The relationship between diversity on executive teams and the likelihood of financial outperformance has strengthened over time with diversity winners adopting systematic, business-led approaches to building inclusive workplaces. In the corporate world, that represents an increase in revenue, gaining competitive advantage, and enabling more significant innovation, while reducing the cost of employee churn and attracting talent.

For government and public service organisations, mirroring the changing demographic of Ireland demonstrates a better integrated and aligned state.

The Black Leadership Council of Ireland as an ally of the Dublin Chamber of Commerce is here to help enable positive change and education for all types of organisations. Their mission as a social enterprise is to increase the participation and representation of Black leaders in Irish and Ireland-based organisations across management and executive levels.

To achieve this goal, they engage in a multifaceted approach, working collaboratively with leaders and organisational partners through a lens that applies an intersectional, systemic and business led approach. Their key objectives span across 4 main pillars outlined below:

1. Hiring Strategy (Assessment and Consultancy)

• Objective:
• Help companies attract a diverse talent pool by eliminating bias in recruitment processes  and building equitable, fair and inclusive hiring practices.
• Activities:
  • Conduct comprehensive audits of current hiring practices to identify potential biases.
  • Provide training sessions for HR teams on recognizing and mitigating unconscious biases.
  • Collaborate with organisations to develop blind recruitment processes to focus on qualifications rather than demographic information.

2. Talent Assessment, Development, and Promotion (Consultancy and Assessment)

• Objective:
  •  Ensure that processes for evaluating, developing, and promoting talent are inclusive and unbiased.
• Activities:
  • Audit talent diversity and generate report of gap analysis and opportunities
  • Design and implement mentorship programs to support the professional growth of underrepresented individuals.
  • Develop training modules for managers to enhance their awareness of diversity and inclusion issues in talent management.
  • Review and refine performance appraisal systems to minimise the impact of unconscious bias.  

3. Board and Executive Advisory Services

• Objective:
  • Assist organisations in building diverse and inclusive leadership teams, inclusive workplace culture while having a positive impact on society.
• Activities:
  • Conduct diversity and inclusion workshops for board members and executives.
  • Offer one-on-one advisory sessions to board members on assessing the organisation with respect to inclusion, equity and diversity.
  • Designing reporting metrics for tracking the organisation’s business case for diversity, equity and inclusion.
  • Be a Critical Friend to Executive and Board Members by acting as a trusted advisor, offering constructive feedback to enhance inclusivity.

4. Inclusion and Impact Tracking (Consultancy)

• Objective:
  • Provide ongoing support and measure the impact of diversity and inclusion initiatives.
• Activities:
  • Implement diversity and inclusion surveys to gather feedback from employees at all levels.
  • Analyse and interpret data to identify trends and areas for improvement.
  • Regularly review and adjust strategies based on the measured impact and organisational feedback.

Through these targeted activities, their social enterprise aims to create lasting change in Ireland in the Irish business landscape and thereby contribute to Ireland being positioned as a destination of choice for global talent, business and innovation.