As we define it, inclusive companies are those that are fair, ethical, equitable and engaged fully with the entire spectrum of their employees.  The “Inclusion Equation” as we define it is a function of two primary factors -- Environmental and Foundational efforts:

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1.  Environmental: These are the diversity-related values and standards communicated by management, often via HR, that a company hopes to instill as “norms” across the organization over time. Core environmental concepts include awareness, goals, networking, connectivity, community and communication programs. Environmental action steps pursued for fostering inclusive cultures tend to be top-down, organization-wide initiatives such as dissemination of corporate culture statements, articulation of preferable and prohibited behaviors, actions and attitudes of senior leadership, employee surveys, group training programs (e.g. unconscious/unintended bias training), mentoring, coaching of teams and individuals, as well as establishing separate “affinity groups” for individual demographic cohorts as well as “inclusion councils.” 

 

Overall, the goal of environmental inclusion initiatives is to create an atmosphere where diverse employees feel respected and valued, have a sense of belonging and opportunity, as well as an impression of “freedom” to express their individual differences/uniqueness without negative consequence.

 

The environmental aspects of inclusion tend to be aspirational and rather qualitative in nature. Employee and manager acceptance/uptake can be extremely inconsistent and hard to “institutionalize” as it is often dependent upon the varying psychological and behavioral inclinations of individual employees and thus, accomplishment or progress can be hard to achieve and measure. 

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2.  Foundational: Because it is difficult to identify or anticipate the potentially harmful perspectives, inclinations, or reactions of managers that might affect other employees negatively and undermine an inclusive environment, to mitigate the impact of bias, we advise companies how to establish  tangible strategies, structures and systems.

 

These actions fall into the category of what we call “foundational” inclusion management. They are specific, day-to-day human capital and business management processes, programs, protocols and policies, including objective (vs. subjective) and transparent decision making frameworks, constructive oversight and interventions, thoughtful analytics, accountability metrics and proper incentives/consequences.

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Overall, the purpose of foundational inclusion initiatives is to ensure that:

 

1. all decisions and actions that impact people are fair and equitable in nature and that all employees, no matter what their demographic cohort or identity group in each function, have equal opportunity and are developed to their full potential;

2. protocol breaks and process gaps that undermine inclusive management are clearly identified, fixed and also prevented, and

3. instances of behavior that is legitimately harassing or discriminatory to another individual or group of employees is readily escalated and investigated, that appropriate consequences and accountability are realized and that retaliation for reporting is precluded.

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These efforts are both top-down and bottoms-up, detail-oriented, proactive and the results can be described as measureable, repeatable and scalable. Processes and procedures can be audited, data can be collected and analyzed, trends can be tracked and measured against benchmarks, and gaps or problems can be identified and remediated. Effective feedback loops can be created between action and outcome so managers can not only understand efficacy, but also know if they are causing any inadvertent harm. 

 

Most important, these processes are clear and tangible tools that the entire range of managers and employees can unite around to enhance their business outcomes without feeling they are being micromanaged or put on the defensive.

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Historically, Inclusion Programs Have Focused on Environmental Efforts Rather Than Foundational Strategies. Our research and experience indicates that inclusion efforts have and continue to be skewed largely to the environmental side of the equation. A review of an array of recent articles, blogs and papers on the topic highlights that inclusive companies are most often described in environmental terms: the discussion generally revolves around how diverse employees feel, whether or not that is what is really being experienced consistently over the long term. 

 

The Success of Environmental Inclusion Alone Is Inconsistent. Many of the qualitative and experiential environmental aspects are valid and indeed essential to support the development of inclusive corporate cultures. Needless to say, all managers have a responsibility to ensure that factors that create even an impression of a “hostile environment” or “disparate treatment” for any individual or group of employees are identified accurately and remediated swiftly.

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However, broad or individual feelings of comfort, belongingness, opportunity and acceptance are one thing, but the day-in-day-out, on-the-job reality can be quite another. People can FEEL valued via communication, repeated cultural statements and personal recognition, but they also must BE actively valued through equal access to:

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• Appropriate and equitable compensation (monetary and non-monetary rewards)

• Constructive, objective, direct and regular feedback

• Management time and attention

• Development and promotions

• Allocation of resources and responsibility

• Opportunity commensurate with their full abilities and potential

• A workplace that is free of harassment 

 

Awareness and good intentions must translate into consistent actions and real, efficacious, sustainable outcomes.