Diversity and inclusion in the workplace

Do you feel concerned about a lack of diversity in your workplace? Could your organisation be doing more to support diversity and inclusion? Would you like to feel more personally informed and have greater confidence when discussing these topics?This free course introduces you to the benefits and complexities of developing and supporting a diverse and inclusive workforce. It explores the positive impact of diversity on staff wellbeing and innovation within an organisation, enhancing a company’s competitive advantage and aligning with its social responsibilities. Recognising and understanding the challenges to achieving diversity goals, this course also provides practical ideas and approaches to recruitment and retention, and embedding diversity and inclusivity into workplace culture. Throughout the course, there will be opportunities to learn from those who have taken a lead in this area and to consider how you might implement their ideas and initiatives in your own context, both at a personal and organisational level.One thought leader you’ll hear from at regular intervals is Asif Sadiq MBE, Chief Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Officer at Warner Bros. Discovery. His long and rich career in the diversity and inclusion space, including senior executive roles at Adidas, EY Financial Services and the City of London Police, mean that his short videos are packed with valuable observations and advice to enhance your learning journey. Look out for them!Here is Asif sharing his views on the foundations of a truly inclusive organisation.TranscriptDiversity and inclusion in the workplace is a free badged course which lasts 8 weeks, with approximately 3 hours’ study time each week. You can work through the course at your own pace, so if you have more time one week you could push on to complete another week’s study.You’ll start this course by considering what ‘diversity and inclusion’ means and why it’s important, learning about the significant impact diversity can have on workplace productivity, and exploring a range of human demographic differences. You’ll look at possible barriers to diversity and inclusion, and investigate the skills and strategies required to overcome them. Focusing on recruitment, you’ll reflect on a range of processes from shortlisting to onboarding, and consider how longer term career progression can be supported effectively. You’ll finish by identifying your next steps and the actions you can take to make a difference.The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey. Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our optional end-of-course survey. Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others. This course is accredited by the CPD Standards Office. It can be used to provide evidence of continuing professional development and on successful completion of the course you will be awarded 24 CPD points. Evidence of your CPD achievement is provided on the free Statement of Participation awarded on completion.Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation.