Misbah Gulzar of Equitas Consultancy Services explains what diversity, equity and inclusion really mean, why so much corporate DEI is performative, and why she would never want to be hired to tick a box. Graham pushes back hard, Kevin brings a London 2012 case study, and the result is one of our most candid conversations yet.Summary of the PodcastMisbah Gulzar is a DEI consultant and the founder of Equitas Consultancy Services. Before going independent she spent around 20 years in the prison service, including time as an equality manager. Graham met her at The Legacy Bench in Manchester and, as someone who is "generally against interference, however it's framed", invited her on to test his own views.Misbah sets out what each letter of DEI stands for, uses a simple wall analogy to explain the difference between equality and equity, and argues that diversity of thought is good for business. Graham challenges whether equity and diversity can or should be imposed. The conversation covers merit, unconscious bias in recruitment, the Equality Act, and how the prison service handles the placement of transgender prisoners.Key TakeawaysDEI brings differences together: Misbah describes DEI as being about uniting differences rather than separating them. There is no hierarchy of characteristics.Performative DEI: Many large organisations look diverse on the surface, but their C-suite and senior leadership remain predominantly white, male and middle class. Because leadership sets the tone, that limits real change.Equity is not "more": Using the wall analogy, equity means giving each person the support they need to reach the same starting point, such as reasonable adjustments for someone with dyslexia, not giving them an advantage.Merit first: Misbah would never want to be hired as "the token female or the token Asian person". The aim of DEI is to remove the barriers, such as non-inclusive panels and bias against unfamiliar names, so that merit can be judged fairly.Diversity of thought: Graham and Kevin both accept the business case for diversity of thought. Where they part company with Misbah is on legislating for it.Why DEI Divides OpinionThe DEI space has become harder in recent months, with Donald Trump calling for it to be removed altogether.Misbah believes DEI is often poorly explained. People who don't see themselves in it switch off and assume it has nothing to do with them.Of the three letters, inclusion is the one everyone agrees on, Graham included. With inclusion comes belonging.Equality vs Equity: The Wall AnalogyThree people of different heights are watching a match over a wall. Equality gives each of them the same box to stand on. Equity gives each of them what they need to see over the wall.Some needs are invisible. A student with dyslexia who receives a reasonable adjustment is "not getting more than them", just reaching the same level as everyone else.Graham's counter-argument: life isn't fair, people make good and bad decisions, and give everyone £10,000 and a wealth hierarchy will soon reappear.Misbah's response: we are all a product of our environment, and our starting points are different.A Practical Example: London 2012Kevin ran the performance management system for London 2012, which tracked promises made in the bid and by the then Mayor of London, including local jobs.One borough had a large ethnic community with no history of working in construction, which made the job targets hard to reach.The answer was the National Training Centre for Construction Skills on the edge of the Olympic Park. It needed a change of mindset as well as training, and Kevin admits it achieved only limited success.Diversity, Merit and the Equality ActMisbah argues that diverse teams bring different experiences and ways of tackling problems, which benefits output, business acumen and profit.Kevin recalls a former Disney executive, an earlier guest, who brought someone from customer support into product development to shake things up.The UK has no US-style positive action. The Equality Act protects characteristics such as age, disability, religion and belief, sexual orientation, gender identity and maternity, including the duty to make reasonable adjustments.Complex Cases: Transgender PrisonersGraham raises his discomfort with gender identity and pronouns in the workplace, and Kevin raises concerns about shared facilities. Misbah acknowledges it is a complicated and contested area, and says she is not an expert on it.In the prison service, transgender prisoners are protected by legislation and a prison service order. Placement decisions go through multidisciplinary case boards involving psychologists, healthcare and sentence planning.Misbah agreed that colleagues should be given time to adjust to new pronouns: "just be mindful of it".Working with MisbahMisbah will moderate a panel at Black Business Week. You can find her at equitasconsultancy.com and on LinkedIn.The Next 100 Days Podcast Co-HostsGraham ...
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Oct 23 202650 min