Case Study on Diversity and Inclusion

Several years ago, the leadership at SJMT decided to focus on diversity and inclusion across the organisation and services. Their approach, actions and progress show what can be achieved. Moreover, their experiences show some of the challenges involved in change as well as the broader landscape that needs to be navigated.

In academic understanding of resilience, diversity is seen as very important. Diverse groups of people bring varied ways of thinking, different ways of solving problems, links to wider networks and often complementary skills: all critical for resilience. The SJMT team stressed that progress takes time, that diversity and inclusion is always a work in progress and there is more they want to do. Nevertheless, the ARC for the Future Project was very impressed with the progress that has been achieved and, in this Case Study, we summarise some of SJMT’s experiences which may be useful to other almshouse charities.

Although we have tried to describe what has been done in a sequential way, in reality, most aspects link with what else is going on for the charity, its residents, its strategies and resources. The ‘timeline’ approach in the description below should be taken as a simplified story. Also every almshouse charity is different. The extent to which the activities or approaches described below could be relevant in another organisation can only be determined by the people at that organisation who know the history, context, capacity and issues. However, we hope that what SJMT has achieved, and the benefits they see from improving diversity and inclusion, will inspire other almshouse charities and encourage them to really think about how these approaches might help them.

Early work

Early work that provided a basis for later change included revisiting the charity’s branding. The name, logo, website and all branding were updated to look more appealing to different groups of people with more colour and a more modern feel. The changes were in line with a vision of where SJMT wanted to get to as an organisation.

A key element of preparatory work was agreeing and communicating organisational values. Having recently come to the end of a five-year strategy, SJMT have gone through a co-production process to review and revise their values. There were anonymous online surveys for staff and residents – support staff sit with residents and help them complete these. The CEO did workshops at different sites just to talk about values. Workshops were held for residents and for staff: the current values were presented, followed by discussion on the question: ‘What would you change or add?’ Responses were analysed and a paper was produced for the Board of Trustees. At an away day (all-day meeting away from the office), the trustees ranked and discussed all options. The whole co-production process took about a year and every staff member and every resident had the opportunity to have a say. Showing just how much progress has been made,  ‘inclusivity’ came out as an SJMT value from these consultations. Within SJMT, the values are everywhere and staff and residents are familiar with them. The values can be used as part of a disciplinary issue if needed or for challenging a resident’s behaviour, showing that the values have become firmly embedded in the organisation’s processes, communications and culture.

Benefits of diversity and inclusion

From discussions with SJMT, diversity and inclusion are seen to bring multiple benefits:

• Communicating that the charity is becoming more diverse gives a more attractive modern feel, which has attracted new staff, residents and trustees.
• Through careful management to ensure the lives of residents were not impacted, greater diversity among staff and residents has become a normal and accepted part of life at SJMT.
• This has meant that support staff have been successful in getting people who could tend to be isolated to join in more activities. This implies that more residents now feel part of the community at SJMT.
• A more diverse workforce has meant there are more links from SJMT into wider communities, raising the profile of the charity and becoming better known locally. For example, the local Sikh temple delivered food to residents during the pandemic.
• Through growing links to local communities, the charity is often seen as an important commentator on local matters.

Challenges

Some of the main challenges that SJMT have met are the following:

• Acknowledging an area of deficit can make people uncomfortable. Early on, it was difficult to confront the Board with the fact that all were of a similar age, gender, ethnicity and socioeconomic status. Acknowledgement is a necessary step in order for people to own the need for change. After that, steps to change can be worked out.
• The wider context in which the almshouse operates will have a bearing on how the charity sees itself and how easy or not it is to begin to change. Major stakeholders can help or hinder the process.
• It is important to be prepared, in advance, for incidents of discrimination or abuse which could be verbal or behavioural. Robust processes need to be in place. Staff need to be trained on how to challenge unacceptable behaviour and language, and on the processes in place to deal with it.
• A challenge for SJMT in seeking diversity in terms of faith is that the strong Muslim and Sikh communities in the locality tend to look after their own community and family members with potentially less need of almshouse accommodation. Engaging with these communities now provides awareness of almshouses for the future, should needs or practices change
• Capacity is an issue in addressing diversity and inclusion. It takes time and effort to make changes. This is particularly a challenge for smaller organisations although, on the other hand, there may also be less bureaucracy in a small setting. Bigger organisations can make changes but need to commit sufficient capacity and resources to the work.

Practical steps

SJMT’s aim to improve the diversity and inclusiveness of the organisation and all its services have meant planning, activities and changes across almost every aspect of its operation. Although we present these in a rough ‘timeline’ order, this is a simplified account of many overlapping, complementary, repeated or ongoing activities.

       A focus on diversity

What is the aim?

SJMT want to reflect the mix of people living in all the areas they serve.

 Where are we now?

This required collecting data on the current Board of Trustees, staff and residents. It has also meant research on the demographics of the local areas.

 A charity may need to research the founder(s) and history to make sure that the history was not based on wealth from slavery, for example, or that the founder was not associated with exclusion of particular groups.

     A decision to change

• Set targets in all, or specific, areas.
• Determine specific responsibilities, for example, at SJMT, Departmental Heads have specific responsibilities for different languages in information leaflets.

    Guiding principles

• Senior commitment – a deep and consistent commitment from the top of the organisation.
• Visibility – communicating to residents and staff what is being done and why.
• Honesty and transparency – informing and showing how data will be used.
• Pervasiveness – all branding, communications, policies and training to align with diversity aims and with organisational values.

    Data collection and processes for review

• SJMT asks residents, staff and trustees to complete a form every year on personal characteristics that may relate to diversity. This is done annually because some aspects of identity are understood now to be more fluid and can change for some people.
• For residents, incentives such as food vouchers have been offered to complete the form and a paper form can be preferred. For staff and trustees, it is all online.
• It has become a standard thing that everyone does.
• Data from paper forms are input into spreadsheets and collated by administration colleagues and reports are produced from all data.
• An Oversight and Scrutiny Group meets once a quarter and drills down into the targets, numbers and actions to make sure nothing is being missed. The data are analysed to see if they match or do better than the demographics of each area/borough.
• It can feel tokenistic to have targets – to avoid this, it is important to make sure the aims are woven through everything. When a target is met, the group set a new one.
• Reports on diversity are reviewed by the Board annually and are published in a public-facing document for the website.

    Specific actions

• SJMT decided to address diversity among staff and trustees first. This helped to start to expose the residents to difference.
• They ensured recruitment encouraged applications from women, from Black and Minority Ethnic (BAME) people and from individuals with different types of experience. They targeted recruitment in different geographic areas (e.g. more diverse urban areas nearby) and through different media channels, and this helped to begin the changes needed.
• They added to the Board and co-opted some more members to sidestep waiting for the end of Trustees’ tenure.
• They met local religious leaders to raise awareness of the charity, its objectives and facilities. This was part of an aim to actively encourage people to see almshouses as available to everyone. They discussed common aims with faith leaders such as offering support to the vulnerable.
• SJMT has signed up to several diversity commitment campaigns, including HouseProud (LGBT+ inclusion); Mindful Employer (mental health awareness) and Disability Confident. These are advertised on all communications.
• The resident selection criteria had included ‘people in need’. Work was done with the Board to interpret it more broadly. This resulted in reducing the age requirement from 60 to 55 years. ‘In need’ could be poverty related (e.g. debt, universal credit), but other needs can include isolation, addiction or homelessness.
• To deal with a more diverse intake, it was important to get the staff ready and the processes in place to manage a wider range of issues. Updated processes included behaviour requirements, the possibility of conditions on letters of appointment and anti-social behaviour reporting systems. It has been essential to have clear and well-communicated processes in place, and to be seen to be prepared to act when necessary. See the Case Study on ‘Positive approaches to managing behaviour in almshouse communities’ for more detail [link].
• The culture change was helped by having individuals on the Board of Trustees who were happy to represent their minority identity, particularly as a face on marketing material. Making changes from the top and making those changes visible included having an LGBTQIA+ champion on the Board who attends residents’ forums.
• There are champions for different groups in the staff teams – these are not just titles but have specific responsibilities and activities to be completed.
• Training was a critical step. Mandatory training was introduced for everyone working in any capacity for the charity. The training included what language was not acceptable because it could cause offense and how to challenge what people say. This required educating the staff but also challenging the residents. Some residents struggle, particularly around gender identities at the moment. But a typical excuse of ‘It wasn’t like that in my day’ can be challenged with ‘Well, it’s the way it is now’. To change the culture, it is necessary to call out unacceptable language or behaviour at every level and on every occasion. It can be tiring but it is essential. The aim is to have people speaking freely but with respect. It takes courage and it needs to be led from the top.
• SJMT arrange events to celebrate diversity. In additional to having fun, these help to expose people who may not have had experience of some aspects of the many identities people hold. Celebrations include a Pride event with a drag queen, and religious festivals including Diwali and Eid. Different foods are part of the celebrations and the events are a way of using social occasions to educate everyone on differences.