Unfortunately many well-meaning D&I (Diversity & Inclusion) initiatives fail because organizations behave defensively, putting corporate policies in place to increase diversity (appointing a Chief Diversity Officer, setting up diverse candidate slates, implementing flexible working policies) and thus avoid expensive lawsuits, without helping individual employees develop a mindset of inclusion.
Few organizations even distinguish between diversity and inclusion, let alone measure or target them individually. While diversity can be addressed as a compliance issue and tracked fairly easily, the range of individual behaviors which make up inclusion mean it’s trickier to pin down and add to an HR leader’s goals.
What’s more, as policies designed to increase diversity kick in and the workforce becomes more varied, inclusion becomes more difficult. Inclusiveness happens when very different individuals feel free to embrace their uniqueness and that they belong. As employee dissimilarity increases then this becomes harder as people feel less known and understood by their colleagues.
Enforced participation efforts don’t work – a recent study showed that up to 61% of individuals feel like they’re covering up something of themselves in order to fit in at work. Faking it to fit in: not a recipe for engagement or performance.
Inclusion requires individuals to alter their innate beliefs and behaviors, which is why it is more difficult to realize and so powerful when that happens.
Organizations that are brave enough to address inclusion as a cultural issue will reap enormous benefits. The starting point is a few key shifts in attitude: from diversity alone (delivered at a corporate level) to diversity and inclusion (delivered by individuals); from demographics to diversity of thinking; and from D&I as an issue of compliance to an essential facet of business success.
The entire article is here:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/sebastia...-i-in-d-and-i/
Why Diversity Can Be Bad For Business (And Inclusion Is The Answer)
