Diversity In Practice Updates 10 - Ethical Practice

Diversity In Practice Updates Ethical Practice

After titling my business D’Rose Ethics and Equity Academy, I set a professional expectation about the quality and integrity that I and my team offer. I am a firm believer in the need for ethical and equity driven practice is all sectors and spaces.

Ethics and values sit at the foundation of our organisations and professional relationships. By establishing clear principles, we can resolve most dilemmas. Clear principles, provide boundaries and behaviours which help us determine how to manage challenges.

Organisational principles define priorities and actions but also expectations around behaviours and internal culture. The theory of these three principles is founded in how we can operate from a more humanistic position and links to the philosophy of Permaculture.

Permaculture - People Care, Earth Care and Fair Shares

If you are interested in finding out more about Permaculture, please follow the link. I would also recommend this article about Decolonising Permaculture by Sarah Queblatin, for broader context.

To understand the ethics behind the D'Rose approach it is important to understand that we start with a people centred stance, which puts the Equitable needs and values of the individual or group as the priority.

Second, we consider the impact on the environment, both in terms of waste, eco/green commitments but also promoting ethically considered spaces, events and projects.

Finally, the principle of sharing resources for now and for the future, co-design. Recognising the fundamental responsibility of ethical leadership to approach resources, including natural and human, as something to be protected and nurtured not exploited and depleted. Committed to embedding sustainable practices into our daily decision making.

1. People Care

People Care for leaders and organisations, starts with caring for the people inside the organisation and the people the organisation serves. How does the organisation ensure their workforce is well supported and catered to? The path to People Care requires adaptions to how we think.

Most people split the world into two parts: 'self' verses everything else. The principle of People Care reminds us that the only divides are the ones we create.

People care, also known as being person-centred approaches, sounds simple but how easy is it to ensure all our actions are coming from a place of compassion? Compassion means caring, do we act out of care and love all the time? Often organisations are not associated with compassion and love, but the need to prioritise ethical practice requires businesses to recognise and evidence their duty of care towards their people and wider stakeholders.

Considering the needs of others, requires organisations to avoid exclusionary or discriminatory practice and ensure the quality of inclusive workplace development. Treating others how you would like to be treated, is a good starting point. Being a ‘people first’ professional or leader is about behaving in a way which avoids causing harm. It requires emotional intellect and regulation, the ability to be responsive rather than reactive.

People care requires understanding of our connection to all humanity and personal awareness skills, which allow us to treat even unpleasant individuals with consideration and care. It is easy to be kind to people who we can see are in need or to be respectful to those we consider as holding power. Respecting people we may perceive as in need or being unconditionally kind to someone who has abused their power, these are bigger challenges.

It's important not to let other people's toxic behaviour derail our inclusive leadership journey. Remember behaving in these negative ways and treating people badly, displays how unhappy and inadequate a person feels within themselves, they are acting from a place of fear and insecurity.

True compassion is applied to everyone, understanding no individual is above or below any other. Equity and acceptance, diversity and belonging, all form part of impactful people care. It is the foundation of healthy communities and ensures everyone's contributions are acknowledged without judgement.

Leading with compassion allows you to support and guide people while maintaining boundaries and individual accountability.

People care enables us to be caring and supportive of others but not to your own detriment. Sometimes the person who needs your compassion most is you. Self-care sits at the centre of people care and you can revisit our previous article about the importance of self-care here.

People care is a big part of our personal and professional development as Inclusive Leaders. Building, relationships, friendship groups, teams, communities and support networks. Engaging with diverse groups of people helps us learn more, see the world differently and explore new experiences.

Earth Care

Compassion for our environment is an extension of people care. Sometimes we seem to forget that as humans we are part of nature and caring for nature is the same as caring for people. Protecting the environment is big news these days but it is not a new concept. For most of human existence we understood the importance of looking after the environment which supports us. It is a basic logical principle. Protecting the environment, really is just a way of saying be compassionate to the environment, cause no harm.

When we consider this on a small scale it is very obvious, keep your bedroom/house clean and tidy, don't damage it or ignore maintenance jobs which are required. By caring for the environment where we live, we ensure our own health and wellbeing.

Now scale up that thought. Not so easy to do in a world built on the petrochemical industry from cars to shopping bags, everything wrapped in plastic for convenience and electronic gadgets all around us. I'm not suggesting everyone become an activist or 'eco warrior' (although I'd wholly encourage it if you feel inclined) but we all have a duty to actively care for our planet, reduce our negative impact and take responsibility. Learn more by visiting Diversity in Sustainability.

Everyone can contribute to improving their negative impact, find a level where you are comfortable. Start with caring for where you live, your home, school or workplace, your community and public spaces. Small actions from recycling or reusing your plastic, making sure you put your rubbish in a bin, taking a reusable bag when you go shopping and being more conscious of what plastic wrapped items you buy or even where you shop.

Being less wasteful can be achieved with very little effort. Moving towards more sustainable sources for your purchases can require some research but is generally worth the time invested. Being more thoughtful in our purchases and daily activities can improve our environment in a variety of ways. Recyclable or biodegradable packaging, walking instead of driving where possible, putting on a jumper instead of turning up the heating. These small actions can spread to a wider compassion for the planet, our global community and save us money.

Collectively small actions can have a big impact. Consumers have a lot of collective power, choosing to spend your money only with business' who share your ethics or values and who's practices are sustainable, is probably easier than you think, with just a little research and time. We have seen compassion for the Dolphins impact on how tuna is caught, compassion for the whales led to international agreement to protect the sea mammals and their numbers are happily rising. We have seen the global impact of consumer boycotts on stock prices of multinational companies, forcing changes to policy and practices.

We can be formidable when we act collectively. Protecting where we live is common sense and practical, not just for now but for the future, locally, nationally and globally.

Fare Shares

Sharing is something we generally learn as toddlers. Then, as we grow up, we begin to learn that resources are to be hoarded and coveted. Greed, selfishness and excess have become acceptable with our societies. Promoting positive sharing practices and community approaches are the remit of charities alone and no longer stand as a foundation of modern communities.

Co-resourcing is a proven way of improving conditions for a wider circle of individuals and ensures resources are utilised rather than hoarded or wasted. Implementing sustainable approaches like circular economy initiatives and remembering that there are enough resources for everyone to have their needs met, requires a fundamental change in our collective thinking.

Moving away from the pursuit of material gain and wealth accumulation, towards a sense of gratitude and contentment with what we have, enables us to comfortably share what we have with others and not feel that we have lost anything in the process. Paying it forward is a simple analogy for sharing our resources with others. Resources may include actual things or money but can also be your time, knowledge or just donating items you no longer need or use.

Sharing is a basic human principle for building strong communities. Pooling resources and collective buying are well known corporate terms for making the most of limited finances but the same principle can be applied to any resource or group of people. Sharing creates healthy relationships and can improve mental health and wellbeing, for all involved.

Leading engagement with our teams, stakeholders and communities, developing connections and networks promotes understanding, equality, justice and continuity. The world we live in is capable of providing for all our needs. Scarcity of resources, outside of natural crisis situations, is usually caused by mismanagement of resources and the unsustainable processes founded in greed, which our society has implemented over the centuries. It is evident that when discussing the treatment of the environment, sustainability is key. If we each only take what we need there is enough for everyone, not just now but for future generations also.

Conclusion

Simple principles such as People Care, Earth Care and Fare Shares, also underpin Diversity and Inclusion practices by providing structure, direction and alignment with organisational vision/mission and strategy.

By identifying and sharing core values we can build strong foundations. Our principles, values and ethics help us create relationships with others who share our commitments and purpose, including employee resource groups, professional communities and business networks.

Values and ethics, particularly in terms of corporate social responsibility (CSR), are often seen as separate to the core function of a business. But these structures are actually the foundations of how businesses and their leadership operate.

There are a variety of ways organisations can share and evidence their CSR principles and values, from policy statements to business accreditation like the Good Business Charter or Disability Confident Scheme.

However, these accreditations are often not as robust as we would expect and self-certification is easily manipulated. To effectively evidence ethical practices businesses, need to be able to show their progress using data, monitoring and measuring commitment, resources and impact of the actions undertaken, over an extended period of time.

The D'Rose Ethics&Equity Strategic Framework and CPD accredited training workshops support professional and organisational development to implement long-term diversity strategies supported by inclusive leadership and diverse stakeholder engagement. Find out more by visiting D’Rose Website or send an email to [email protected].