Unleashing The Power of Inclusion

Today’s workforce is looking for organisations to go beyond only addressing how inclusion looks to meaningfully addressing how inclusion feels.

Inclusiveness unlocks the true value of an organisation’s diversity; through inclusion people can realise their full potential.?That’s why we need to be focussing on building a culture that values diverse ideas, encourages open debate, and empowers people at all levels to take initiative.

Fairman & Bevan states that ‘Creating change is about changing the conversations that shape everyday thinking and actions. It is about bringing new, different and diverse voices into the change conversation and creating new perspectives, stories, texts, narratives and other socially constructed realities that impact on how people think and make sense of things.’ (Fairman and Bevan, 2016:10).

Many in today's workforce are seeking organisations where inclusion is rooted in their daily experiences. They want to see their leaders and peers demonstrate inclusion in their behaviours. Organisations can showcase that inclusive behaviours are a vital component of leadership — that being a leader, by definition, means being an inclusive leader.

Fostering inclusion often starts with the tone at the top and it's time to focus on leadership efforts on the development of compassionate and inclusive cultures that truly value the diverse workforce of today.?'To promote and embed diverse and inclusive cultures, efforts must focus on transforming our organisations to fit all people''.??

‘Inclusion’ is a sense of belonging, of feeling respected and valued for who you are. Meeting the needs of different people and taking deliberate action to create environments where everyone feels respected and able to achieve their full potential (NIHR, 2012).

Inclusion refers to the actions and environment in which diversity is valued and sustained. Inclusion recognises the important role that people’s feelings and the culture and environment of which they are a part play in achieving equality.

Inclusive thinking enables leaders to employ effective strategies for change and embody inclusive leadership in all of their interactions with the whole workforce. Thus delivering, and continually improving, the highest quality of services to our increasingly diverse communities.

Developing an organisational culture that fully embraces equality, diversity and inclusion led by compassionate and bold leadership at all levels of the organisations is key. Appreciating our awareness and responsiveness to the experiences of our diverse workforce is very useful to help achieve excellence and greater satisfaction and a sense of belonging.?We must start the difficult but necessary conversations now by fostering safe and inclusive workplace cultures.

''The fact is that the nature of the practice of Diversity and Inclusion is complex and constantly evolving and needing nurturing''.

Promoting, nurturing and embedding an organisational culture that fully embraces equality, diversity and inclusion is not a ‘nice to have’ anymore but should become a key priority for forward-thinking organisations. Moving forward, far greater engagement is needed between leadership, staff networks, HR, L&D, OD practitioners to ensure greater alignment and coherence of approach, and to increase engagement and collaboration with workforce and key stakeholders.

An inclusive leadership approach with clear strategic direction champions the embedding of an inclusive culture by integrating diversity practice into all aspects of the organisational business. 'Inclusive leadership means ‘not just accepting, but actively seeking out diverse viewpoints and making sure everyone in your team feels their voice is heard.’ (Morgan, 2017:12).

''It is pivotal for organisations to embrace the intersectionality of their people, recognising that each individual has a number of distinct and unique identities, strengths, and experiences that overlap and intersect in different ways that all contribute to one’s unique and authentic self''.

Today’s global workforce continues to evolve and I feel, now is the time for organisations to embrace the constant change by embedding inclusion at the heart of organisational business leading to daily experiences of their people, acknowledging that, with each generation becoming increasingly diverse than the generation preceding it.

To be viewed as an employer of choice, organisations should re-examine their approaches to inclusion and recognise that inclusion is foundational to culture, applies to everyone, and is vital for organisations now and in the future.?

I'm Ali Khan, Founder of the following LinkedIn groups with a combined membership of over 350 thousand + and counting. You are welcome to join by clicking the links.

Global Diversity & Inclusion Club: https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/13566481/

L & D Professionals Club: https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/44759/

Coaching & Mentoring Club: https://www.dhirubhai.net/groups/12769075/