Inclusivity Award recognises fair-minded firms investing in diversity

As a firm of chartered surveyors, we take an active role in bringing on the next generation of young surveyors. As part of this there is a series of conduct and ethics questions in a surveyor's final interview for their Assessment of Professional Competence with the RICS (Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors). I am proud to be an assessor for this interview and one of my favourite questions to ask is ‘What does diversity mean to you?’.

Lots of people waffle about gender, ethnicity, race, religion and never really answer the question.

Those who understand talk about treating people fairly, making reasonable adjustments for those whose abilities are different, being kind, understanding, perhaps being willing to walk a mile in someone else's shoes and be willing to embrace ‘change’.

So when we are looking for entrants to the category of the Stray Ferret Business Awards, we are hoping to find individuals or organisations who go out of their way to include rather than exclude, to help rather than hinder, and to be kind with their dealings both inside their organisations and externally.

We should all care about diversity, as it makes the world a better place.