The Business Disability Forum interview Morgan Lobb

1. What was the impetus for creating The BIG I.D.E.A?
There's a lot of information spread out across the internet covering diversity because it's such a wide topic, some of what's out there is credible, some not so much. We are constantly being asked for information by employers and job seekers seeking clarity on a variety of subjects within this space and knew we had access to great resources. Pulling this trusted knowledge base together into a single site became the obvious choice, it means we can be informative to our users and also sign post people to the right information such as content from the Business Disability Forum. We then took a fresh approach to EDI whilst including Accessibility, the big I.D.E.A was born, I.D.E.A stands for Inclusion, Diversity, Equality and Accessibility. The site has quickly gained over 50 contributors from the D&I industry many of them celebrated leaders within their field. We also wanted to provide the employers using our services with a podium that enables them to stand out as organisations of choice to the widest demographic of job seeker.

2. What differentiates you from places like 'BBC Ouch' and 'The Disabled World Daily'?

The big I.D.E.A. displays information across all 9 protected characteristics, disability features highly and we've opened up the range of topics for debate to reflect the diversity of our audience.

3. Who is the site for?

Employers, jobseekers, our partner organisations and credible industry professionals within the diversity community.

4. What sort of content will appear on the site?

If it relates to Inclusion, Diversity, Equality, and Accessibility within the work place we're interested for the big I.D.E.A. This includes industry events/training, award ceremonies, research and topical articles from the industry, such as job seeker stories and employment news relating to diversity. Also importantly it will be an employer's archive of good.

5. You mentioned that you have 50 contributors so far. Can you let us know who they are?

They're a mix of hiring managers from the public and private sectors, diversity professionals from across the industry; we even have a very senior diversity manager who wishes for their identity to be protected so they can really speak their mind. We also have contributions from job seekers and our partners and even a best-selling international business author offering professional career advice. We're receiving new requests from possible contributors each week from a wide variety of organisations and individuals, but are remaining tight and focused as to what goes in.

6. Is there a way of following a particular contributor or topic on your site?

Yes it's part of the beta roll out, we have an interact section going in the coming months, it offers users functions to get involved and have their say, or follow topics and stay up to date with the latest info relevant to them. We also send out 4 newsletters a month highlighting recent notable contribution.

7. Could there be a conflict with some of the content that may feature and the organisations you work with on Diversityjobs.co.uk?

Quite the opposite: the big I.D.E.A is a safe harbour, and there to support and enhance the organisations we work with in a positive way. We will never facilitate the publication of negative propaganda about our members. Whilst Diversityjobs.co.uk works well at displaying jobs, we also want to provide our job seeking audience with a better understanding as to why the organisations using DiversityJobs.co.uk are great places to be. The brands we work with do a lot great work within their community, win awards for excellence and go the extra mile to be inclusive, but until now haven't necessarily been able to link this to their employment efforts. 'the big I.D.E.A.' acts as an "archive of good" for these organisations and will help to build their employer brand in a positive way. We have a growing relevant audience of diverse job seekers and putting information in front of them that they relate to them will mean employers can shine a light on their positivity and stand out as an employer of choice.

8. What's the frequency for updating the site?

It's constant, we have new information coming in all the time and have a lot to get on. Within 2 weeks the site had already generated in excess of 50,000 words. We're always willing to consider new contribution, but are focused of what we feel is relevant to our audience.

9. What is your overall vision for the site, where do you see it going?

Diversityjobs.co.uk will have millions of people come through its site in the coming months, we want to provide our audience with the very best information about the employers we serve. "the big I.D.E.A" is the perfect accompaniment to employer's recruitment strategy and one that has not previously been available. The topic of diversity is quickly evolving into an understanding of its commercial viability and more so than ever employers are arming themselves with a competitive edge through this understanding, the big I.D.E.A places itself at the heart of what employers want to communicate in terms of positive action and positive attraction, it's a machine for good that provides value to job seekers, employers and the diversity industry, we've already seen the big I.D.E.A. start to snowball. Within the first ten days it had several thousand visits without any marketing.

10. Have you linked it up with Diversityjobs.co.uk? If I looked at a certain employer, would relevant articles about them on the big I.D.E.A. appear on the same page?

Yes, we're currently collating information from our clients to enhance their employer branding by building their "archive of good", if a jobseeker wishes to find out more about a particular client they can view all the information on this employer, it will list all the good publicity this client has generated, awards they have won, staff initiatives, incentives, positive press anything that makes this a great employer, all in one place. As this data is added you'll see more functions enabled to the site ensuring audiences flow around the info available.