Inclusive leadership toolkit

A series of resources for board members and chairs to drive diversity and inclusion, developed in partnership with Altair.

At the heart of all housing associations is the commitment to provide good quality and affordable homes for everyone. To meet the needs of a diverse range of people, our organisations and governance need to be inclusive.

A commitment to inclusion and diversity, for equality within our workplaces, must come from the top. The championing of these values from chief executives, chairs and board members shapes the culture of an organisation. Inclusive leaders deliver inclusive organisations, to the benefit of staff wellbeing and performance, improved business decisions and better outcomes for resident communities.

We want to thank all housing association board members and chairs, alongside those within our roundtable meetings, for your input on the creation of this toolkit. The insight shared, and engagement demonstrated, to inform this work makes us confident that these resources can support inclusive leadership across our sector.

This toolkit offers guidance, advice, and practical tools for inclusive leadership, including:

The inclusive leadership challenge

We are encouraging boards and chairs to commit to inclusive leadership, presenting five ‘challenge asks’ as a framework to work through and engage with.

Take part now

The inclusive recruitment guide

We have worked with Altair to create this inclusive recruitment guide, designed to support the recruitment of board positions, with diversity and inclusion at the forefront of decisions. Inclusive recruitment ensures that all individuals have equal opportunities to apply for, and secure, employment.

Read our guide

Board discussion resources

In order to establish your board's equality, diversity and inclusion priorities, it is important to first understand where the board is now. Does it reflect those values internally, and are they felt by board members? To support you in finding out, we have created resources that will encourage constructive, honest conversations to support inclusive ways of working.

Find out more

How inclusive is our leadership?

Our research shows that leadership teams are not representative of their workforces.

Addressing inequality is not only the right thing to do, our organisations are driven by social purpose – which should be reflected internally and felt by us all. Diverse, inclusive governance at board and executive level shift organisation-wide culture, and promote workforces where staff wellbeing is prioritised, because everyone is empowered to bring their whole selves to work.

In 2023 we released our second national picture of equality, diversity and inclusion within housing association workforces across England. The results showed that, despite improvements on our 2020 research findings, we still have work to do as a sector to ensure board members and leadership teams represent the people living within our communities – and reflect the people their decisions impact. Our latest findings from 2023 show:

Female representation in leadership positions has increased but is still not reflective of the workforce or residents.
Only 9% of the sector’s workforce have a disability or long-term condition compared to 24% of the population and 29% of residents.
The ethnic diversity of the workforce is not reflected in executive positions.

To address these gaps in representation and increase diversity and inclusivity in our drive for equality, within our organisations, we have been working with chairs and board members of housing associations to produce accessible, supportive resources.

While we acknowledge that this toolkit alone won’t solve the incredibly complicated, systemic, challenges facing so many people – and the inequality that persists, we recognise that we have a role to play in counteracting underrepresentation and supporting a more equal, diverse and inclusive sector. Inclusive recruitment and leadership are a core way to succeed in this.

Maggie Galliers CBE, Chair of the National Housing Federation, says:

“As Chairs and board members of housing associations, we have a vital role in shaping the culture and strategic direction of the organisations we serve. As a sector, we recognise that while progress has been made, there is more to do to ensure our organisations are truly inclusive.

“This is a collective, organisation-wide effort, with boards and senior leadership teams working together to lead in this. That is why the National Housing Federation (NHF) Board is taking part in the inclusive leadership challenge and I encourage all board members across the sector to get involved and engage with the wider resources within this toolkit.

“The inclusive leadership challenge sets out practical, sector-specific asks, designed to support housing associations to address today’s most pressing challenges.

“At a time when the values of inclusivity are increasingly being called into question, it is more important than ever that we lead with the principles on which our sector was founded. By doing so, we can drive positive progress for our organisations, our people, and the communities we serve.”

Jenny Brown, Chair of Longhurst Group and Director of Altair, says:

“We’ve been having the conversation about inclusivity in the sector for such a long time; building the right culture is critical for boards to be properly effective. Inclusivity requires us to shift our mind-set, exposing and challenging our beliefs and biases both individually and collectively. Policies and procedures alone will not make the difference; we need a long-term approach to facilitate changing behaviours and ways of thinking that’s supported by the right tools.

“These practical resources aim to support housing association boards to rethink recruitment processes; explore new forms of succession planning; and publicly commit to creating a vision for inclusion and belonging. We invite you to use these to help create and meet your ambitions around EDI.

“The tools are just the start of what will hopefully be a sustainable change in how we as boards reflect and act.”

Who to speak to

Cara Green

Cara.Green@housing.org.uk