I quite regularly get asked by clients to explain Equality Impact Assessments (EIA). It strikes me that there are probably many people working outside of the equality and diversity area who may not be aware of what an EIA is and the important role it plays in benefiting an organisation.
An Equality Impact Assessment is a tool aimed at improving the quality of services by ensuring that individuals and teams think carefully about the likely impact of their work on different communities or groups (internal and external). It involves anticipating the consequences of an organisation’s policies and services on different groups or communities and making sure that any negative impacts are eliminated or minimised and opportunities for promoting equality are maximised.
For many people, their initial response to this process is negative; many think it only time consuming, expensive and driven by ‘red tape’. Just by looking through feedback from attendees on EIA programmes you can see declarations of surprise at how simple and beneficial impact assessing actually is once equipped with the right knowledge and a practical toolkit. Not only does this process ensure that we are fully meeting our legal obligations, it expands an organisation’s opportunity to promote services and/or products to a wider audience and to engage with a wider platform of different groups of people.
By Claudia Cooney | Righttrack’s Sales & Key Account Executive