RAEng launches EDI self-help tool for smaller businesses

Culture+ helps growing companies embed equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) into their operations.

It was created by The Honeycomb Works, a small business funded by the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng). Culture+ has been piloted with 14 companies and the plan is to increase its offering over time.

The RAEng claims that evidence shows that effective EDI practices can be directly linked to commercial success, supporting effective talent sourcing, employee wellbeing and retention.

Culture+ came after RAEng research in 2019 identified several barriers to implementing inclusive hiring policies in engineering start-ups and scale-ups.

Barriers include a lack of understanding of the commercial value of EDI, how to implement it, and lack of time or staff to dedicate towards it. There were no existing EDI resources tailored to the needs of start-up leaders and employees to help overcome these barriers.

The first year's licence fee will be paid by RAEng for its Enterprise Hub members who sign up.