NEW ISO STANDARD SUPPORTS DIVERSITY AND INCLUSION

A newly published international standard by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), ISO 30415, Human resource management — Diversity and inclusion, provides a foundation for organizations wishing to create an inclusive workplace and optimizes all the benefits that it can bring. ATP participated in the development of the new standard by providing comments to the original draft.

"ATP has always been a strong advocate of workplace diversity and inclusion. ATP's Public Sector SIG and Industrial/Organizational Division have provided forums and support for assessments in the workplace that promote inclusive work environments and equitable career paths for talented individuals," noted ATP CEO Dr. William G. Harris. 

An announcement about the new standard, released by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), which served as the secretariat of the ISO technical committee (TC) 260, Human Resource Management, which developed the standard,  pointed to a 2020 McKinsey report, Diversity wins: How inclusion matters, interviewed CEOs, CXOs and CHROs regarding the radically changed business landscape amid the COVID crisis. The authors of the report noted: "Companies whose leaders welcome diverse talents and include multiple perspectives are likely to emerge from the crisis stronger. In short: diversity wins, now more than ever."

ANSI also noted Deloitte's 2018 publication, The Diversity and Inclusion Revolution, which was developed based on the company's culmination of work with approximately 50 organizations around the world that represent a footprint of more than 1 million employees, and gives insights on the effectiveness of diversity and inclusion. The report's authors recognized a simple formula: Diversity + inclusion = better business. "Simply put, diversity without inclusion is worth less when the two are combined," the report emphasizes.

The new standard ISO 30415 will result in company leaders demonstrating their commitment to diversity and inclusion, with strategic opportunities applied, and strong awareness of the results of their commitment by employees and external stakeholders. The standard covers actions, principles, measures, and their associated accountabilities and responsibilities, and takes into account the unique context of each workplace. ISO 30415 is intended to be scalable to the needs of all types of organizations in different sectors, whether in public, private, government or non-governmental organizations (NGO), regardless of size, type, activity, industry or sector, growth phase, external influences, and country-specific requirements.