Each year, over 2 million professionals leave their jobs because they feel excluded and treated unfairly. The cost of that turnover is between 75 to 150% of the individual’s salary. Naturally, creating inclusion has become a priority for many organizations.
So, what is inclusion? Inclusion is a call to action within the workforce to actively involve every employee’s ideas, knowledge, perspectives, approaches, and styles. Inclusion is a state of being valued, respected and supported. It’s about focusing on the needs of every individual and ensuring the right conditions are in place for each person to achieve his or her full potential. Inclusion should be reflected in an organization’s culture, practices and the relationships that are in place in our ever-changing workforce.
Inclusion is naturally an extension of diversity, which focuses on assembling a workforce that has a certain mix of professionals. Inclusion moves a step further by taking the steps necessary to leverage that diversity by actively involving every employee to maximize individual and business success. In other words, diversity focuses on the mix, and inclusion is about getting that mix to work well together. Or as D&I expert Verna Myles has stated, “Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.”
Inclusive organizations empower individuals and emphasize accountability, communicate frequently and transparently, and cultivate employee engagement. Is your company taking steps to become an inclusive environment? Are you as a leader taking steps to cultivate inclusivity?
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Want to know more?
Droste will be holding a Leadership and Organization Development Exchange (LODE) event on Thursday, December 7th, 2017 from 7:30am-10am. The topic will be “How to Create Inclusivity in the Workplace”. Contact Lily Parker (lparker@drostegroup.com) if you would like an invitation for this free event to get a step ahead on learning how to create an inclusive workplace.
Can’t attend?
We would love to talk with you one on one. Send us a message and we can set up a call or meeting to talk about how an inclusivity program would benefit your organization.
