Amid a growing awareness of the importance of gender, cultural and age diversity in the workplace, organizations are trying to become more inclusive. A new market study published by Global Industry Analyst estimates Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) spending at USD 7.5 billion in 2020 and projected to reach 15.4 billion by 2026, growing at a CAGR of 12.6%. But how effective is this dollar spending?
As part of their CSR efforts, organizations across shipping and other industries may refer to “diversity and inclusion” as a typical buzzword with one generic meaning. However, diversity is a matter of composition; Inclusion is a matter of belief and behavior. This means that, by simply putting diverse people together in a workplace, we do not tap their creative potential. Only with inclusion we can achieve this.
Diversity VS Inclusion
While diversity is a necessary component of inclusion, it is not sufficient on its own. In order to truly achieve inclusion, organizations must actively work to create a culture of belonging for everyone. Inclusion involves actively seeking out and welcoming diverse perspectives, experiences, and ideas, and making sure that everyone has an equal opportunity to participate and contribute to the group.
Inclusion does that through psychological safety. The concept describes a working environment where employees feel valued, respected, and supported. When employees feel that they can express themselves freely, without fear of judgment or reprisal, they are more likely to share their ideas, opinions, and concerns. In this way, inclusion promotes a culture of respect, trust, and collaboration that benefits both employees and the organization as a whole.
Without inclusion, we stall, sputter, and break down. Yet many organizations declare victory after becoming more diverse. That’s a premature and uncritical celebration. Becoming more diverse is just the first step in a two-step transformation.
LeaderFactor
Diversity and Inclusion in shipping
A more diverse workforce within a conventional sector like shipping can mean higher efficiency, productivity, as well as industry reputation for attracting new talent. Shipping companies are now actively working to recruit more diverse crews and/or assign more women to key leadership positions and create a more inclusive work environment. This includes initiatives such as diversity training, equal opportunity employment, and support for underrepresented groups.
The challenge
The journey from diversity to inclusion is a journey from awareness to action, said Dr. Tim Clark, CEO of LeaderFactor at a recent podcast, but there is one deception in this statement: that the end of the journey is action. The result, he notes, is not the action itself, but the action anchored in culture, anchored in norms, anchored in beliefs. So, a common mistake by corporations is thinking that the launch of an awareness campaign on diversity can help generate a behavioral change, but this is never enough.
From diversity to inclusion: A 4-step guide
The roadmap from diversity to inclusion, says Dr. Clark, is shaped based on 4 key elements:
The importance of bonding and bridging. Bonding is the act of connecting with someone like you, someone with whom you share natural affinity. Bridging is connecting with people who are not like you or outside your natural affinity groups. You cannot create a deeply inclusive environment unless you have bridging going on along with the bonding. To create a deeply inclusive culture, you need both. Organizations can assist in the process with discussion guides.
Interaction is not connection. An interaction may mean talking and exchanging information, but it includes nothing inherently meaningful. Interaction may refer to people being in the same place and just purely engaging in a business transaction without connecting at a human level.
“People do this all the time. It may be a partner, a stakeholder, or someone that you’re working with in some capacity, and you just interact with them, but it never seems to move beyond the superficial level of business,” says Dr. Clark.
In order to form a genuine connection, you must be willing to engage in inquiry with the other person and be willing to share yourself. The right intent combined with those two elements will help you move from interaction to connection.
Commit to practicing inclusive behavior. There are many opportunities for inclusive behavior. They usually fall into one of these seven categories: 1) Greeting, 2) Asking, 3) Listening, 4) Sharing, 5) Inviting, 6) Helping and 7) Protecting. Each behavior is distinct in purpose and yet similar in impact. Choose one of these categories of behaviors to practice over the next week. All of these behaviors, when modeled, create a cross-affinity connection and help sustain level-one inclusion safety.
We need accountability to succeed. This refers to reporting on our performance. If we want to move through cycles of improvement, we need to practice behaviors and reflect on how we have done. We need to build psychological safety into our behavior. For example, Dr. Clark suggests, you may have employees discuss and answer these four questions:
- How effectively did you model your inclusive behavior?
- What impact did modeling your inclusive behavior have on you?
- What impact did modeling your inclusive behavior have on others?
- What did you learn in the process?
