EDI News

Category: Articles

Articles on Equality, Diversity & Inclusion topics.

  • Why EDI Accreditation Shouldn’t Be a Tick-Box Exercise

    Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) accreditation must be credible, evidence-based, and focused on real impact. Real EDI progress comes from data, evidence, and employee insight — not simple yes/no answers.

    Accreditation exists to confirm whether an organisation meets defined standards. As outlined in why accreditation matters,  and explained in our article on what makes accrEDIted different, the value of accreditation depends on the strength of its standards and the rigour of its assessment process.

    Many schemes rely heavily on self-assessment, allowing organisations to confirm their compliance without providing evidence. While this may work in some contexts, EDI accreditation requires a more robust approach. Inclusion is complex, intersectional, and rarely captured through simple yes/no answers.

    Some workplace programs illustrate this perfectly. For example, the Disability Confident Scheme, designed to reduce disability discrimination, allows organisations to be members without employing a single disabled person. This has rightly been branded performative and ineffective. Such examples highlight why tick-box accreditation cannot capture or induce meaningful EDI outcomes.

    Meaningful EDI assessment requires independent scrutiny. Our approach to independent oversight ensures standards are applied consistently and performance is assessed objectively, strengthening credibility and confidence in the outcomes.

    Organisations have made progress in collecting EDI workforce data in recent years. However, data is often incomplete, underused or not analysed at all, limiting its value. Without evidence-based analysis, organisations miss critical insights into representation, progression and workplace culture.

    Credible EDI accreditation requires evidence for every measure. This includes analysing workforce data and capturing employee experience through cultural assessment. These elements are embedded within our framework, which is designed to deliver comprehensive, intersectional EDI measurement.

    When accreditation fails to measure real outcomes, it risks becoming performative. Strong EDI standards must reflect best practice, drive improvement, and support continuous progress rather than one-off certification. Our accreditation ensures assessment goes beyond compliance and drives real impact.

    Effective EDI accreditation frameworks encourage organisations to embed inclusion into strategy, monitor progress over time, and remain accountable. Our framework supports this by setting clear expectations and measuring progress year on year.

    EDI accreditation should not be about compliance alone. It should provide a trusted benchmark, meaningful insight, and a clear path to lasting change.

    Find out how our framework can be the start of your credible, evidence-based EDI accreditation journey.

  • Independent Oversight Matters in EDI Accreditation | accrEDIted™

    Why Independent Oversight Matters in EDI Accreditation

    Independent oversight is essential for credible EDI accreditation.
    It encourages honesty, builds trust, and delivers meaningful insight into an organisation’s Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) performance.

    EDI accreditation should give organisations confidence that their progress has been assessed fairly and accurately. That confidence can only exist when evaluation is independent, impartial, and evidence-based.

    The Limitations of Self-Assessment in EDI

    Most organisations pursuing EDI accreditation are committed to best-practice and improvement. However, self-assessment, or reporting, has clear limitations.

    When organisations evaluate their own EDI strategies, unconscious bias can influence outcomes. Being closely involved in the work makes it difficult to remain fully objective — a challenge commonly described as marking your own homework.

    Independent EDI accreditation reduces this risk by introducing external scrutiny and informed challenge.

    “You Don’t Know What You Don’t Know” in EDI Work

    Everything we do is shaped by perspective, including EDI strategies and initiatives. Without lived experience or specialist knowledge about all nine protected characteristics — organisations may unintentionally overlook key issues.

    Even well-designed EDI strategies can exclude people if gaps are not identified. Independent oversight brings external expertise, ensuring assessments reflect comprehensive workplace experiences rather than a partial view.

    The Complexity of Intersectional EDI

    EDI best practice is intersectional and complex. Focus or effort in one or two key areas area does not guarantee inclusion across all protected characteristics and in some instances can be counterproductive.

    Independent EDI assessment allows organisations to move beyond surface-level compliance and truly understand how policies, culture and employee experience interact across all different identities.

    This level of insight is critical for long-term, sustainable EDI improvement.

    Conflicts of Interest in EDI Accreditation

    Some EDI accreditations are offered by organisations that also sell consulting or training services. This creates a potential conflict of interest.

    If an accrediting body benefits financially from identifying gaps or selling solutions, impartiality may be compromised. Credible EDI accreditation must be free from commercial influence.

    True independence means the accrediting organisation has nothing to gain and nothing to lose from the result.

    What Credible Independent EDI Accreditation Looks Like

    Effective independent EDI accreditation should:

    • Be based on robust data and employee experience
    • Include specialist and lived-experience insight
    • Be reviewed by an independent panel
    • Avoid consulting, training, or upselling incentives

    Only then can accreditation outcomes be trusted by employees, stakeholders, and the wider public.

    Why Choose accrEDIted™ for Independent EDI Accreditation

    accrEDIted™ delivers truly independent EDI accreditation through our EDI Accreditation Framework©, which evaluates 120 factors influencing EDI in the workplace.

    Our unique approach:

    We do not offer EDI consulting or training services, ensuring our assessments remain unbiased and credible.

    The Key Question for Organisations

    If your organisation is serious about EDI improvement, ask yourself:

    Is our EDI accreditation truly independent?

    If trust, transparency and impact matter, independent oversight is essential.

    Contact accrEDIted™ to learn more about independent EDI accreditation.

  • Why Accreditation Matters

    Accreditation isn’t about labels.

    Too often, organisations focus on earning a visible mark of approval — particularly in Equality, Diversity & Inclusion — without sufficient evidence of impact. At its core, accreditation exists to bring clarity, credibility, and consistency to how quality is defined and demonstrated.

    Beyond the Label: Defining Clear Standards

    Recent scrutiny of major brands over misleading sustainability and ethics claims has highlighted a simple truth: when standards are unclear or poorly evidenced, trust erodes.

    Similar questions raised about initiatives such as the Disability Confident scheme reinforce the need for stronger, more transparent approaches.

    Accreditation marks can be powerful when they are meaningful. Frameworks such as ISO, Red Tractor, Fairtrade, and B Corp are trusted because they demand rigour, independent scrutiny, and sustained commitment.

    That is why accreditation must recognise genuine action and measurable impact, not symbolic gestures.

    Accreditation brings clarity by establishing clear, evidence-based standards. These define what good practice looks like in reality and align expectations across stakeholders. Without this clarity, organisations risk inconsistency and performative compliance; with it, improvement becomes focused and measurable.

    Building Credibility Through Verification

    Credibility is not claimed — it is earned.

    Accreditation validates quality through independent, recognised benchmarks. In short: credibility comes from verification, not intention.

    This is particularly critical for Equality, Diversity & Inclusion, where aspiration alone is no longer enough. accrEDIted™ was created to meet this need, providing an evidence-led way for organisations to demonstrate real progress on EDI in the workplace.

    By answering a fundamental question — can this organisation be trusted to deliver what it commits to? — accreditation builds confidence among employees, partners, and wider stakeholders.

    Consistency That Can Be Trusted

    Maintaining quality over time is one of the greatest challenges organisations face.

    Accreditation supports consistency by embedding standards into systems and processes, not one-off assessments. Put simply: the goalposts don’t move.

    Through structured reviews, clear performance indicators, and ongoing evaluation, accreditation helps ensure outcomes remain reliable year after year.

    How Our Accreditation Framework Helps

    Our accreditation framework is designed to bring clarity, credibility, and consistency to Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in a rigorous and measurable way.

    Our unique, intersectional EDI Accreditation Framework© assesses a fixed, data-driven set of criteria, applied consistently every time. The resulting Accreditation Report provides a clear view of performance alongside prioritised actions for improvement.

    Credibility is reinforced through our collaboration with leading human rights charity partners, including:

    • Consortium LGBT
    • Disability Rights UK
    • Global Butterflies
    • Radical Recruit
    • The Runnymede Trust
    • The Faith & Belief Forum

    Consistency is built into every stage of the process. Every application is scored against the same fixed framework and reviewed by our Independent Accreditation Panel to ensure fairness and impartiality. Annual reaccreditation enables organisations to track progress and demonstrate sustained commitment over time.

    Together, this approach enables organisations to evidence their position clearly, demonstrate credibility through independent assessment, and embed consistent EDI practice.

    A Clear Commitment to Quality

    Quality doesn’t happen by chance.

    It must be defined. It must be measured. And it must be sustained.

    If EDI matters, the standards behind it matter too.

    If you want to bring Clarity, Credibility and Consistency to your EDI approach, start your EDI Journey with us today.

  • November is Trans Awareness Month

    Today is the first day of Trans Awareness Month 2025 🏳️‍⚧️

    This year, there has not been much to celebrate as a Trans person. In fact it has been a scary and depressing time.

    So we are choosing to honour our Trans brothers and sisters this month (as celebration feels a little out of place).

    We honour your strength, courage and resilience, this month and every month. We see you, we hear you, we value you 🩷 🤍 🩵

    Trans and Nonbinary inclusion can often be difficult to get right, due to the misinformation published in the media. With even the Equalities & Human Rights Commission issuing incorrect guidance, it is important you know the law and support all your employees to have a dignified and inclusive time at work.

    Becoming accrEDIted™ helps organisations show their commitment to – and do better for all their people. To find out more visit: https://accredited-uk.com/


    #TransRightsAreHumanRights

  • Celebrating Black History Month 2025 Pt. 5

    On the last day of Black History Month 2025 in the UK, we bring you our final episode of our Black British History Heroes series.

    With the help of our Community members, we’ve been celebrating our heroes of Black British History throughout the month.

    Watch the fifth in the series of conversations about Black History and our personal heroes as our CEO Liz Mayers talks to Dianne Greyson, Founder of the #EthnicityPayGap Campaign.

    Dianne’s choice was a very personal one, and gave us great insight into who has given her the strength, determination and attitude to found the #EthnicityPayGap Campaign – fighting for pay equality for everyone.

    You continue to be an inspiration to us Dianne! 🫶

    Watch the conversation here: https://youtu.be/VWvlAYwwRJc

    #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackBritishHistory



  • Celebrating Black History Month 2025 Pt. 4

     

    We are nearing the end of Black History Month 2025 in the UK.

    With the help of our Community members, we are celebrating our heroes of Black British History throughout the month.

    Watch the fourth in the series of conversations about Black History and our personal heroes as our CEO Liz Mayers talks to E-J Williams, MCIPD, Managing Director of E-J HR Consulting.

    E-J’s choice was an interesting one… And whilst, strictly speaking, it didn’t fit the brief, we can see why she wanted to bend the rules for this person – and just couldn’t say no! 😊

    Watch the conversation here: https://youtu.be/g-MWtAipvqw

    #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackBritishHistory



  • Celebrating Black History Month 2025 Pt. 3

     

    We are half way through Black History Month 2025 in the UK.

    We are celebrating our heroes of Black British History throughout the month, with a series of conversations about Black British History and our personal heroes.

    In this episode, our CEO Liz Mayers talks to one of our brilliant Accreditation Panel members Karla Inniss about her thoughts on BHM and some of her personal heroes (no, she couldn’t pick just one!) – so grab a ☕ and take a listen to the full conversation here👇
    https://youtu.be/XOs3oj9-f6A

    #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackBritishHistory



  • Celebrating Black History Month 2025 Pt. 2

     

    October is Black History Month 2025 in the UK.

    With the help of our Community members, we are celebrating our heroes of Black British History throughout the month.

    Watch the second in the series of conversations about Black British History and our personal heroes as our CEO Liz Mayers talks to Grace Mosuro, Founder & Director of Aquaintz Consulting here 👇

    https://youtu.be/DB9yqXr97ws

    #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackBritishHistory



  • Celebrating Black History Month 2025 Pt.1

     

    Today marks the start of Black History Month 2025 in the UK.

    In the current political climate, we feel it is more important than ever that workplaces take every opportunity to celebrate and learn more about the diverse people who work for them and are their customers.

    To create an inclusive workplace and culture it is important that every person is valued and appreciated as themselves. Learning about different communities and their contributions, expanding our world-view is a good way to start appreciating and celebrating our differences and seeing our similarities.

    With the help of our Community members, we are celebrating our heroes of Black British History this month.

    Watch the first in the series of conversations about Black History and our personal heroes as our CEO Liz Mayers talks to Cecilia Harvey, Founder & Director of Cultural Nexus Ltd here: https://youtu.be/g-edreCdRRM

    #BlackHistoryMonth #BlackBritishHistory



  • August is Intersectionality Awareness month.

     

    Kimberlé Crenshaw, a Columbia University law professor, is recognised for first using the term Intersectionality, in 1989 in her paper, “Demarginalizing the Intersection of Race and Sex.

    Intersectionality recognises that an individual’s identity is not a single story but a rich tapestry woven from various threads of ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, disability, religion & belief and other protected characteristics and social categorisations.

    Each thread affects the way we experience and navigate the world.

    For Equality, Diversity & Inclusion initiatives to be successful, it is essential they are approached intersectionally, taking into account the whole person at the same time.

    Which is why we designed our accreditation to be intersectional. Want to find out how becoming accrEDIted© can help your organisation improve EDI? Get in touch today.