The Challenge
An international law firm, with 2,700 employees, asked us to help them navigate the requirements of the ISO International Standard for Diversity & Inclusion (ISO30415) and produce a gap analysis of their existing practices against the standard.
The organisation didn’t feel ready to tell their employees that they were considering being assessed against the standard and were unclear how long it might take them to become ready for formal assessment, so opted for a ‘soft audit’ which didn’t involve interviewing employees, suppliers or clients. They were also keen to proceed remotely via email and Teams calls. In common with many organisations, they decided to focus on their head office in the UK first with the aim of achieving the standard there before rolling out more widely.
The Solution
The process began with a meeting with the senior person with responsibility for diversity and inclusion in the organisation, followed by a questionnaire for completion which was returned with documentary and other supporting evidence of the actions taken by the organisation to support Diversity and Inclusion.
Following the review of the information provided, a further meeting was arranged to discuss and clarify the specific evidence.
Vista then produced an in-depth Gap Analysis report, which highlighted areas of good practice, recommendations for action and strengthening evidence prior to progressing to formal assessment against the standard if they wished. We then met with them again to discuss the content of the report.’
The Results
Our client was pleased to see the positive recognition of existing practices, and also understand how these could be strengthened. Some of the recommendations for improvements had been anticipated, but they now had impartial observations to share with the leadership team and support budget proposals.
Our client also valued our practical suggestions for action, ones which they hadn’t previously considered, and ones which didn’t need financial input to achieve.
The event better news? Our client successfully achieved the ISO accreditation following this project!
If you are looking for support with your diversity and inclusion practices, here’s a bit more information on how we can help.