Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity and Inclusion - Powerful words, but what do they really mean in the workplace?
Diversity
Refers to the visible and invisible differences that exist between people, including (but not limited to) race, colour, physical features, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, lawful sexual activity, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family responsibilities, pregnancy, breast feeding, carer responsibilities, religion, political opinion, national extraction, social origin, industrial activity, or trade union membership. It also refers to diverse ways of thinking and ways of working.
Inclusion
Refers to ensuring that current, future and potential employees have equality of opportunity in the organisation without any barriers or obstacles as a result of their race, colour, physical features, sex, sexual identity, gender identity, lawful sexual activity, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family responsibilities, pregnancy, breast feeding, carer responsibilities, religion, political opinion, national extraction, social origin, industrial activity or trade union membership.
All businesses should:
Consider diversity and inclusion when recruiting.
Raise awareness of it via training, toolbox talks and business events.
Have a strategy to target diverse talent.
Is your business doing any of the above? If not, why not? You can start with baby-steps, by just taking on and achieving one of the above bullet points, you could improve your business by benefiting from diversity.
A diverse way of thinking = innovation and efficiency.
A diverse range of employees = diversity of thought which helps with a better workplace culture.
A diverse mix of cultures = different professional opinions of how to do things so the business can pick the BEST way.
Diverse companies are 35% more likely to have financial returns above their industry average. These statistics come from AHRI in 2022.
Diversity is something many businesses fob off as not important, this aligns with an old school mentality that doesn’t provide benefits to succeed in business in today’s world. Just because a female ‘typically’ has always succeeded in that role, it doesn’t mean brining someone different in won’t still succeed. Just because someone from a ‘different culture’ hasn’t been employed by the business before, it doesn’t mean they can’t perform in the role just as well as the person before them. They may even perform better.
Don’t be afraid of the unknown, embrace diversity – as we all know, if you keep doing the same thing just because it worked before, the business will never be innovative. Diversity grows innovation. Get amongst it!