The Importance of Inclusion in the Workplace

1/18/2022

What is Inclusion?

Inclusion focuses on offering all people equal access to available resources, opportunities, and education. Without inclusion, many groups and people feel marginalized or even excluded in their own communities, workplaces, and school systems.

Within the context of the workplace, inclusion allows a company to foster a work environment where every individual is treated with fairness and respect. Each employee is encouraged to contribute to the organization's success. Empowering employees to celebrate their unique characteristics and talents is an essential part of creating an inclusive work culture.

The Benefits of Inclusion in the Workplace:

According to Deloitte, companies with an inclusive work culture enjoy 2.3 times more cash flow per employee. Gartner equally realized that an inclusive team's performance could improve by as much as 30% in high diversity environments. Boston Consulting Group reported that organizations with diverse management teams witnessed a 19% increase in their revenue compared to those with a less diverse team set-up.

These statistics reveal how important it is to build and implement inclusion initiatives within the workplace. What advantages do you think will result from creating an inclusive work culture?

A Sense of Belonging Creates a Respectful and Prosperous Environment:

When workers feel a sense of belonging, they reap substantial bottom-line benefits. According to Harvard Business Review, a sense of belonging was responsible for a 56% increase in job performance, a 50% drop in turnover risk, and a 75% reduction for sick days. Employees also showed a 167% increase in employer promoter score (the willingness and probability that they would recommend their company to other people). Employees feel a greater level of respect and comfort in their daily operations when they are involved in inclusion-based initiatives.

Inclusion Leads to Bigger Talent Pools:

Companies must continually evaluate the structure of its recruiting process to ensure a diverse hiring pool. When the recruitment process includes more diverse candidates from various backgrounds, ethnicities, ages, religions, and educational statuses, the potential to discover talent improves. According to a survey conducted by Glassdoor, 72% of women, 89% of African Americans, 80% of Asians, and 70% of Latinos acknowledged that inclusion and diversity were essential values needed in the workplace.

Inclusion Encourages Innovation and Optimism:

There is a higher probability of a team generating fresh and creative ideas when it has more diverse individuals contributing to the discussion. Harvard Business Review discovered there was a direct relationship between diversity and innovation. The most diverse enterprises in terms of migration, industry, career path, gender, education, and age happened to also be the most innovative. Diverse teams can identify products and services that fit the needs of emerging customer profiles.

Inclusion Fosters Quality Decision-Making:

Inclusive and diverse teams are in a position to make decisions that represent the company's values and the client's needs. Cloverpop, an online decision-making platform, analyzed 60 business decisions made by 200 teams. Cloverpop concluded that diverse teams demonstrated 60% improvement in decision-making. On average, gender-diverse teams specifically outperformed individual decision-makers 73% of the time.

Overall, companies that develop and implement training, programs, and practices centered around inclusion will foster a workplace environment that will help employees feel respected and valued. When employees know that their company cares about their contributions and wants to celebrate their individuality, the entire enterprise will benefit as a whole.