entitled ‘Valuing people—management system—requirements and guidance’ (BS 76000). Its premise is that people are inherently valuable—they are an organization’s biggest asset and should be treated as such. The standard provides a framework for any organization, irrespective of size and operating context, to put processes in place that will help catalyze that relationship. A set of Codes of Practices (CoPs) will support the practical application of the standard, the first of which focuses on diversity and inclusion (DI), the development of which is the aim here. Method-wise, the development of the standard/CoP was supported by an evidence-based literature review by a collective of academic experts. Facilitated by the BSI, the CoP was developed by a writing panel consisting of 20 members representing organizations within the private, public, and third sectors and revised following a public consultation process. Supported by a business case, the CoP requests organizations to deliver on five actions: setting objectives for DI and measuring and evaluating progress; reducing the opportunity for bias to influence decision-making; mobilizing resources to target under-represented groups; developing a culture that embraces diversity and inclusion; and finally, influencing others, e.g., supply chains in adopting these actions. Focusing on the organization itself, the normative management requirements to deliver diversity and inclusion are structured under the headings ‘getting in,’ ‘staying in,’ and ‘moving on.’ Benchmarking is assumed to influence the uptake of the standard.