The findings were based on a poll of 565 HR decision-makers carried out by charity Working Chance in April 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Too many EDI initiatives are built around celebrations and awareness days, Jonathan Ashong-Lamptey, director of inclusion-focused advisory firm Element of Inclusion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPushback against EDI is often pushback against activity that produces no measurable outcomes. The answer is not to defend every EDI activity, but to replace it with principles and practices that work.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ashong-Lamptey noted that the best organisations are the ones that use \u201cevidence-based inclusion strategies\u201d that assess workforce needs and make informed hiring decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leadership coach Emma Georgiou noted that leaders want to do the right thing but feel pressured to retreat against their better judgement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The business case for boosting inclusion in the workplace hasn\u2019t changed, Georgiou said, adding: \u201cHR leaders are in no doubt that teams with greater cognitive diversity make better decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWe\u2019re in a bizarre situation where businesses are self-sabotaging by doing the wrong thing to look like they\u2019re doing the right thing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
To redress that balance, leaders must \u201cbuild inclusion into the culture of the business so deeply that it becomes part of its DNA. Then decisions about leading, hiring and mentoring can\u2019t be detached on a whim\u201d, she advised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Leaders must \u201cstand strong in the face of political pressure and do what\u2019s right for their workers and the business\u201d, Georgiou added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Researchers for Working Chance, which helps women with convictions gain employment, also found that four in 10 (42%) HR leaders are fairly or very confident in hiring people with convictions to their organisation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The survey revealed that key barriers to recruiting people with convictions include risk (51%), reputational concerns (47%) and issues around DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks (36%).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Inclusion initiatives make sound business sense and are not just a nice-to-have, Natasha Finlayson, chief executive of Working Chance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen businesses step back from inclusion, the impact is felt most keenly by those who may struggle to find work, including people with convictions, people from racially minoritised communities, women and disabled people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cBy scrapping inclusive hiring within businesses, women with convictions face a steeper climb in rebuilding their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Keeping inclusion at the heart of recruitment creates fairer access to work and stronger communities, Finlayson added.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The findings were based on a poll of 565 HR decision-makers carried out by charity Working Chance in April 2026. Too many EDI initiatives are built around celebrations and awareness days, Jonathan Ashong-Lamptey, director of inclusion-focused advisory firm Element of Inclusion. \u201cPushback against EDI is often pushback against activity that produces no measurable outcomes. The […]<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1796"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1798,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1796\/revisions\/1798"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prohuntsingapore.com\/zh\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}