Volunteering magazine, February 2005, Issue 104
www.volunteering.org.uk/magazine
In the second of two articles Adam May describes how you can make your organisation more diverse.
In the last issue of Volunteering, I described how a diverse organisation was one in which everyone felt at home. In the past we have tended to emphasise involving different sections of the community and so recruitment has often been our focal point. As I pointed out last time, diversity is more than just making sure you have the right proportion of black or disabled people. If you make everyone feel at home then they are likely to encourage other people from outside the organisation to join. Word of mouth is the most effective form of recruitment so you need to find ways of making it work for you.
Your people, whether they are volunteers, paid staff or service users, will give your organisation a good press if they feel their needs are being met so its important to think about designing the physical environment as well as your systems and procedures so that they sit comfortably with everyone.
However, this is only the first step. More important is that you consult with people. By doing this you not only gather information but you also give the valuing message that your views matter and you matter. Finally, you need to enable people to be part of the service provision. You cannot create a truly diverse organisation if you have a situation in which some people are givers and some takers. Find ways in which everyone can be both.
Imagine inviting someone to your home for a cup of tea. You want them to feel at home. How do you do it? You dont overwhelm them with your largesse by providing a tea party on a scale and in a style they could never match, but you do try to guess what they might like. Are they a Battenberg or scone kind of person? Maybe you decide to provide both and see which they choose, and then you know what to provide for next time. You know your tea party has been really successful after you have seen your guest finish off their tea and cake with gusto and then ask, Can I help you to do the washing up?
Generally, the group profile of the people in a diverse organisation will be representative of the local community and of other, similar organisations. Whilst statistical measurements lack subtlety and are not an adequate measure of diversity, they are a starting point.
However, it may be that the core values your organisation stands for, and the core values of some people in the community, just dont match. For example, if your organisation provides a volunteer service and some sections of the wider community believe that family members should only provide that service, then there is no common ground. You can acknowledge and respect each others different stance, but not work together. In a case such as this, your organisation would be right not to allow a misplaced commitment to diversity to distort your mission. However, I think you need to have fully explored whether there is any way of working with groups whose values seem to be different to your own and be very wary of making assumptions.
There is a danger that promoting diversity can lead to provision that is bland and inoffensive: provision that offends nobody because it affirms nobody. This is the nonsense of Christians avoiding sending Christmas cards or displaying Christian symbols. A more satisfactory approach lies in providing varied provision. People may not want to be in the same space with the same music. The solution is not to settle for supermarket music which pleases no one, but to provide more than one space with more than one style of music, or to play different kinds of music at different times.
People are different and should be treated differently. Everyone needs to be shown equal respect and to have a fair share of resources. So for example, when you are training volunteers you may want to use different methods for different subsets of your volunteer group. Some people may prefer a formal lecture; others may want to learn from a manual or by doing role-play. Whilst plural provision may mean that it costs you more in time and money and this is a consideration your willingness to spend time and money will make those who benefit feel valued and that their needs have been recognised.
A diverse organisation is one where peoples needs are anticipated. Everyone is consulted. Everyone is able to give as well as receive. Where people value difference and have the skills to negotiate so that everyones needs are met and everyone feels valued. In short, a diverse organisation is one in which everyone can feel at home.
This article is based upon a presentation given at a workshop training day for Help The Hospices, the national chairity for the hospice movement. For a report on the workshop, which included sessions on working with younger volunteers, the risks and rewards of working with offenders, the mutual benefits of a work sabbatical, and on increasing representation amongst ethnic and faith groups, contact jennie.mcdowell@help the hospices.org.uk For a copy of the report, Volunteering in UK Hospices: Looking to the Future, contact daniel@hospiceinformation.info
AM Training has designed a prototype tool to help you assess how diversity-friendly your organisation is. To try it out, go to www.amtraining.co.uk
