Inclusion vs Belonging
Marsha Ramroop FRSA FIEDP
Author: Building Inclusion, A Practical Guide to EDI in Architecture & Built Environment, pub Routledge | Global Award-winning inclusion strategist/leader in org culture using CQ | Compassionate & honest agent of change
inclusion /?n?klu??(?)n/
noun the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure.
belonging /b??l????/
noun an affinity for a place or situation.
I wish to open the debate into the use of terms in our space regarding the replacement of Diversity and, specifically, Inclusion, for the term Belonging, in job titles, department names and thinking.
My concern about this, is the term Belonging is about how a person might feel, whereas Inclusion is about what people, structures and systems need to do. This is an important distinction.
The term Belonging, I argue, absolves people and organisations from taking responsibility for what needs to be done and places the onus on the individual regards to their interaction with where they work.
Some people are quite happy to go along to their workplace and be productive in a space where they feel included but they don’t feel the need to Belong at work. They may prefer to Belong at home with family, friends or even Belong in a solitary space. However, whatever their preference about Belonging, everyone should feel their values, difference and perspectives are respected in an Inclusive environment. A responsibility that lies with leadership.
As with all movements in Political Correctness, the move is normally around changing language in order to change our thought processes and subsequently modifying our behaviour. I worry that the phase to change the emphasis from Inclusion to Belonging is actually a subversive one, possibly unconsciously motivated, to undermine the work of D&I. As it’s not possible to call out something we might do unconsciously, I’m taking this opportunity to be the diverse voice and to call it out for what I believe it to be.
Whether D&I fatigue is setting in at your organisation or not, I would urge people not to be sucked into this change to using ‘Belonging’ instead of D&I, for the reasons I outlined.
I would suggest you shouldn’t look for a name change that will not only do very little but actually may detract from the core of the work we’re trying to achieve, instead, look at what might be causing fatigue and address that. D&I has enough trend-setting motivations inherent in the work itself, when done effectively, without the need for a rebrand.
Of course, as always, I advocate Cultural Intelligence, CQ(TM), as the academically proven way to move forward from awareness to successful tangible action with Inclusion. And if the people who wish to Belong can then feel that they do so, that’s great, equally, those who don’t want to, but are still valued, that’s the ideal outcome.
So, I say Inclusion, not Belonging, is the priority and that should remain the focus of job titles, department names and thinking.
As always, I invite your thoughts.
For more information on CQ(TM) check out my other blogs, my website unheardvoice.co.uk or culturalq.com
Business / Entrepreneur/ Chair of The IEDP/ Diversity & inclusion/ Leadership/ Women’s Advocate/ Wellbeing advocate/ Beauty expert
5 年From my perspective, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging all need to work as one...neither works in isolation. Ideally depending on the organisation ..the addition of ‘belonging’ could take the D&I work beyond what is sometimes perceived as ‘tick box’, to something that does take account of how people feel...perhaps for some people a sense of ‘belonging’ is the next step after ‘Inclusion’ at work.
Birmingham City Councillor | CEO, Positive Living & Well-being Group | Diversity & Inclusivity Champion | Co-Founder Sikh Women’s Action Network (SWAN) | Non-Exec Director for WM Ambulance Service |NLP Practitioner/Coach
5 年“Actions speak louder than words” - using a term does not resolve an issue. If organisations wish to be “diverse and inclusive” then the starting point is to understand the barriers and identify actions to make REAL changes. There also needs to a real willingness to make the changes as often people say the words but don’t mean them ...Actions speak Louder than Words
Experienced Executive & Non-Executive Director | Transformational & Executive Coach | Author | Speaker | Workshop Facilitator - Where success thrives, hope flourishes and leaders feel empowered to achieve the impossible!
5 年Name changes are a complete distraction from the real issues that prevail in so many organisations and amongst so many people. We get distracted in what something or a group of people should be called which is divisive and consequently engenders feelings of mistrust. What ever we call 'it'' its evident there is still masses to be done to prevent some of the headlines we all read and the injustices that some of us experience on a daily basis. Let's not get caught up in the trap of what we should call 'it'' as Ghandi famously quoted 'let us be the change we want to see'
Director of Equity, Diversity & Inclusion England and Wales Cricket Board
5 年I am uncomfortable about belonging- it feels like the move away from talking about racism and talking about unconscious bias. it is a dilution of focus that supports not taking any action!