Question

What can companies do to create and reinforce a culture of Inclusion? Please answer with at least 3 to 4 paragraphs.

Answer 1

An all-inclusive culture creates more opportunities, supports innovation and creativity, and recognition of diversity helps an organization attain competitive advantage as well. In the globalized markets and business environment, inclusion can be a very important measure for a business to achieve sustainable success. Diversity has been found to improve business results. Businesses with a more diverse employee base and leadership have been found to have better client focus and achieve greater results, apart from innovating more.

There are multiple ways through which companies and managers can foster inclusion and reinforce it. But a step-by-step and planned approach can yield better benefits and provide for surety of results. The methods may start from hiring for diversity itself, and the organization can also embrace the new talent in the corporate culture better through planned approaches. Below are the things companies can do (steps they can take) to create a culture of inclusion.

Purposeful Commitment

Managers and leaders need to define their purpose clearly and also declare that they commit inclusion and its steady reinforcement. Communication and interaction (including meetings, presentations, graphics and FAQs among others) help individuals know the benefits of such policies and programs for them as well as for the whole organization. Setting up of the Inclusion Councils is a common pattern/practice nowadays. The Council comprises of dedicated members (from diverse backgrounds) with requisite experience and skills to promote inclusion within an organization.

Discussing the Change

Implementation of change is not merely limited to the technical aspects, but a people-centric/people engagement approach is also important. Discussions for the implementation of inclusion strategies and programs should involve a diverse group of employees, and healthy debate should be encouraged. The diversity to the team may come from members who may be of different religions, sex and gender, demographics, geographical locations, ethnicities, and even business functions.

Leadership Imperative

Inclusion is not merely limited to HR practices and programs but is also important for realizing the goals of leadership. Leaders should be the first to be educated in areas related to inclusion (for instance unrecognized bias) and reinforcement. Leaders should include the voices from the different employee perspectives and backgrounds, resist and avoid biases, and should have disciplinary measures for those who are disrespectful to the inclusion goals and tasks. Acknowledgment of diverse voices and appreciation of good ideas is required for inclusion reinforcement. Biases may creep in without the individual being aware of it. Training, workshops, and seminars may also be required for better articulation of views and thoughts and recognition of one's thought processes and decision making approaches.

A leader should also understand that disrupting the existing norms will pose new challenges some of which may be unknown as well. Reward systems and case studies should be established and worked upon to have better forecasting and problem/risk management strength. A leader should see to it that there is room for celebrations related to different religions and people can also practice their cultural heritage freely. Groups can also be created through which employees with a common background can come together and know more about the cultural aspects of groups from other demographics and backgrounds. Listening to employees is important in celebrating employee differences. The cultural differences should not be hidden but should be focused upon/highlighted to be understood and celebrated.

It is also important to measure the progress of inclusion programs as well. Audit help in the identification of the shortcomings and the right data-driven strategies can improve success rates of inclusion plans even better.