The art of inclusion

There is equality.

There is diversity.

There is inclusion.

Intertwined yet different. All critically important.

Our mindset has long been that we focus on and prioritise inclusion in our work. As we and our clients strive to create improved workplaces it seems to us that getting inclusion right, so to speak, has to happen alongside diversity and equality initiatives but preferably beforehand.

Here’s the thing…if you boost your efforts to increase diversity in your workforce and succeed in hiring, let’s say, a significant number of new black employees into a predominantly white workforce, then what will happen if you haven’t already focused on inclusion? If you haven’t spotted the need to create a culture which welcomes and values difference and in which our black colleagues can be themselves, feel at home and thrive professionally?

Outcome: disenchantment; exclusion; increased levels of dissatisfaction in your ‘new hire’ population; under-performance; grievance.

That said, at Chelsham we have had to rethink our sole focus on inclusion and inclusive behaviours. Is that enough? We make sure we are challenging our own thinking.

We work hard to be anti-racist, to be pro women’s rights (that’s all women), to stand up for the LGBT communities and to fight for equal treatment for people living with disabilities. We hope our actions stand up to scrutiny and can offer examples of how our actions and experience tie to our statements of intent. We can and will do more. We have offerings (for example unconscious bias training) alongside our inclusion work which help in this regard.

In the year 2020 it is no longer good enough, not that it ever was, to have a culture which cannot support the careers and needs of a diverse array of people:

• We have always known that black lives matter, but too few organisations have truly grappled with creating the conditions where black people feel equal and can thrive.

• LGBT rights have been enshrined in law for long enough but the treatment in the workplace of people from these communities continues to be, at times, shocking.

• The examples we have come across of how excluded people with disabilities can feel in major employers are enough to make you weep.

• It is an outrage that so many women are still suffering sexual discrimination and harassment in the workplace

We all have a great deal of work to do, don't we?

We work with leaders, leadership teams, groups and whole organisations to drive a culture of inclusion, to help people understand how their choices, decisions and behaviours impact on others and contribute to, or detract from, a culture of inclusion.

This is the art of inclusion.

We have science to back up our work but ultimately it’s down to culture, behaviours, norms, awareness, the ability to make ever better decisions and to see inclusion as a principle which runs through everything your business does. Repeat: everything your business does.

We do this via coaching individuals and teams, via inclusive leadership workshops, by working with HR functions on their impact and behaviours and by consulting more widely on creating inclusive business processes.

Truly powerful moments can occur when people reach their own answers to our questions, such as:

• What is leadership in the context of inclusion?

• What do you want people to be saying about you and your part of your organisation?

• To which extent do you understand the nature and impact of exclusion?

• What is it like for a ‘different’ person to join your team?

• How are you working to counter privilege in your business?

• What is the cultural impact of your current status quo?

• Why can inclusive leadership be a challenge for skilled people?

Crucially the art of inclusion recognises that this isn’t about lecturing people on what they are getting wrong. We need to be inclusive in how we create inclusion, within reason. With ‘moral courage’ as one of our stated values, Chelsham will also always challenge where needed. After all, one of the most straightforward changes one can make as an inclusive leader is consciously to choose, and it is a choice,  never to be a bystander when others are behaving in a discriminatory way.

However, it’s important that our work carries people along towards our clients’ objectives instead of alienating people. Adept, highly-experienced facilitation is one important part of this and we have now been facilitating and consulting for a very long time.

As you might be able to tell this is also our passion. That’s part of the art of inclusion too. The strongest possible belief that this is the right thing to do. And, if that’s not enough in itself (and why isn’t it?), then we have the evidence to show that it makes very good business sense as well.

We so much enjoy co-creating bespoke inclusion programmes with our clients. Why not become one of them? What is stopping you?