What is an Ally?
An ally is someone who is not a member of an underrepresented group but who takes action to support that group to help make their workplace more diverse and inclusive for all.
Being an ally is an ongoing process — and it involves self-education as well as thoughtful, effective action. It is a lifelong active process of learning about the experiences of marginalised individuals and/or groups. It is about building relationships with these groups of people and using your privilege to amplify their voices.
For workplaces to become truly inclusive it is up to people who hold positions of privilege to be active allies and to take responsibility for making changes that will help others be successful.
Allies at all levels can take action with simple, everyday efforts that make a real difference and in this series, we highlight some things that you can do to be an ally and to support your colleagues from underrepresented groups.
How to be an Ally Series:
- How to be an Ally #01: Understand racism … but also your own privilege.
- How to be an Ally #02: Embrace your own cultural identity.
- How to be an Ally #03: Lead with transparency
- How to be an Ally #04: Be a sponsor and be vocal
- How to be an Ally #05: Be a champion and encourage diverse panels
- How to be an Ally #06: Invite colleagues to speak and enable them to be heard
- How to be an Ally #07: Educate yourself
- How to be an Ally #08: Ask Colleagues about their experiences
- How to be an Ally #09: Stand up to unacceptable behaviour, discrimination, exclusion or bias
- How to be an Ally #10: 5 things men can do to help prevent sexual and gender-based violence.
- How to be an Ally #11: Read and share the guide to allyship
- How to be an Ally #12: Show your commitment by signing up to diversity charters
- How to be an Ally #13: Keep your own bias in check when doing performance reviews
- How to be an Ally #14: Monitor your firm pay reviews, bonuses, and promotions for any bias
- How to be an Ally #15: Do a review of talent management and promotion processes
- How to be an Ally #16: Do a review of role allocations at senior levels
- How to be an Ally #17: Tips for communicating with deaf and hearing impaired colleagues
- How to be an Ally #18: Support all your employees through major life events
- How to be an Ally #19: Introduce mandatory training
- How to be an Ally #20: Start/Support a mentoring scheme
- How to be an Ally #21: Sign up to external mentoring schemes
- How to be an Ally #22: Engage with mentoring and reverse mentoring schemes
- How to be an Ally #23: Expand your culture
- How to be an Ally #24: Educate yourself… about the Windrush
- How to be an Ally #25: Introduce training to educate your employees
- How to be an Ally #26: Listen to your colleagues and ask them what they need?
- What can you do for Non-Binary Week?
- How to be an Ally #27: Add your pronouns to your email footer and/LinkedIn profile
- How to be an Ally #28: Keep the conversation going
- How to be an Ally #29: Read guidelines for being strong white allies
- How to be an Ally #30: Build Numbers
- How to be an Ally #31: Share your experiences and talk about mental health
- How to be an Ally #32: Be a visible role model
- How to be an Ally #33: Have a support structure
- How to be an Ally #34: Recruit diverse talent
- How to be an Ally #35: Reframe your definition of “diverse hire” to account for underrepresented groups you may not see.
- How to be an Ally #36: Publicise what you are doing
- How to be an Ally #37: Support your staff networks
- How to be an Ally #38: Unite with others
- How to be an Ally #39: Celebrate Black History Month
- How to be an Ally #40: Provide a Safe Space for Open Discussions
- How to be an Ally #41: Tips for Supporting a Colleague through Menopause
- How to be an Ally #42: Give Shout Outs to your Colleagues
- How to be an Ally #43: Not just for Black History Month…
- How to be an Ally #44: Attend or Host Intersectional events
- How to be an Ally #45: How to be a good trans ally
- How to be an Ally #46: The Power of Two (or more!)
- How to be an Ally #47: Accept that you are going to make mistakes.
- How to be an Ally #48: Talk about your equality goals and values
- How to be an Ally #49: Be a Disability Ally
- How to be an Ally #50: Have a Zero Tolerance Policy
- How to be an Ally #51: Share Development Opportunities
- How to be an Ally #52: Check-in on your isolating colleagues – they may need it