Performing a Strategic Review / Gap Analysis
Overview:
We are frequently commissioned by partner organisations to perform an external gap analysis or audit of current approaches to Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. This can include requests from organisations who have already developed an overarching strategy and action plan and require external quality assurance, to enquiries from organisations who are not sure quite where to start.
Whatever position your organisation is currently in, McKenzie can help you by providing a robust, detailed external assessment with recommended actions benchmarked against industry models of best practice.
Note that in many cases, our previously completed audit reports and strategic action plans have been awarded the very highest rating where these have been submitted to sector specific regulatory bodies.
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How is a Gap Analysis performed ?
Clearly approaches vary and are dependent on the individual circumstances of each organisation. However, at the most general level, we would typically:
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Visit your organisation to meet with key project stakeholders to discuss expectations and desired outcomes of a gap analysis / audit.
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Consult with a cross section of employees, and sometimes service users, to ascertain perceptions of Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in the organisation. This can be achieved using a blend of options which include telephone interviews and focus / discussion groups.
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Appraise current approaches by examining policies, information collection, action plans, strategies, employment profiles, service user profiles, approaches to Equality risk analysis, current organisational metrics and provision of accessible information including your digital footprint.
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Discuss existing leadership commitments in this area, examine the results of any existing or previous outreach or development initiatives and discuss your vision for the future.
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Work in partnership with you to produce a detailed, prioritised and time bound action plan.
Please note the above approach is provided as an illustrative example only.
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How long will it take ? 
Obviously this will depend on a number of factors including the size of your organisation and the availability / volume of information we are required to appraise. We can generally complete an initial assessment and produce a draft report (which is often less than 5.0 days work in total) within about two to three weeks.
Note, we only supply Equality and Diversity experts to work with you who are employed by McKenzie. Additionally, all our work is guaranteed in respect of accuracy, legal compliance and quality assurance.
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How do you benchmark success ?
We use a number of highly developed audit and gap analysis tools which we would happy to explain to you. Here is one of these, which is our strategic model of best practice.
