There’s an assumption that D&I is an ‘HR thing’; a way of having policies in place should things go wrong. But D&I is everyone’s business across your organisation, and a strong HR function should be proactive as well as reactive in their approach to D&I. HR can build a robust way of understanding the current D&I landscape, while designing ways of measuring D&I which directly benefits the business.

A strong HR & People function is fundamental to a successful D&I strategy. This is important for founders to note, as HR is a function that is often ignored or omitted in early-stage businesses. There is often little investment in HR before Series A, when every penny goes into validation of concept and growing revenue. This means that D&I frameworks aren’t created until after core business structures have been implemented. The effects of this can be hard to undo, so, regardless of whether you have an HR team already, the things in this section are what you need to consider.

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