Driving the message that inclusion is a cold-nosed business priority

Joanne Lockwood is joined by Neil Carberry to explore why inclusion should be treated as a hard-edged business priority rather than a “nice to have” HR initiative.

They discuss how business performance, productivity, and reputation link to employees being able to bring their whole selves to work, and why leadership accountability matters more than statements or statistics. Neil shares practical reflections on what shifts behaviour: rewarding the right actions, challenging non-diverse shortlists, and building inclusion into line management and recruitment decisions.

The conversation also looks at post-pandemic working, including flexible and hybrid work as an inclusion tool, and what leaders need to do to listen to different workforce experiences rather than defaulting back to old norms. They touch on allyship and responsibility in the wake of events such as Black Lives Matter and Sarah Everard, as well as structural barriers in senior leadership pipelines and board appointments.

Finally, Neil outlines how the REC is encouraging higher standards in recruitment and advising clients to widen talent pools, challenge unnecessary requirements, and translate inclusion data into sustained action during the economic recovery.