In 2021, an eye-opening year globally for the diversity and inclusion movement, 7,500 professionals completed a survey to help us understand the state of play of D&I across UK and Irish workplaces. Launched in March 2021, the D&I Strategy Report highlighted the key trends, issues, best practice case studies and strategic advice for companies on how to improve their approach to diversity & inclusion.

To mark the launch of the research, the ‘Driving your D&I Strategy Forward’ webinar brought together an expert panel of D&I organisations and business leaders to discuss the key findings from the research and share how organisations can begin to address the challenges that marginalised groups face in the workplace. Our experts shared best practice examples of implementing a D&I strategy that addresses inequalities and paves the way for lasting change.

We discussed strategies that address D&I challenges that encompass the following protected characteristics:

• Ethnicity: White professionals are twice as likely to be in management positions than black professionals
• Gender and LGBTQ+: 70% of straight males earn above the national salary across the UK and Ireland, in comparison to just 51% of LGBTQ+ females and non-binary professionals
  
• Age: 3 in 10 professionals over 40s do not feel like they are part of a connected community of colleagues
  
• Disability: Almost a third (31%) of disabled professionals do not think their manager takes the time to understand their personal circumstances