Diversity to a deadline: How we created everyone’s London 2012

Anyone who cares how we live and work together as a society should take note of a key promise made by the London Olympics and Paralympics bid in 2005: to create a Games for everyone.

How do you create inclusion? I was responsible for designing, leading and delivering a three-stage strategy to integrate inclusion systemically into the Games; in our workforce of 200,000, in our £1.1 billion procurement and in our customer service across 134 venues. We have worked hard as a team to achieve unprecedented diversity and inclusion, often by ignoring convention.

For example, when we were lobbied by disability groups to set quotas for disabled people, we instead changed the system and implemented a guaranteed merit-based interview scheme across our entire recruitment process rather than a tokenistic scheme in one area only. This summer, there were over 2,000 talented disabled people in uniform as the face of London 2012.

We held group, rather than one-to-one, interviews that reduced the effect of individual subconscious bias, reduced recruitment costs and ensured a more diverse and talented candidate selection.

In the supply chain, we worked with contractors and sponsors to implement policies that would not add one penny to procurement costs, but would add significant social value. For example, over 100 suppliers have now implemented the free-of-charge guaranteed interview scheme providing a step change in employment prospects for disabled people.

From a torch relay with a 100-year old torchbearer to adapted cars for disabled drivers, from pay-your-age tickets to a Charter against homophobia in sport, we have worked systemically to make the Games work for everyone.

What makes a great Games? Technical excellence, for sure. But it’s the “soft stuff”, inclusion, which creates the differentiator.

What creates a great organization? Technical excellence, of course. But inclusion is too often ignored.

Many corporations and governments talk about including people, but few have ever achieved breakthrough. When we become (sometimes justifiably) cynical about ineffective policies, one option at our disposal is to address them. The London Games have provided a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to challenge existing thinking on this subject and to try new approaches.

To create inclusion, to create change, there will never be enough time, there will never be enough resources. You could argue that it takes the bulldozer that is the Olympic and Paralympic Games to truly create paradigm change. The London Games prove, however, that we can all use deadlines and leadership to do the best work of our lives. If you really want to create inclusion in your organization, or in your community, I humbly suggest that an immovable deadline is a great place to start.

Author: Stephen Frost is an inspirational speaker and was Chief of Staff and Head of Diversity and Inclusion for London 2012. In 2011, he was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum. After five and a half years’ work on the London Games, he is taking two months to climb mountains in the Andes, and then will undertake a Fellowship at Harvard University and consult with organizations on how to achieve inclusion.

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Photo Credit: Stephen Frost