Diversity, equity and inclusion is a complex topic with ever-evolving terminology. A shared language will help avoid miscommunication and misinterpretation between individuals who speak the same language.
Inclusion refers to creating environments in which all individuals feel welcome, respected and valued in order to fully participate. It seeks to remove obstacles to success that are based on demographics or identities.
Equity
Diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) are three distinct yet intertwined concepts. DEI refers to policies and practices which foster fair treatment, access, opportunity and advancement for all people regardless of race, ethnicity, age religion ability gender sexual orientation neurodiversity etc.
Egalitarianism provides equal opportunities to all, regardless of circumstances or needs. While this goal may seem unchallenging, it fails to recognize some groups are more vulnerable than others and some needs and resources should be prioritized over others.
Equity means addressing gaps between what a person receives in terms of food and their actual need. This might be caused by limited resources, transportation issues or shortages in stores in their area; equity would take these considerations into account and provide extra food to those in need even if resources cannot go around equally.
Leaders must recognize that equity is more complicated than equality; it requires acknowledging that some groups may begin from lower positions than others and making adjustments gradually over time. Therefore, active leadership in DEI initiatives – rather than encouraging their teams – is absolutely critical.
Diverse workforces offer many advantages to organizations, including increased engagement and productivity levels. Furthermore, businesses with more diversity in management tend to earn on average 38% more revenue according to McKinsey research. But in order for DEI initiatives to maximize its benefits for employees and organizations alike, employees must feel that their contributions are recognized.
Leaders must establish clear working definitions of diversity, inclusion, and equity for their teams. This can be accomplished by engaging team members in discussion about each term’s meaning in relation to others and devising an action plan on how these terms will be utilized moving forward.
Diversity
Diversity refers to all of the characteristics that distinguish an individual, from race and ethnicity to gender identity and sexual orientation. But diversity goes deeper; it encompasses many distinctions such as socioeconomic background, upbringing, education, marital status, social roles, native language and physical abilities – as well as any surface differences associated with them.
Understanding how different qualities interact is of critical importance. Socioeconomic status plays an essential role in their access to quality healthcare, housing and food; thus having an effectful link with life outcomes and opportunities presented throughout one’s lifetime. Disparities that exist among groups within our society play a large part in driving sense of belonging or not within diverse communities and workplaces.
Even with initiatives geared towards diversity, creating an inclusive company culture remains challenging. One effective way of increasing employee engagement is incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) into your mission statement – doing this can ensure your employees’ work aligns with your values while helping develop more cohesive team environments.
Diversity within the workforce offers many advantages. A study revealed that companies with more gender diversity were more likely to outshone those with few female leaders; plus people of various backgrounds bring unique insights that can aid innovation and problem solving.
As part of your diversity, equity, and inclusion strategy development process, it’s critical that you define what these terms mean in the context of your organization. Determine an order in which to use them and outline working definitions so your team can refer back to them when designing an inclusion strategy. By following DEI as your guide you’ll ensure all groups receive equal opportunities in the workplace and feel like they belong; that is what true inclusion entails – ultimately it means creating an environment in which everyone feels included regardless of surface-level differences.
Inclusion
Inclusion refers to making people feel valued and accepted despite differences, even when facing challenges. It’s an intangible aspect of diversity that makes up its essence: Inclusion is crucial in creating an organization with truly inclusive practices; its primary function lies in creating an atmosphere of belonging within your team – leading to improved productivity and decision-making abilities.
Historically, affirmative action policies were established to combat disparate hiring and advancement opportunities caused by discrimination on grounds such as race or other protected statuses. Today however, diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), an inclusive approach to equal opportunity that takes into account factors like socioeconomic status, religion, ethnicity, native language proficiency, disability status and sexual orientation is becoming more widely adopted.
DEI seeks to foster organizations where all individuals can thrive and reach their full potential, which requires addressing disparate inequities that exist among various racial and ethnic groups, which impede everything from educational attainment and job performance to access to health care. Affirmative action can address this by supporting traditionally underrepresented or excluded groups with the tools and resources necessary for them to excel at business, schooling or the community level.
Companies that prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion tend to attract both customers and employees more successfully while reaping financial gains – for instance, one McKinsey report noted that firms with diverse leadership teams were 35% more profitable.
Start making your organization more inclusive by looking closely at the people you hire. Pay particular attention to how diverse and inclusive your workforce is; consider whether a Black mother of three in accounting, or non-binary worker in engineering feel welcome in their work environment. Make sure there are strong mid-level company influencers that serve as advocates for inclusion by listening carefully to every voice and making sure all are heard and valued equally.
Make sure that everyone understands the definitions of each term so they can discuss and debate their current understandings. Get everyone writing down their working definitions before compiling all ideas into a master list. Once your definitions are ready, decide whether “Equity” comes before or after “Diversity”, keeping in mind that whatever word is chosen must be consistently applied throughout your organization.
Belonging
McKinsey research shows that belongingness is an essential human need and directly correlates to improved life outcomes. Furthermore, research by McKinsey shows it to be one of the primary drivers of employee motivation and satisfaction. Companies which prioritize diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) experience superior business results than those that don’t; such companies are better able to innovate quickly while recruiting top talent more easily and meeting customer demands more efficiently than competitors who don’t prioritize DEI initiatives.
Although a company may have an inclusive mission statement, its values won’t come to life without leadership that truly embraces diversity and inclusion. When employees see leaders actively championing DEI within their organization, they’ll likely follow suit by becoming advocates themselves; their colleagues will feel encouraged to bring all aspects of themselves to work and foster a workplace culture that’s both more empathic and productive.
Establishing a diverse and inclusive workplace can be a complex challenge for any organization, making understanding what these terms mean in relation to one another essential in designing effective strategies that fit with your unique situation. To get started, have everyone on your team write out what their understanding of these words are – including definitions as well as connections – then use this list as the basis of creating your diversity and inclusion strategy.
Consider all the ways people differ, such as race, sex, age, religion, disability status, sexual orientation and cultural background when defining diversity. Also include gender identity – which refers to an internal feeling that one is either male, female or nonbinary – when discussing diversity. Furthermore, gender identity often overlaps with cultural and racial identities because some individuals experience multiple identities simultaneously.
Inclusion is the practice of creating an environment in which all individuals feel welcome and valued; this involves eliminating barriers to participation as well as offering opportunities for advancement and personal growth. Furthermore, inclusion seeks to ensure equitable access to resources and services as well as cultivating an atmosphere which recognizes diversity while celebrating it and acknowledging all people as valuable individuals.
Diversity and inclusion are both vital components of creating an empathetic and productive workplace, but they should never be confused as equal components. While diversity refers to characteristics shared among employees in an organization, inclusion establishes an inclusive sense of community among its members.