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To make a persuasive case for the value of DEI in today’s shipping industry, ‘believing in it’ as the ‘right thing to do’ is unlikely to be enough. We also need to be able to make a compelling, evidence-based case that DEI is also good business. This was one of the key themes of the day and something we discussed in our previous article on the conference. https://diversitystudygroup.com/dei-conference-2022-moving-from-intent-to-action/

For any organisation that relies on its people, it should be a strategic priority to broaden your talent pool, enlist a diverse range of skills and perspectives, and make the most of their potential. One of our speakers – a shipping leader in their own right – put this powerfully when describing their people as “our biggest asset and our highest yield return.”

We shouldn’t shy away from making the case for DEI in business terms or in the value it can add to all facets of business operations. As we touch on below, the commercial case for DEI will be important in securing the support of senior management. It will also help to highlight the value of placing a DEI lens on everything we do, spanning recruitment and retention, talent development, succession planning, and far more.

In our last article, we shared five themes that emerged from our conference. Here, we share five more insights that struck a chord with us.

6. The importance of senior level buy-in

To succeed, DEI needs the full backing of the organisation’s leadership team. This includes a commitment to long-term support, that includes learning from failures, as well as successes, as progress is likely to be ‘two steps forward, one step back’ at times. What’s more, encourage them to move from being a bystander to an ally, dare them to lead, and coach them as needed in how to be an effective champion for DEI.

7. The power of good communications

As well as learning from successes and failures, we all need to talk about the progress we’re making, so we can learn from each other, and be nudged into action. A clear, cohesive communications plan, spanning internal and external audiences, and targeted in support of your DEI strategy can make a huge difference to your ability to make a persuasive case for the changes you want to see.

8. Embedding DEI requires cultural change 

Long-term, embedded change takes time and cultural change. To deliver on this, we need to understand the factors that drive change throughout your organisation. This requires us to think about ‘the why’ for each department, business line and office, in order to make it relevant to them. This will then influence ‘the how’; the levers we can pull for each group you want to reach. Cultural change also requires zero tolerance in order to set the right examples and we all need to get better at calling out unacceptable behaviours.

9. Harness the external pressures

Pressure is coming from society, but also across the supply chain. For example, consumer-facing customers such as Amazon and Ikea are taking a far greater interest in human sustainability, and it is in our interests to be responsive to that pressure. Pressure is also coming from elsewhere, including other customers who increasingly require evidence of DEI activities in their tender processes, and financial institutions taking DEI into consideration in their investment and lending criteria.

10. Do larger organisations have a greater responsibility to lead the way?

We often look to larger shipping organisations to be lead the way, but there is also a vital role for smaller organisations. Large organisations may have more resources, but they sometimes face additional challenges. It is just as possible for smaller entities to innovate and to be DEI role models.

This is just a snapshot of the breadth of the debate and discussions during this year’s conference, but all ten of these themes provide useful signposts for how we can all contribute towards advancing DEI in our organisations. The title of the conference was ‘DEI in Maritime – Playing Your Part’ and we firmly believe that every one of us has a part to play in helping to turn good intentions on DEI into meaningful action.

Last week we held our 2022 Conference in Copenhagen, kindly hosted by A. P. Moller – Maersk.  Entitled ‘DEI in Maritime – Playing Your Part’, this was a hugely stimulating day of debate, discussion and sharing of ideas.  We’re grateful to everyone that took the time to join us, and confident that everyone also got a lot from it; from making new connections to swapping perspectives on a topic that we’re all passionate about – making real progress on DEI in maritime.

What did we learn? It is impossible to do justice to such a rich day of presentations, workshops and conversations (if you missed it, hopefully we’ll see you next year!) but there were certainly a number of key themes and lessons that emerged from the day.

In this article – part one of our summary of the day – we’ll share a few highlights from what we learned.  More to follow in part two.

Perhaps the headline from the day is that we’re now seeing real progress on DEI taking place in shipping.  Partly driven by necessity, but also thanks to the leadership from shipping’s DEI pioneers and champions, we can see shipping starting to move from intent to action. This was evidenced over the course of the conference, both in the tangible commitments being made by organisations, and the data being shared on progress at a company and industry level.

However, this momentum has been hard-earned and all of us need to work hard to maintain it. We can’t afford for this progress to stall.  How do we do this?  Here are a few themes that emerged from the day.

1. Shipping businesses may compete for talent, but we should collaborate on diversity.

As a shipping community, we should focus on the opportunities to share experiences and best practice, to learn from each other, and inspire one another, in order to grow shipping’s talent pool. Whilst we will compete to attract and retain talent, we all benefit a wider, deeper talent pool and there is no need to be proprietorial about our good ideas. We all benefit if we can collaborate on DEI.

2. DEI is an agent of change and a tool for securing progress.

More diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces will help to stimulate progress, innovation and change in all other parts of the business. This includes our hopes of tackling such defining issues as decarbonisation – for so long seen as a great challenge to shipping, but now increasingly regarded also as an opportunity. DEI will also help to lock in the progress in other areas, such as with an organisation’s ESG initiatives.

3. DEI is good business!

DEI makes business sense. For example, when it comes to shipping’s shrinking talent pool, it makes more sense to invest in hiring and developing a wider pool of talent for your organisation, instead of trying to recruit your way out of the problem. DEI is part of the solution, here and in other areas of organisational strategy, and only through aligning DEI with the wider business strategy can the best outcomes be achieved.

4. DEI is a strategic priority and needs to treat it accordingly.

If DEI is accepted as a strategic priority for an organisation – as it should be – then it follows that it should be treated as seriously as any other commercial imperative. This means applying the same approach, processes and incentives that help to drive progress in other areas, such as setting internal and external targets, and reporting standards, resourcing it properly, employing professionals, linking performance to pay, etc.

5. Data is key for accountability – but beware of bias in how we interpret it.

Only through data will your DEI strategy be a fact-based, objective process, underpinned by a reliable dataset.  Anything else will be partial and subjective.  However, whilst hard data is hard to dispute, how we analyse and interpret them can be prone to bias. This interpretation must be done carefully to avoid jumping to the wrong conclusions, misunderstanding the causes behind the data, and reaching for the wrong levers.

We’ll be sharing some more of the key themes and insights in part two of our report on the 2022 DEI Conference, to be published very soon.

As anyone responsible for developing and implementing DEI strategies will be aware, perceptions of how your team or company are performing are just that – perceptions. They are subjective, partial and personal – still valid, of course, but not the whole picture. With this comes the risk that we learn the wrong lessons and draw the wrong conclusions.

That is why the Diversity Study Group places such importance on data.  Rigorously collected, drawn from a wide range of sources and contributors, and robustly analysed, good data can provide far more accurate insights of where we find ourselves as a team, a company or an industry.

However, data for its own sake isn’t enough.  It’s important that we know what we are looking for and why we are looking for it.

As a sector, we know that we have an image problem, with those already working in maritime, and for those on the outside looking in (or not looking in our direction at all). This makes it hard to encourage those at the start of their working life that the maritime sector will provide them with a rewarding career that aligns with their values.  Similarly, we face a challenge in persuading the next generation of industry leaders to remain in the maritime sector, when they might be tempted by career opportunities elsewhere.

The data we can collect about our industry can also make a big difference to our ability to communicate how we are changing and the progress we are making on building more diverse, equitable and inclusive workplaces.

The difference this data can make is even more important at a time of a global talent shortage, ashore and at sea.  We urgently need to attract a broader range of talent than before; talent that is comfortable with change, technology and fast rates of progression.  Rather than simply say ‘trust us’, data can demonstrate change.  For example, our DSG data from last year’s Annual Review showed a huge lack of gender and ethnic diversity at senior levels. We need the data to tell us if that is changing.  If it is, we have a positive message to share, both to existing employees and also those who may consider joining our industry in the future.

Put another way, we are past the point where good intentions are enough.  All our industry stakeholders expect and increasingly require greater transparency, and trusted data is an important building block of transparency.

Of course, sourcing the right DEI data also requires you to first consider what you want to know and why.  This is why it is so important to give careful thought to the purpose of your DEI strategy and what you hope to achieve.

For companies, this data will provide business leaders with access to objective insights relating to their most important asset; their employee base. Effective DEI data management supports the delivery of the strategic aims of the business, as well as identifying areas of progress and areas which may require further attention.

DEI data is also a helpful tool in responding to employee pressure for change. It is clear that younger generations of employees in particular require more transparency in order to evaluate an organisation as a potential employer, as well as assessing their current employer. Human sustainability is playing an increasingly important role in their evaluation and decision-making process.  What’s more, rather than asking them to take your claims on face value, data-driven evidence of what you can offer to a current or potential employee will be far more persuasive.  After all, actions speak louder than words.  It will also help you to make a far more compelling case for supporting their career development and progression, in the short, medium and long-term.

Finally, at a time of talent scarcity, every organisation can benefit from more proactive employment attraction and retention strategies – something that the maritime sector has historically not been particularly good at.  Building up a bank of DEI data that gives you a true picture of the make-up of your team and their needs, preferences and priorities can be a significant asset when it comes to succession planning.

Beyond the benefits to the organisation, we shouldn’t lose sight of the difference it can make for every individual.  If we can ensure that our decision-making is guided by the data and we develop more inclusive strategies as a result, it will create the exciting possibility that everyone in the organisation will be able to contribute, flourish and fulfil their potential.

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For an exclusive first look at the results of the 2022 DSG Annual Review, register now for an online presentation from Heidi Heseltine and Jenny Barrow. ‘DSG Annual Review 2022 – DEI data for the maritime sector’ will take place at 0930 UK time on 30^th November. Sign up here