Building a culture of belonging – enhancing DEIB within British manufacturing
Impact in a nutshell
Advancing DEIB culture change capabilities amongst the DEIB taskforce, L&D team and Board to be able to lead future interventions and role model desired behaviours.
Enhancing DEIB awareness and capability across all levels, increasing organisational readiness for future cultural interventions.
Structurally hardwiring inclusion through evolved policies and competency frameworks, enabling clear expectations and organisational accountability.
Context
In the current socio-political climate, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) has emerged as a contentious topic. In the US, government pressures have compelled many organisations to cut their DEIB efforts, raising concerns among UK organisations, DEIB teams and advocates about the potential for similar trends in the UK.
Furthermore, DEIB adoption has historically lagged within the manufacturing industry. In 2023, just 29% of UK manufacturers faced DEIB compliance conditions from their customers, with 27% asking suppliers for similar standards. And despite women making up nearly half of the UK’s total labour force, they comprise only 26.1% of its manufacturing workforce.
Given these factors – the challenging socio-political landscape, the slower uptake of DEIB in manufacturing, and regulatory changes such as the UK’s Workers Protection Act (October 2024), which mandates employers to proactively take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment in the workplace – Amtico knew they needed to act. They needed to determine their approach to DEIB moving forward, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to its importance whilst balancing an appetite for change.
Challenge
Since 2022, Amtico has been actively working to understand and enhance its culture. While a sense of belonging is intrinsic to the organisation’s values, many of Amtico’s employees expressed a desire for more action to be taken.
Though many employees understood the surface-level business imperative of DEIB and wanted an inclusive workplace, they often admitted to a limited understanding of DEIB issues and appropriate language. This led to a fear of offending others or appearing disrespectful, causing reluctance to engage in DEIB efforts. Furthermore, some employees were skeptical and disengaged, believing that DEIB initiatives would detract from their enjoyment of work at Amtico. As one leader noted, “Perception of DEI is that we will make work less fun. This could cause a resistance to change.”
Given these challenges, our approach needed to gently encourage participation across all parts of the workforce, regardless of differing viewpoints, to ensure Amtico continued to make progress.
Vision for impact
Amtico’s vision for this journey was to demonstrate their commitment to DEIB within the organisation and help them to set the standard within the manufacturing industry. They wanted to create an inclusive environment in which barriers to DEIB are removed; enabling equity of opportunity, and a sense of belonging for all. Not just because it’s a nice to have, but because it’s a must have for them to continue to push forward as an organisation.
To continue Amtico’s commitment to future-proof quality in their products and services, innovation needs to be at the heart of everything they do. For innovation to thrive, employees need to feel psychologically safe to try new things and learn without prejudice, to show up authentically with their unique perspectives, and to feel they belong to an organisation that values who they are. For Amtico, innovation and DEIB needed to go hand-in-hand.
How did we do it?
We held a mirror up to the organisation, reflecting the cultural experiences, enablers and barriers for DEIB at Amtico by employees across the organisation. We analysed insights from one-to-one interviews with the board, a focus group with the DEIB taskforce, and round-table conversations during company Culture Days. This process allowed us to truly understand Amtico’s current DEIB landscape and their aspirations for the future. It encouraged an honest and provocative conversation with the board which enabled a more targeted approach to broader organisational engagement.
For Amtico, this looked like their DEIB taskforce, supporting them with foundational knowledge on the topic and a framework for embedding the culture. We started by equipping them with DEIB concepts such as definitions, business outcomes of DEIB, and real life examples of where DEIB has improved businesses in the manufacturing industry to enable their education and influencing of other stakeholders and colleagues. With the foundations laid, we ran a co-creation workshop with them using Kin&Co’s cultural activation framework to plan different tools, techniques and experiences they could create to embed a culture of belonging.
In readiness for the Workers Protection Act 2024, which requires employers to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment of their workers, we worked with Amtico’s leaders on how they can empower colleagues to speak up, forming part of the wider suite of preventative measures Amtico implemented to fulfil their duty. This included conducting a Board ‘speak-up’ session, enabling leaders to understand the psychological and cultural enablers and barriers to speaking up and their vital role in unlocking them, and upskilling and equipping the L&D team as trainers to roll-out education and training for the rest of the organisation.
Impact moments
Co-creation of roadmap
We worked hand-in-hand with Amtico to create a 2-year roadmap for embedding a culture of belonging. During our session, we explored Amtico’s 2024 D&I survey results to pinpoint and prioritise key focus areas. We also used Kin&Co’s culture activation model to map out the most effective activities for the next 12-24 months.
What made the difference?
The taskforce built the entire roadmap, with just a guiding hand from us and the L&D team. This was absolutely crucial for ensuring they truly owned it, making sure it reflected Amtico’s genuine needs and what was already happening on the ground. In addition, having Amtico’s L&D team co-deliver the session showed clear ownership from their side, rather than it being solely externally owned. It was also a fantastic sign of the confidence they’d built around DEIB, stepping up as subject matter experts.
Train the trainer – Speak Up
We ran a “Train the Trainer” session for Amtico’s L&D team focused on how to lead a “Speak Up Culture” workshop. Participants experienced the workshop firsthand, a deeply immersive experience to help them feel what it’s like to be a learner. They also honed their facilitation skills and learned to adapt content for different Amtico teams, ensuring confident and tailored delivery.
What made the difference?
Instead of simply upskilling the team on how to run the workshop, we enabled them to experience it first-hand as learners. This provided invaluable insights from a participant’s perspective, which is useful as a future facilitator of the session.
83% of DEIB taskforce respondents felt their views on direction needed for Amtico’s DEIB strategy were listened to and taken seriously.
100% of DEIB taskforce respondents felt personally accountable for driving DEIB efforts at Amtico
100% of the L&D team felt ready and equipped with the skills and tools to train others on Speak Up culture, helping to drive a long-term cultural shift.
Forward-looking summary
Looking ahead, this work is set to deliver significant value for Amtico. Not only was the work received well by the L&D team, it was also successful in engaging the board, upskilling them for their role in leading DEIB. The Taskforce was equipped with a robust roadmap that will enable an enhanced experience, ultimately driving a culture where every Amtico employee feels a strong sense of belonging.
Client quotes
“Kin&Co were instrumental in equipping us as an L&D team as well as the Board, with the right tools to drive an inclusive environment at Amtico where everyone feels heard and has a true sense of belonging. One thing that stood out to me was their interaction with the Board; they created a safe space for the Board to explore DEIB, the questions they had, their gaps in knowledge and their role in driving a culture of Belonging at Amtico. This was crucial for long-lasting impact and engagement across the organisation, driven by top down role modelling.”
Head of L&D and Sustainability, Amtico
“It’s been great to partner with Amtico’s Learning & Development team to evolve how the organisation understands, supports and activates DEI. Manufacturing can be seen as an industry that’s behind the curve in its DEI practices, so it’s been inspiring to see the team’s commitment to learning, evolving and doing what’s right for Amtico’s people and its business.”
Associate Director, Kin&Co
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