Next week is National Inclusion week in the UK, following which is Black History Month in October (also the UK date!); two important calendar dates for those involved in Diversity and Inclusion.
For anyone who hasn’t entered the office workplace, ‘Diversity and Inclusion’ or D&I sounds like some garbled office speak; indeed that was certainly my impression when I first started my career. Some also stick in Equity or Equality in the title. But why does this matter?
Diversity and Inclusion is looking at how we embrace difference and use it to our advantage in our workspace. It is about valuing people for who they are and being open to different opinions and backgrounds. At its best, it is about bringing different voices together to form a better decision-making process for optimal outcomes.
When I first entered the workplace, I found the concept quite strange. Naively, I rather presumed that Diversity and Inclusion was somewhat obvious – surely people would be treated on the merits of what they do, and valued for their own experiences?
Unfortunately, most office environments have a particularly hierarchical dynamic, with little chance to input. This usually means that the ‘boss’ gives their opinion and everyone else scrambles to enact it. There is little discussion as to whether the option is the best one. In an increasingly complex world, the opinion from one person is less likely to be correct now more than ever.
So Diversity and Inclusion is about trying to break through all of this. By bringing in people with diverse backgrounds, whether it be coming from an impoverished background, ethnic minorities, LGBT+, individuals with a disability or any other number of characteristics, we are bringing in different experiences. This helps us understand our ever-growing diverse customer base. It is worth noting:
- 18% of Working Age Population reported they have a disability today
- 1 in 2 young people (18-25) did not define as “100% straight” in a YouGov poll from 2015
- As of 2011 14% of the UK are ethnic minorities. This number will increase with the next census in 2021. Over 30% of of people in London are ethnic minorities.
However, genuine inclusion is critical. For those of us who have worked in the area, we have often seen diversity schemes fail due to their inability to integrate diverse individuals, meaning they are often sidelined or simply an intern sitting on the side of the meeting taking notes. Diversity without Inclusion usually leads to worse results than no effort at all, as bringing in people from diverse backgrounds with little attempt to integrate them will simply create disharmony.
The latest influential report by McKinsey ‘Diversity wins: how inclusion matters’ demonstrates that more diverse boards have a much higher likelihood of financial performance, making this a business imperative. And in a continuing fight for the best talent between firms across the world, we can no longer restrict ourselves to the same talent pools as we once used.
So I hope you can take a moment to celebrate Inclusion week next week if you are in the UK. Even if you do not work in D&I particularly, you can still attend events online, support any diversity staff networks you may have or voluntary initiatives outside of the workplace.
You can find all the rest of my articles at https://tahmidchowdhury.co.uk/blog/. Sign up to my mailing list if you would like to receive them on a weekly basis to ensure you don’t miss them!