Gamiel Yafai
Assessing businesses and their leaders through the lens of inclusivity
Without realising he’s doing it, Donald Trump could currently be doing more for diversity and inclusion than any other major world leader according to DEI specialist Gamiel Yafai MBE. Counterintuitive as that might seem, Gamiel believes that the
negativity coming out of the White House is, in fact, prompting many companies to review what they are doing with regard to DEI and to try to assess the impact of any approach where there may be shortcomings. “Ironically, leadership behaviours are estimated to infl uence
70% of behaviour within an organisation, so it is interesting that the words of a world leader are actually having a reverse eff ect from what was intended,” said Gamiel. “Some of the rhetoric we are hearing is actually making organisations assess the work they have been doing and seeing it is maybe not having much of an impact. And part of that is because it’s not about what you’re doing, it’s about culture and behaviours, particularly how leaders demonstrate behaviour.” Gamiel Yafai is the founder and CEO of Diversity Marketplace, a
multi-award-winning global diversity, equity inclusion consultancy that operates from its headquarters in Milton Keynes but has a far wider reach. Its team of diversity strategists, researchers and trainers carries out audits for companies looking at the eff ectiveness of their DEI strategy and helps them implement meaningful change.
In addition, Gamiel has been a board member and strategy lead
for the Centre for Global Inclusion and is an Expert Panel Member for the Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Benchmark, as well as a Global Advisory Board Member for T e Inclusion Foundation and a Trustee for Women Leaders UK. He is also co-founder of the MK Ethnic Business Community,
and was awarded an MBE in the King’s Birthday Honours List in June for services to diversity and inclusion. Last month, Gamiel received an Honorary Doctorate Degree
from the Open University for Services to Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, especially for work in helping businesses in the voluntary sector understand the advantages of diversity and how to grow a culture that adds value. “T e fact is, there is a strong business case for good DEI,” he
said. “Organisations should be looking at everything they are doing through an inclusive lens. How does what you’re doing look to people from diff erent backgrounds, or those who are neurodivergent? And organisations that don’t do this could lose talent, they could lose female staff , and risk a low level of productivity. “Research shows that staff often feel they can’t bring more than
around 50% of themselves to work because managers don’t always appreciate the knowledge and education they bring with them because they see other factors fi rst – ethnicity, gender, disabilities. “Leadership behaviour, from the top and through to line manager
level is crucial. Most people leave jobs not because they don’t like the work or the company but because they don’t like their manager. We need people with emotional intelligence, empathy, kindness, so that we think about how employees feel when they are at work. “T is might happen by evolution, the next generation certainly
have diff erent values and outlooks, but I have been thinking that for the past 25 years and it hasn’t really happened yet to the degree it needs to.
ALL THINGS BUSINESS | 14
ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY
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