Effective retention goes beyond just talk

My name is Lee Lockhart (he/him) and I am currently a RACE Report Resource Developer at SOS-UK. I am working in partnership with several organisations to create resources to help organisations’ equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts. I attended the learning exchange webinars to gain insight for this project.  

According to The RACE Report 2023, organisations reported only 5% of people of colour (POC) non-permanent staff received contract extensions or were made permanent. In contrast 87% of the staff retained were white. SOS-UK is hosting a series of learning exchange webinars based on the gaps seen in The RACE Report. The exchange webinars offer a reflective space to learn in community with other organisations about different areas and approaches to inclusion in the environmental sector. The most recent learning exchange focused on retention. The conversations on retention ranged from staff perceptions in the workplace to internal retention practices.

Inclusion and staff perceptions

During the first discussion, the group talked about staff perceptions in the workplace and challenges that come with collecting those perceptions. There was a large breadth of experiences in the learning exchange webinar with some organisations yet to focus on retaining staff of colour, and others who have made this a priority. The space was an interactive environment in which participants learned from each other about the successes and challenges that arise with inclusion. The discussion started with staff perceptions to gauge whether organisations have sufficient systems in place to understand the inclusion and support needs of staff. Participants from smaller organisations explained that they experienced difficulty in retaining staff of colour because of a lack of staff of colour to begin with. For organisations with a handful of people from marginalised communities, doing a staff perception survey isn’t always feasible as it can single them out. Instead, some participants recommended using internal communication systems or line management to gain staff perception. For larger organisations, there were still problems that arose with solely using surveys. Participants spoke about the limits to relying on a form or survey that is incapable of capturing nuances. Taking this further, attendees found themselves questioning what comes after the feedback. Many attendees were discouraged by staff surveys, explaining that staff repeatedly expressed a lack of inclusion but nothing changed. This brought the group to a collective conclusion that retention isn’t an issue that can be fixed by just offering opportunities to express feedback. To summarise, if staff perceptions are being gathered it’s important for organisations to transparently communicate the plans and actions to address the issues.

Internal retention practices

The group then discussed internal retention practices, the challenges, and what changes they would make if they could. One of the common ideas was liberation and affinity groups, spaces where staff from marginalised communities or common interests can share space to discuss experiences, provide support, and advocate for their group in the workplace. However, the group cautioned it can become extra work for those people, and organisations should not expect the staff with lived experience to lead on finding solutions. The participants from smaller organisations discussed that progression is a barrier to retention. As there are limited available roles in small organisations, attendees expressed people often move on to new organisations. The group discussed alternative methods to retain staff of colour, like co-mentoring schemes, buddy schemes, and repurposing EDI groups. There was also a consensus that there must be a shift from organisations implementing learning or passive programs to also include programs that take action on anti-racism measures. This point was raised out of the feeling that organisations will put on biases training or diversity training, but nothing organisationally actually happens; no action is taken. This also becomes a shared theme from the previous discussion with a desire to see action from their organisation.

After getting to be part of these conversations, I was delighted to see the engaging discussions occurring, but I also saw a very real call of wanting change. Having opportunities for feedback becomes less effective if an organisation has no intention of acting on it. For the same reasons, trainings and programmes to passively learn about anti-racism and diversity is ineffective on their own. There must be action alongside these efforts. The conversations were so engaging, we want to invite all of you back to begin to discuss next steps for retention on the 7th of November.

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