Inclusion at Work: A Tapestry of Talent and Perspectives

“Inclusion: A new perspective on the work environment“

An open-minded work environment should value creativity, achievement and inclusion.

Creating an environment where every employee feels valued and empowered to contribute their unique perspectives and skills is now the flavour of the day. An open-minded environment allows employees to develop a sense of creativity and freedom offering companies new perspectives of development that were not explored or valued until now.

The essence of inclusion is to foster a sense of belonging, where different approaches, backgrounds, and cultures become a source of strength and creativity. Being open to new perspectives and ways of doing things supports development and growth.

Undoubtedly, inclusive workplaces report multiple benefits. Research has consistently shown that inclusive teams are more innovative, make better decisions, and are faster at problem-solving. They mirror the diversity of the world we live in, enabling organizations to better understand and serve their equally diverse customer base. Besides, employees in inclusive environments report higher job satisfaction, companies register lower turnover rates, and employees have a stronger attachment to their company.

However, challenges are to be faced when encouraging inclusion. Communication barriers, unconscious biases, stereotypes and cultural misunderstandings may create friction and hinder collaboration. Organizations must navigate these challenges with a change management approach and support their team. Empathy and emotional intelligence are soft skills that need to be mastered to harness the full potential of their workforce.

So, how can organizations cultivate inclusion?

Some strategies have proven effective:

• Leadership Commitment: Inclusion starts at the top. Leaders must not only endorse but actively participate in diversity and inclusion by showing behaviour per the values. Setting the tone for the entire organization can only be done by action and not words.
• Training and Awareness: Regular training sessions can help employees recognize and overcome unconscious biases, fostering a more inclusive mindset. Raising the right questions to support the change of view.
• Inclusive Policies and Practices: From recruitment to promotion, the HR process should ensure equal opportunities for all and take into account the performances of each employee. It is essential to build a culture of inclusiveness without overlooking achievements so everyone feels valued and recognised.
• Celebrating Diversity: Organizing events and activities help with the discovery of each other cultures, lifestyles, and viewpoints can promote understanding and appreciation among employees.
• Open Communication: Encouraging open dialogue can help surface issues and ideas that might otherwise go unnoticed.

It is essential to be conscious that it takes time to elaborate and empower an inclusion strategy. It requires continuous effort, reflection, and adaptation. Inclusion is challenging among people from the same origin, imagine the gap when it comes to people from different nationalities or cultural backgrounds. Inclusion is a way to bring awareness and highlight that differences should be discussed, not ignored or repressed.

Some cities like Singapore and Hong Kong embrace a large diversity of cultures, languages and nationalities. The factor reuniting the people is the common language, English. It allows everyone to understand each other and work together. Although miss communication may occur as everyone learns English differently. The diversity of cultures is present, but inclusion is still under process and needs to be improved.

You may have heard “Diversity is a fact; inclusion is a choice”.  There’s a clear distinction between those two words. While diversity comes down to the mix of differences among people in society, inclusion is about deliberate efforts to accept and integrate those differences. In general, those differences are recognized as part of a minority and so the practice is not seen as something common by others. Each country has its way of doing things and so the clash with other cultures is often a lack of awareness or fear of the unknown. Similar issues may appear within companies.

In conclusion, the goal of inclusion is to sensibilize people to accept differences and be open to learning about different practices, cultures or approaches without bias. By helping their employees to accept differences, organizations can unlock the full potential of their workforce, creating a thriving, dynamic, and resilient business. The goal of inclusion is to lead to a harmonious work environment and acceptance.

Stay tuned. Ceicia publishes one article per month, related to different subjects.

Ceicia’s founder