Diversity and Inclusion

Inkling empowers organisations to cultivate diverse and inclusive cultures where everyone can thrive, and where everyone’s unique strengths and perspectives are celebrated. We offer tailored solutions, including inclusive leadership development, sponsorship for diverse talent, development programs for under-represented groups, and strategic advisory services.

As a complex area with no silver bullet, the work is ongoing and at times, uncomfortable. Recognising these challenges, our work focuses on education and skill-building to cultivate inclusive mindsets and behaviours that will effect sustainable change.

We meet your organisation wherever it is at on its D&I journey with an approach that offers clarity, flexibility, and scalability to meet your specific needs. Our team of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) experts work with you to identify key barriers to diversity, develop strategies to increase and retain diverse talent, and enhance decision-making across your organisation.

Inkling's Diversity & Inclusion services

Sponsorship for diverse talent

Sponsorship is a proven tool for nurturing career progression that meets both the business needs and individuals’ preferences. This leads to long-term retention of key talent, a robust diverse talent pool for succession planning and ultimately improved business outcomes.

Our comprehensive sponsorship program disrupts unconscious and systemic bias that hinders progression of diverse talent. Our approach is twofold: (1) we cultivate inclusive leadership skills in sponsors (2) while empowering sponsees to confidently enhancing their visibility, networks, and strategic expertise all to advance their careers.

Accelerating diverse talent

We understand that women and other under-represented groups face unique barriers in the workplace, and benefit from tailored learning experiences to assist them to better navigate the organisational system.

We have 10+ years of extensive experience developing tailored learning experiences that equip them with the skills and confidence needed to achieve business objectives, develop an influential voice and adeptly navigate change effectively. Our programs contribute to creating role models that are empowered to create a ripple effect of catalysts for positive change and empowerment for other under-represented talent across your organisation.

Developing inclusive leadership

We know that inclusion is a critical ingredient for disrupting unconscious and systemic barriers, building equitable employment experiences and nurturing a sense of belonging for everyone.

We tailor inclusive learning solutions according to your business context / need, the level of leader and size of audience. We offer scalable delivery to provide optimal impact within your operational constraints.

With the support of psychometric, cognitive and practical assessment tools, we work with leaders to identify inclusion capability strengths and gaps, get clarity and pursue purposeful action to drive sustained change.

D&I advisory work and business case

We acknowledge that each organisation we partner with is at a unique point in its D&I journey. Having a clear D&I strategy and roadmap can help prioritise areas of focus. We assist clients by conducting systemic audits of the organisation’s diversity and inclusion landscape, assessing existing policies and practices, and gaining independent insights into employees’ daily experiences.

Our structured process involves a mix of gathering qualitative and quantitative data, analysis, and benchmarking your organisation against external best practices, enabling us to recommend and develop customised strategies to enhance DEI and meet your WGEA Bill obligations.

Shadow Boards

Executive teams find that having a Shadow Board (a group of high-potential employees who become an extension of the executive team) introduces a greater diversity of perspectives, knowledge and insights. This enhances the quality of decision making of leadership, nurtures innovation, secures stronger buy-in to strategy, and improves customer and employee experiences through more inclusive practices.

At Inkling, we work with our clients to design a Shadow Board experience that fits the needs of the business and the Executive Team.

Respect at Work - meeting your positive duty

AICD research has found that almost two-thirds of ASX300 company directors do not believe their Boards are prepared to meet new Australian laws enforced in December 2023 to eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace.

Australian businesses have a positive duty to take ‘reasonable and proportionate measures’ to eliminate sexual harassment and sex-based discrimination. This is to hold everyone accountable for taking steps to actively prevent this conduct rather than responding only after it happens.

Inkling’s team of DEI experts can partner with you to deliver experiential, empathy-focussed, respect-based training to equip your people and leaders to foster a respectful workplace, call out unacceptable behaviours early, and manage misconduct with a victim centred approach.

D&I keynotes and speaking

Inkling’s team brings expertise in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace and can deliver these through powerful keynote speaking events. Our keynote presentations delve into the heart of the business case for diversity and inclusion, demonstrating the tangible benefits it can bring to your organisation. We partner with clients to identify a range of topics that will suit your needs and audience and focus on the business case, allyship and inclusive leadership. They provide actionable insights that empower your people to create a more inclusive workplace culture.

Using multiple delivery models, we achieve maximum engagement and impact with an approach that works across countries and cultures

50%

of participants who attend our talent programs for under-represented groups achieve a promotion within 6 months
21

the number of countries where we have delivered talent programs for diverse and under-represented groups
20,000 +

the number of participants we have positively impacted through our D&I learning experiences

We are the trusted partners you need to bring diversity and inclusion to the forefront of your organisation

Our clients will tell you that we have a tireless drive for collaboration, working alongside your business and senior leadership to ensure the future vision we are both trying to create is one which is scalable, sustainable and most importantly delivers on the impact you want to see. These are just some of the clients we have advised and partnered with on Diversity & Inclusion initiatives:

The D&I impact we've delivered

Helping a large Financial services company foster diversity and drive career advancement for under-represented talent through Sponsorship

Since 2020 Inkling have partnered with a large Financial services company to address a lack of diversity at senior leadership levels (GMs and EGMs) through Sponsorship. The objective was to provide under-represented groups with increased exposure, visibility and access to senior leaders, to support their career progression, while also building sponsorship capability and inclusive leadership in the most senior leaders (with all EGMs and GMs in RBS participating).

Key outcomes of the Sponsorship program include a notable 25% of participants experiencing a career move within 6 months, and Senior Managers engaging in the program being twice as likely to secure a promotion or secondment. Across the Bank, Senior Manager-level leaders who participated in the program exhibit a remarkable 3% attrition rate, highlighting the program's effectiveness in driving career advancement, fostering leadership diversity, and enhancing talent retention.
We developed an evidence-based learning experience to foster inclusivity and elevate leadership potential at a global Manufacturing company

Recognising the unique challenges faced by underrepresented groups in their career journeys, the client partnered with Inkling to create a bespoke learning experience with the objective of dismantling barriers and propelling under-represented talent toward leadership roles.

The program has surpassed expectations, reshaping the workplace into a more inclusive environment, reflected in an impressive Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 81. Measurable outcomes include increased employee belonging, enhanced perceptions of line managers, and improved team performance, creativity, and innovation. The program serves as a catalyst for inclusivity and excellence within the organisation.

The program received the 2023 LearnX Platinum award for Best Diversity & Inclusion Initiative.

Great leaders know diversity & inclusion is more than a compliance exercise – it’s a major value driver.

Connect directly with our Diversity & Inclusion Practice today to discover how we can help your organisation cultivate inclusive leadership, true diversity, and transformational change.

Connect with Inkling's D&I Practice

Diversity & Inclusion FAQ's

What makes Inkling different as a Diversity and Inclusion consulting partner?

We understand that organisations are fundamentally human systems and constructs, which means that we need to work both cognitively, with the rational, intelligent brain, and also emotionally, with the heart, to mobilise action and unleash the latent potential in an organisation. We meet people where they are at, whether they are just starting out, or a long way into their journey. We are fundamentally human in our approach, drawing on best-practice research and breaking it down into actionable insight

Where should my organisation start when it comes to Diversity and Inclusion?

This depends on your maturity in this space. Our maturity model helps clients asses and think about where they sit. We work with clients who are at the very beginning of their journey, right through to the very mature. The initiatives your organisation chooses to invest in need to be aligned to your maturity to ensure they add value and have a great impact within the organisation?

Why do organisations need to invest in and prioritise developing a sustainable leadership pipeline of diverse talent?

Because it’s the right thing to do! The structural barriers and biases still exist in all organisations (and people) so doing the work to consider how this impacts talent decisions and opportunities provided is critical.It also drives better business outcomes. We know diverse and inclusive teams consistently outperform those who are not. We know that diversity at leadership is particularly important (gender and cultural background have the biggest influence on innovation), but all dimensions of diversity are important.