What can festivals teach companies about Inclusion and Equality?

What can festivals teach companies about Inclusion and Equality?

For the last few years, the UK Festival scene has grown from strength to strength. Every summer hundreds of thousands of people travel across the UK and internationally, to dance and enjoy music. But what is it about festivals that attract people to travel the distance, spend a lot of money and stand up for 12 hours in rain, sun or mud?

Festivals have a purpose, a mission and a shared vision with its followers. These values are centered around inspiration, music and celebration. They invite followers to collectively embrace these values as equals irrespective of any differences. Inclusion is at a Festival’s core, it builds a connection with its followers and brings people together across all demographics. A Festival is a celebration where age, ethnicity, gender, disability, religion and sexual orientation are irrelevant and do not define any one person. Bias has no meaning or presence in a festival.

We are in a time of unprecedented change, where technology and ambition have no limits but where inequality still thrives and is often a barrier to achieving success. Companies need to be acutely aware that innovation and evolution are inevitable but strengthening a culture of equality is fundamental to ensure an engaged and healthy workforce. So what can companies learn from Festivals?

We are all Equals

Companies must treat all employees as equals regardless of level or standing within the organisation. Seek the opinions of employees and encourage challenge. Allow for a more agile working structure that supports employee growth. Remember, companies want employees who are willing to go the distance and stand up for 12 hours in the rain, sun or mud; employees must believe and feel that the company cares about their thoughts and opinions. Companies should promote such an environment throughout every level of the company and positively challenge any behavior that does not support this culture.  Actions speak louder than words.

An Authentic Purpose

People will want to work for a company if they believe in its purpose. A company must connect with its employees through that purpose as equals, irrespective of any employee’s role within an organisation. It is important to ensure that your company has an unwavering purpose and that correlates with its mission and vision and the company is adaptable to change over time.

Find the Right Talent

Find a candidate with the right attitude that is passionate enough about your company’s purpose that he or she would travel the distance and stand for 12 hours to achieve success (like at a festival). Passion, ambition and Grit should therefore place higher on a competency scorecard than technical ability. More often than not a company can teach a technical skill. It cannot however, teach people to be a team player and have the drive and passion to achieve. Companies must broaden its definition of talent and eradicate bias from its recruitment process.

Unlike the inclusive environment of a festival, the Adam and Mohammed case study from Inside Out London demonstrates that inequality still exists and that equally or more talented people are overlooked for roles because of a characteristic that is part of their identity. Companies loose out on greater success, a better engaged and diverse workforce if they do not proactively take steps to eradicate bias and see the value in passion and potential over any other competency such as a preferred school, academic or institutional achievement. I absolutely acknowledge the importance of strong academics but it should not be the main or most important determining factor.  The right talent should be based on their value and possible contribution to the company. Allowing bias to thrive dilutes a company’s authentic purpose and allows characteristics such as nationality, race, gender and disability to play a role in who gets through the company doors.  Employees are the brand of the company and will determine its future stability and success, so hiring managers should decide wisely.

Twitter: @CharleneLBrown