The All Aboard Alliance recently released its first-ever annual Insights report detailing the diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts of companies and organizations within the maritime industry.
In its report, All Aboard Alliance delves further into principles for embracing diversity, equity, and inclusion across the maritime industry. The 4 following terms are presented and defined in the report as key pillars in every DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) effort.
#1 Diversity
Diversity can be defined as any dimension used to differentiate groups and people from one another.
The term refers to a broad range of experiences, including gender, sex, socioeconomic background, upbringing, religion, education, sexual orientation, gender identity, ethnicity, neurodiversity, and life experience.
All the ways in which we may differ as people – and thus the ways in which we may bring different perspectives to a group, a company or an industry.
While diversity is required for inclusion, it is not adequate on its own. Organizations must actively work to build a culture of belonging for all in order to fully achieve inclusion.
#2 Equity
Equity may be defined as the fair treatment of all people, e.g., providing everyone with equitable
- Access,
- Opportunity
- Remuneration
- Benefits
Ensuring equity is about detecting areas in which systemic inequities exist across the employee lifecycle, such as differences in how people are recruited, retained, given access to training and development, promotions, bonuses, etc. and whether such policies, processes, and practices are fair to all employees, no matter who they are.
Equity is a step above equality. Equality is the belief that everyone should have equal access to opportunity. Equity, on the other hand, emphasizes the human component more because it does not believe in equal possibilities for all, but rather in opportunities tailored to each individual.
#3 Inclusion
Inclusion is about everyone being welcome, included, and involved through actions and behaviour that make a person feel
- Integrated into the formal networks of the organisation
- Respected for their unique contributions
- Included with their voice being heard.
Inclusion can be explored by looking into the current state of integration, acceptance, and respect experienced by employees in an organisation. Inclusion should be reflected in an organization’s culture, practices and relationships that are in place to support a diverse workforce. This will eventually create an environment which promotes inclusion safety and, as a result, psychological safety.
#4 Belonging
Most talk around DEI focuses on the three main elements of the acronym. However, All Aboard Alliance also adds the element of belonging. Belonging describes a ‘desired outcome’, which can be defined as the sense of feeling ‘at home’ within the company, by experiencing safety and support, which results in feeling:
- Accepted
- Valued, and
- Able to be their ‘authentic self’.
Belonging is an employee’s sense that their uniqueness is accepted and even treasured by their organisation and colleagues. Belonging is thereby an accumulation of day-to-day experiences that enables a person to feel safe and bring their full, unique self to work.
