Equal Opportunities

Encouraging Diversity has always been one of US2U Consulting's core values. We always incorporate key messages into our client projects as appropriate. This may include helping clients create or refresh their company values to drive a positive, inclusive culture or delivering specific sessions to enable managers and staff to stay up to date on relevant legislation and language that can be used or avoided in the workplace so that people feel comfortable.

Always up for a challenge, to celebrate Pride Month 2023 we decided to make a Pride Flag Cake! It has three layers so we think that it is relevant to ask ourselves three questions:

1) What are we doing well regarding creating an all-inclusive culture?

2) What can we do differently or better to achieve this?

3) What are we going to change?

Please get in touch to ask us to support your Diversity and Inclusion Stategy - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Back in February 2021 we announced that US2U Consulting was one of 75 UK businesses to sign up to the Change the Race Ratio initiative. The idea of Lord Bilimoria, pictured with Rachel Blackburn, was to grasp the moment to create real and lasting change to improve the racial and ethnic diversity across company boards and senior leadership positions in UK businesses.

There are currently 100 signatories for the initiative and all were invited to a Reception on the Thames at Tower Bridge Quay, London, hosted by the British Television Presenter June Sarpong OBE. Key points from the various speakers who presented during the evening included:

• Only 20% of FTSE 100 companies have signed up to the Change the Race Ratio

• There are still no FTSE 100 companies with a black Chairperson, Chief Executive Officer or Chief Financial Officer

• When recruiting, to make a statement along the lines of "We embrace diversity but won't compromise on merit" can be seen as patronising and an inappropriate comment - as it's assumed that the best candidate will not be from an ethnic minority

• Black people who are capable to do key roles may feel like an "imposter" and may benefit from a mentor or sponsor to help them navigate the career ladder

Lord Bilimoria said "It's a dream come true to have this evening; it's proven that to have more diverse senior leadership makes good business sense as more diversity leads to more innovation."

To find out how we can help your organisation develop its Diversity and Inclusion strategies, please contact Rachel Blackburn at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for an exploratory conversation.

Whilst we have worked with clients to develop their processes and behaviours for managing diversity for many years, we have now seen how the agenda has changed since the killing of George Floyd in the US in May 2020.

Therefore we have researched and developed a new Diversity and Inclusion Framework which supports the latest language and principles of proactively addressing black lives inequality.

This includes recognising what Diversity and Inclusion mean, understanding the latest terms and what is appropriate, exploring unconscious and conscious bias, reflecting on relevant black history, managing issues around recruiting, developing and promoting people and action planning to achieve positive change.

Please get in touch to find out how we can help you manage this sensitive priority which has moral and commercial implications.

(Pictured below is a painting by US2U Consulting team member Kerwin Blackburn - a Jackson Pollock inspired action painting of American civil rights activitist Martin Luther King, capturing the tone of the current discussion)

It has been great to work with our client ABC Taxis in Norwich during the summer to produce three more films to support their passion for excellence in all that they do. Two of these may be of wider interest and can be seen by clicking the links below.

Managing Equal Opportunities and Diversity - a subject which continues to get more complex and challenging.

Managing Safeguarding and Child Protection - another subject which is so important to get right.

You will note in each film we have worked with various people in the community to explore best practice and make the messages clear with practical examples. We research, script, shoot and edit the films, providing a 'one stop shop' to tailored film production that makes it easy and cost effective to digitally convey consistent, key messages to staff and customers.

Please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out how we can work with you to improve your organisation's communications and training.

In addition to managing personal and professional situations in relation to the current pandemic, most of us will have been concerned about recent events concerning racial prejudice. We understand that we strive for all-inclusive workplaces; however none of us can be complacent. We must continue to review what we are getting right and what we can do differently or better.

We have many years of experience of helping Executive Teams, Leadership Teams and Team Members explore these sensitive subjects. It's always better to discuss best practice proactively than be forced to discuss it when someone has said or done something inappropriate.

Please get in touch to find out how we can support your business with reviewing Equal Opportunities and Diversity as this is such an important part of complying with the law, creating high performance teams and giving great customer service!

Rachel Blackburn attended a CBI (Confederation of British Industry) meeting on Cannon Street in London on 23 February 2023 to discuss the Change The Race Ratio Campaign that US2U Consulting has been a key signatory of since 2021 (read more about this here).

The purpose of this movement is to campaign for race equity and encouraging diversity in leadership and senior management positions - which US2U Consulting has always been passionate about as one of our core values. We offer a variety of Diversity and Inclusion-focused services, with our Diversity and Inclusion language quiz being one of our activities on this topic. Read and have a go at this here - let us know how you get on!

Richard DeNetto (pictured with Rachel) was one of the key speakers at this meeting in his role as a Race Change Equity Agent.

Overall, this CBI meeting was helpful for members to discuss the topic of race equity within a variety of industries, and how an inclusive culture can help any type of business thrive.

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to find out how we can support your organisation's Diversity, Inclusion and Equal Opportunities strategies.

For our latest US2U Consulting Podcast episode, Founder & Director Rachel Blackburn sat down with our Spring 2023 Intern, Jess Connolly, to discuss the topic of Gender Equality in the Workplace.

Watch the episode and let us know your thoughts. What are your experiences of Gender Equality in organisations you have worked in? Have there been improvements made in this area in recent years?

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. to learn more about how US2U Consulting can make a positive difference to your organisation.