I encountered diversity and inclusion in the summer of 2017.
At first, I didn’t exactly know what they referred to, nor what the underlying principles were or what consequences they might have on organizational decisions.
However, from that moment on, I began to look at many things with different eyes.
Diversity
For example, entering the world of "diversity", I discovered that I myself, simply by being a woman with a professional life, represent a form of "diversity".
The funny thing is that I have always felt like a very different person from others, but not because I had a professional life.
When we talk about diversity, it's very common to first encounter “Gender Diversity,” which concerns 52% of the global population, but represents only 39% of the workforce.
Gender Diversity
The term Gender Diversity is used because many studies, particularly by McKinsey and Boston Consulting Group, show a clear correlation between the percentage of women present in an organization (even better if part of the leadership team) and the financial success of the organization.
There is, therefore, a business case for diversity: the more diverse the people around the same table, the more they will be able to produce new ideas, faster, and identify market needs sooner.
Diversity, within an organization, therefore fosters innovation and creativity.
The same studies also tell us that organizations capable of authentically promoting diversity are also the ones that attract and retain the best talent, see benefits to their reputation, and are more attractive in the eyes of investors or other external stakeholders.
All of this is combined with the better performance in the numbers, already mentioned.
Diversity and inclusion
Diversity is, essentially, a fact.
As Montaigne said: “The most universal quality is diversity.”
Diversity means acknowledging that we are all different people, according to some "coded" dimensions – gender, age, religion, ethnicity, orientation, disability, socio-economic status.
Promoting diversity in an organization means valuing each of these diversities, avoiding conforming them to a single norm, which has historically and culturally been defined by the model of the "white male, heterosexual, Christian, non-disabled."
Inclusion
It is the essential ingredient for diversity to truly represent a value.
It is not, in fact, enough to have diverse people around a table.
It is necessary to make them feel part of what is being discussed, to make them perceive that their contribution is essential to success.
Inclusion means creating all the conditions necessary for each person to feel heard, supported, and in a position to express their value in the way that is most natural to the individual.
And perhaps the true challenge is that of inclusion, full and genuine.
There is a nice definition that I think sums up the concept very well: “Diversity is counting the heads. Inclusion is about making all heads count.”
It will be exciting to follow the commitment that many companies, in Italy and around the world, are making to achieve the inclusion of all diversities and the value this generates, in terms of greater well-being for individuals and better health for organizations.
Alexa Pantanella, after a career in communication and marketing, both in agencies and in-house, became the founder of Diversity & Inclusion Speaking, a startup specializing in research and training on inclusive language.
