Diversity in Retail (DiR) is devoted to increasing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) across the retail sector. After founding hospitality, travel and leisure industry ‘Collaboration Community’ WiHTL in 2016, Tea Colaianni launched its retail counterpart in 2021, and is working with key names in the furniture industry to promote best-practice approaches and increasingly diverse talent pipelines …
What are the aims of Diversity in Retail?
DiR is the only Collaboration Community devoted to increasing Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) across the retail sector. DiR’s joint mission, with WiHTL, is to support companies across Hospitality, travel, leisure (HTL) and retail in creating diverse and inclusive environments, and to positively impact 5 million employees globally by 2030.
This is achieved by bringing together a wide variety of brands from across the retail industry to collaborate and share best practices in EDI, in order to drive forward meaningful progress in creating inclusive workplaces for all.
How did the community come about?
I launched DiR in 2021, with the aim of making a positive difference in the EDI space, and to build on the work of WiHTL, which I founded in 2016. Having held C-suite roles at Merlin Entertainment and Hilton Hotels, as well being a non-executive director on several boards, I felt I could mobilise support and drive change through the power of collaboration, and engage with industry leaders to deliver tangible initiatives to build and strengthen the diverse talent pipeline across the sector.
Can you share some of your major achievements?
Our major achievements include having over 115 member companies across the WiHTL and DiR Collaboration Community, and – as of 2024 – positively impacting over 4 million employees globally. This is a significant milestone within our overall mission.
Meanwhile, over 4000 employees, mentors, reverse mentees, HR referees, line managers and executive sponsors have been involved with our Leadership Development Programmes. We also won the Retail Association of the Year Award at the People in Retail Awards 2024, which was a great recognition of the work our team and our retail members are doing.
What is the current state of ethnic diversity in the retail sector?
Across the retail sector, leadership is becoming more diverse. For example, the proportion of ethnic leadership increased by three times between 2021 and 2024. However, there is still plenty of work to do – for example, half of retailers recently surveyed have no ethnic diversity on their executive committees, and 35% have an all-white board.
How do you monitor and measure progress, and what are the challenges involved?
We publish an annual report, featuring analysis from The MBS Group, which helps us to pinpoint the exact areas where organisations are – or are not – making progress. The report looks at factors including the makeup of boards, the leadership pipeline, and the strategy of organisations. We also assess the impact of the Leadership Development Programmes that WiHTL and DiR run, at both an organisational and personal level.
Another key measurement of progress that we use is the ‘inclusion in’ EDI Maturity Curve assessment, which gives organisations clarity on where they are on their EDI journey, covering topics such as the employee journey, leadership, stakeholders and impact.
A major challenge is ensuring that the momentum of progress is not lost, which is why I am determined to ensure that all the hard work made by every single individual organisation makes a difference, is sustainable and can be measured in terms of employee engagement and retention, customer satisfaction, and ultimately market performance.
How has the landscape changed in the past year?
In terms of leadership, across board and exco level in retail, the long-term picture is mostly positive. The data is going in the right direction, with leadership teams in retail becoming more diverse.
Our 2024 Annual Report found that retail has taken a significant step forward in 2024, with 50% of direct report-level positions now being held by women. This is the first time that benchmark has been reached. Ethnicity at board level is also improving.
However, we’re not seeing the same level of improvement at exco or at direct reports level yet, with the former plateauing and the latter dropping off across the sector last year.
What are short- and long-term goals you’d like to see realised?
I’d begin on focusing on our target to positively impact 5 million employees by 2030, which, given our progress in recent years, is well within reach. Beyond that, I would like to see leadership teams grow more diverse, as these do not yet truly reflect the diversity of society.
In the short-term, 2025 is going to be a challenging year for retail. I want to ensure that organisations do not lose focus on EDI despite the other monumental challenges they are facing. Ultimately, inclusion-led organisations will dominate the economy in the future and it’s crucial that leaders keep that at the core of their tough decisions they need to make.
Can you share some examples of your work with the furniture sector?
Members of our collaboration community from the furniture sector include IKEA, Bensons for Beds, Dunelm and DFS. By being part of the Collaboration Community, these organisations have the chance to share and learn best practice from others across the retail community, as well as co-creating solutions and accessing support in building a diverse talent pipeline through our cross-industry leadership development programmes.
We are delighted, for example, that IKEA will be partnering with us to deliver the next Global Women Leaders Programme in 2025, helping the industry invest in diversifying the leadership of tomorrow. Others are working closely with us on delivering inclusive recruitment workshops for their line managers, or availing themselves of our industry-focused resources and toolkits.
Individuals from these organisations have participated in our Leadership Development Programmes, which focus on specific groups (for example, women leaders, ethnic future and senior leaders), helping organisations to build diverse talent pipelines. The structure of these programmes not only positively impacts the delegates who attend, but also their line managers, executive sponsors, mentors and facilitators, producing broad and deep cultural change.
At our 2024 Inclusion Summit (our flagship annual event) we were fortunate to hear from Tanya Hamilton, EDI manager at IKEA UK and Ireland, who called attention to the narrative around employment for refugees, and the power of storytelling as part of creating a broader social impact. Their CFO sits on our CFO board, helping us to ensure that our initiatives deliver value and broader business impact.
Why does EDI matter in retail?
EDI matters in retail not only because it is the right thing to do from a moral standpoint – whether that be ensuring employees come to work as their authentic selves, to progressing diverse talent through the leadership pipeline – but also because it undoubtedly brings better business outcomes.
There are numerous examples of this in retail. Embedding EDI at every level of an organisation helps to create environments where employees are able to fully contribute all their skills and experience, and reach their full potential. This makes organisations more desirable workplaces for top talent.
Meanwhile, building diverse teams and leadership brings unique perspectives and experiences, which in turn helps to boost innovation and creative problem-solving. It enables retail organisations to better understand the experiences and needs of their customers, tailoring products and services accordingly.
The way these examples play out in reality is well illustrated by the DiR Collaboration Community, where, along with WiHTL, we are making excellent progress towards positively impacting 5 million employees globally by 2030.
Read more about ethnic diversity in the UK furniture industry in January's issue.
