The IDEA Programme | London, UK
Inclusive Culture Initiative

Provide in depth information on the background and nature of your diversity initiative.

It was only two years ago that a small group of passionate people got together to create Kin + Carta’s Inclusion, Diversity, Equity and Awareness programme. They called it IDEA and, today, it is a hugely successful initiative involving hundreds of people around the planet who are working to do the right thing when it comes to people and the planet.

It’s our way of showing that everyone is welcome here at Kin + Carta, no matter who they are, where they're from or who they love. Our 3 main aims are:
1. Ensure our teams are as diverse as the countries in which we operate.
2. Employees should feel as if they can bring their authentic selves to work.
3. People are paid equitably

The scope of IDEA is wide and deep, covering key areas and strongly supported by the leadership at our consultancy. These leaders are also advocates for its principles, getting involved in events and speaking up as allys. The IDEA team supports D+I, philanthropy and mental health and wellness efforts, 9 affinity groups (ERG’s) worldwide and over 200 people actively involved. There is an IDEA representative in every country where K+C operates.

The IDEA programme is always evolving to adapt to our business and the needs that arise within and around it. An annual events calendar ensures all events are intersectional and relevant to the regions and countries where they take place. Regional charity partners include Code Your Future, Por Igual Mas and Techbridge Girls

IDEA generates work policies that go above and beyond any country's protected characteristics to ensure everyone is protected anywhere within Kin + Carta. For example, D+I and responsibility is now considered in all performance reviews and in senior leadership bonuses to ensure priority is given to the work. Our aim is for IDEA to help other businesses as well as our own. The work of the programme has led us publishing ground-breaking, industry leading policies such a Transitioning at Work policy with a fully paid 12 weeks off and a Travel for Medical Care policy

We are constantly working on improving hiring practices and reducing bias. Recent examples include:
• measuring and reporting quarterly on the diversity in our pipeline + course correcting
• rolling out the IDEA hiring process for senior leaders, ensuring a diverse pipeline before we interview
• candidate welcome packs that provide a warm welcome to all and provide crucial information.

We’re always trying to go above and beyond, creating new roadmaps and plans throughout the year. We share an annual IDEA report to share our progress and learnings and have begun actively working with our clients and partners to form communities and help them develop their own D+I strategies.

What impact do you feel your initiative has had on your clients/target audience?

We run an eNPS/employee engagement survey twice a year. In this survey, 91% of employees in Europe agreed with the statement that “people here are treated fairly regardless of sexual orientation/age/race/gender.” And the top aspect that employees were most satisfied with at Kin + Carta was IDEA. Over 29% of positive comments referenced IDEA or responsible business.

Provide an overview on how your initiative has impacted diversity and inclusion related issues.

The IDEA programme kicked off a company wide pay equity initiative to ensure our teams are paid fairly, we now have 97% gender pay equity across the company and adjust it every 6 months.
We measure female representation in leadership and across the company. We’ve maintained 40% female representation this year and have increased board representation by almost 20%. (European leadership: 40%, Americas: 31%, Global: 33%).
We also currently interview all our new employees to better understand why they chose Kin and Carta, 40.9% said D+I or responsibility and a further 20.5% said company values and culture.
IDEA is the biggest programme K+C has, with members in more countries than any other programme.
Please provide a name and contact details of a person we can contact to make this evidence credible.
Name
Shereen Barros
Email Address
shereen.barros@kinandcarta.com