1. Social Cohesion & Inclusion Sub-group Proposal, May 2018 Chaired by

2. The First Principles agreed by the CEO Leader Group are:
Move Beyond Best Practice,
Create Transformational Change
Business leadership
Ambitious and bold
Collective challenges and gain
Collaborative action
Innovation
These Principles form the evaluation criteria for assessing potential proposals.

3. The role of this group – draft narrative:
The social cohesion sub-group is concerned with addressing the growing inequality in Irish society.
The Council of Europe defines social cohesion as the capacity of a society to ensure the welfare of all its members, minimising disparities and avoiding polarisation.
A major and systemic element of social exclusion is economic. Employers have a role in supporting individuals and groups in society which are at particular risk of becoming vulnerable to social exclusion
We recognise our responsibility to invest in society, supporting individuals to pursue their personal development throughout their life; and enabling each person to participate actively as a full member of society.
Jobs can create economic and social ties, increasing trust and community participation, providing social identity and connecting people.
Our approach reflects a belief that a good working society is beneficial both for social cohesion and for business, allowing employers to uncover and nurture talent in all areas and supporting Ireland as an open, inclusive and attractive economic environment
Through the Leader group we will seek to make employability equal for all, creating and facilitating programs across the lifecycle of individuals affected by social inequality, and providing the leadership required to encourage other companies
We also seek to look inwards to examine how business can challenge rather than support structural inequalities, considering how businesses can organize to be more inclusive.
Our work in the group is focused on three areas: education, employability and internal processes.

4. Business Case
Our approach reflects a belief that a good working society is beneficial both for social cohesion and for business, allowing employers to uncover and nurture talent in all areas and supporting Ireland as an open, inclusive and attractive economic environment. Research shows that diverse teams out perform non—diverse teams.

5. Call to Action Leaders commit to at least one new thing
Intervention
@ School Stage
Internal Focus: Recruitment – increased engagement with socially disadvantaged
Enter/Re-enter Work Phase
Primary Level
Scaffolding of supports for new entrants or returning entrants to the workforce
Teacher Training – 2-3 week work placement (DEIS)
Unconscious bias (HR processes end to end e.g. Textio software)
Guiding principles
Culture Change
Evaluation
Recommend delivery timeline, one new action every 6 months
Transition Year and/or paid summer work placements for 6th year students from disadvantaged schools (DEIS)
e.g. SSE Works -
integrated work placements
Diversity audit inc. measurement,
Equality proofing,
Longer term – Apprenticeships
Equality and Diversity Training
Internships from disadvantaged communities
B2B Learning platforms

6. Definitions
A diversity audit aims to identify barriers to full workforce participation that exist within the workplace for certain groups of individuals and to identify ways of overcoming them. It is conducted across six organisation levels:
Leadership and governance
Strong and transparent human resources practices
Quality of life and organizational culture
Measuring and tracking diversity
Integrating or mainstreaming diversity across the value chain
Developing the pipeline: developing a future workforce that is diverse and inclusive
Equality proofing – implementing a mechanism or a tool e.g. a checklist to ensure that policies and practices are free from discrimination against marginalised groups
Unconscious bias – the unconscious association of traits with members of a demographic group, which can influence decision-making in organisations

7. Existing Business Interventions Proposed business interventions
Social cohesion –
business intervention framework
Life Stages
Education & Employment
Existing Business Interventions
Proposed business interventions
Age 3 – Enter Playgroup
Early Learning Initiative (NCI in D1)
Age 5 – Age 12 Primary School
Time 2 Read
Time 2 Count
Junior Achievement
Suas
Teacher Training
Age 13 – 15 Junior Cycle
Age 16 – 18 Senior Cycle
Skills at Work - DEIS
Mentoring - DEIS
Management Excellence for Teachers
Management Excellence for Principals
STEM/STEAM
Young Social Innovators
BT Young Scientists
DEIS : Work placement pledge
DEIS: Transition Year (TY) placements
Longer-term apprenticeship
Age 19+ Further Education/Employability
(transitioning from education into the world of work - can happen any time from 16 e.g. junior cert, transition year, leaving cert, leaving college and beyond.)
Ready for Work
EPIC
Access Programme supports
Job Care (local initiatives)
Intreo
Career Leap (pilot) 
Unconscious bias
Diversity audit/equality proofing
Equality and diversity training
Longer term apprenticeships
Scaffolding for new entrants