Diversity, “D&I”, Equality, Equity – must-haves when it comes to designing and re-designing company culture. With more of us now openly recognising that we must do more when it comes to enshrining fairness and justice in our places of work, conversations around race, gender and bias have become more commonplace in our offices and professional networks.
At IN-VISIBLE, we’re happy that these conversations are taking place. But what we’re particularly interested in is how we turn these conversations into actionable goals. IN-VISIBLE is a female-founded agency redesigning diversity and inclusion strategy for the modern work place. We help companies and organisations to create atmospheres in which all employees feel invited to contribute their potential. We conduct our transformative work through workshops, trainings and advice.
Rea Eldem founded IN-VISIBLE in 2018 after time spent studying gender at the University of Cambridge. Frustrated by the lack of transference between academic research and practical action, Rea and the small team at IN-VISIBLE have made it their mission to make the best bits of academic knowledge useful in the world of work.
What makes IN-VISIBLE different from other diversity innovators?
Usually, gender focused diversity consultants focus on two things: getting women into the workforce (recruitment); and individual “female empowerment”. At IN-VISIBLE, we do it differently.
First of all, we like to tackle the cause, rather than the symptom. Let’s use an example: If female employees don’t feel empowered, don’t lecture them on self-empowerment. Examine the structures they are working in, draw-out any out-dated or invisible procedures and provide them with the tools they need to implement structural change themselves.
More than average Unconscious Bias workshops - we find leverage on a structural level
Another crucial thing that we do differently is our workshopping methods (see our blog article on anti-bias training for a more detailed exploration of our methodologies). Non-traditional work cultures such as startups and co-working spaces aren’t exempt from unconscious biases. In both our digital and our in-person working groups we use design thinking, story listening and non-violent communication to unpack the thought-patterns we didn’t even know we had.
Our use of agile working methods and interactive content mean that there’s no “one size fits all” experience with us. Each individual who we collaborate with leaves our sessions with the tools needed to be truly self-reflexive and apply what they’ve learned to both themselves and their working environments. No more boring presentations. No more lectures. We want to help you actively create change.
Fostering equity ultimately means initiating change in your workspace
Another aspect of IN-VISIBLE that sets us apart from the others is who we work with when it comes to our consultation. We often work actively in spaces that are, for example, white-male dominated (tech, engineering) guiding the growth and development of these spaces, so those facing discrimination don’t have to.
Initiating change in your workspace isn’t easy. It takes commitment, conversation and a lot of work. But when we put our heads together, and listen to eachother, it’s surprising how quickly we can cultivate fantastic spaces that support everyone’s needs.