hh reports...
September, 2019
Why Inclusion Should Be The Focus
Most companies today earnestly encourage diversity in their workplaces. Professionals evaluate and refine policies, practices and talent sourcing to create diverse work communities. Whether for principle-based or regulatory-based reasons, the intentions to create diversity are in practice.
Still, organizations often struggle with diversity once they have it. Why?
Justin Trudeau, Canada’s Prime Minister, scratched the surface of this question when he said: “Diversity is a fact. Inclusion is a choice.” He’s right: diversity is a reality. In our globally connected world, it is more accessible than ever.
Still, is inclusion a choice? I propose inclusion is a competency.
Many people say they want diversity, however, once they have it, they don’t know how to either live with it or take full benefit of it. Reported issues for members of diverse teams include:
Reported Issues by Diversity Executives (%)
Women Men
- Not being listened to 21
- Not being accepted as equal 20 33
- Not treated as credible/competent 20 14
- Stereotypical expectations 5 22
- See as lacking experience/industy 28 knowledge
The challenge here is two-fold.
Trust quotient must be high. The currency of organizations is trust. Diversity requires a deep sense of trust with people who are different from each other. Since history, brain science and psychology teach us we are not naturally wired to trust, this does not come easily. Studies show our vulnerabilities when faced with diversity, as people develop: 1) exogenous shock, 2) unconscious and conscious bias, 3) emotional numbing, and 4) sub-groups of clichés that “get one another”.
Diversity means WORK. To work with people who think differently, we need a deep set of skills to master diversity and take advantage of its potential. We need to become exceptionally competent in: 1) social fitness, 2) ability to hold courageous conversations on topics about we disagree without compromise to our integrity, authenticity and morale reasoning, 3) appreciative inquiry, and 4) listening without judgement or inference.
At a team level, we know group effectiveness requires a dedicated improvement in four important capabilities: integrative, influential, impactful and diplomatic abilities.
It takes dedication to season these competencies. If we unlock the power of diversity by developing our inclusiveness, it seems we should shift our focus on just that.
It seems we need to put the emphasis on inclusion. Let’s change the phrase to “Inclusion and Diversity”.
It’s Worth the Commitment
The more we study its influence, the more we learn its potential value to ideation, problem-solving, creativity, innovation and performance. The latest publication, Differences That Make a Difference, by Jorge Titinger and Pedro Espinoza, reports more than 3000 of the largest publicly traded companies in the US show a causative link between inclusion practices and better innovation of products and services, improvement in financial performance, improve returns in hedge funds, and higher corporate valuations. *
Thus, inclusion is a competency. At the same time, Trudeau is right, since we make a choice whether to commit to becoming wiser and more able at inclusion.
If your organization is committed to developing these proficiencies, call us to learn more about our training and coaching programs to support you.
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For more information, see Differences That Make a Difference by Pedro Espinoza and Jorge Titinger, 2019
