How Melding addresses Principle 6 of the Charity Governance Code on Equity, Diversity and Inclusion
The appearance of Principle 6 in the Charity Governance Code confirms this: the Diversity and Inclusion challenge is not going anywhere for Boards, senior leadership, or employees across the charity sector. Many charities find their Diversity and Inclusion actions stalled, and CEOs and employees know there is still work to do. Despite the best intentions, our sector is not fulfilling employee expectations around Diversity and Inclusion promises.
Principle 6 states that all charity Boards have a "clear, agreed and effective approach to supporting equality, diversity and inclusion throughout the organisation and in its own practice. This approach supports good governance and the delivery of the organisation's charitable purposes."
Our answer to a clear, agreed, and effective approach is Melding.
Melding is our Diversity and Inclusion service that works across all levels of an organisation to deliver tailored solutions, measure and track progress, and provide training and guides for effective and measurable implementation. With Melding, we can support you to make D&I a part of the core DNA of your organisation.
Melding's key offerings include:
Unlimited D&I training (with the option of custom sessions at no extra cost)
Comprehensive Melding D&I Survey
The certification of your D&I achievements through the Melding Standard
Insight Reports based on sector-wide learnings for decision-making
Research-based recommendations and implementation guides
A self-managing platform for your staff to lead their own D&I journey and combine that with the organisational journey as well
D&I Policy Review to ensure you can achieve positive change
Direct support from a Melding Expert every quarter
An annual conference for CEOs and Chairs to ensure you are on the same page with D&I
Together these key offerings ensure the Board and senior management adhere to the Charity Governance Code's recommended practice for Principle 6.
Melding's D&I surveys provide qualitative and quantitative data that a Melding expert analyses to help you establish the context and importance of Diversity and Inclusion to your charity's workforce and service delivery. Our surveys assess the current D&I situation within your organisation and allow our experts to provide research-based recommendations to address critical issues before they become irreparable. Principle 6 encourages charities to assess D&I within the organisation regularly and Melding surveys staff -- at all levels -- quarterly. These same surveys allow organisations to monitor performance and assure progress based on concrete goals and milestones co-developed with our experts.
Principle 6 recommends that organisations share their D&I work and learning with others in the sector. We created the Melding Standard to showcase just this – meeting the Melding Standard requirements showcases that work has been done and progress is being made. As part of your membership to Melding, your organisation will gain insights into the lessons we learn from other members (anonymised of course) and vice versa. Together we will continue to create and update a repository of best practices that other charities in the sector can learn from. Survey reports can also be turned into public documents and to other organisations in the sector and potential employees who demand an inclusive workplace.
UK-based charities do not have to go on a Diversity and Inclusion journey alone; we are here to help. We work with charities and social enterprises. If you want to work with us, please register your interest here.
To find out more about Melding, head to the website here.
