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Eight Key Actions for Creating Inclusive Work Environments

Tuesday, March 13, 2007 - by Judith H. Katz

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The need to create an inclusive work environment is becoming a critical strategy for success, particularly as organizations continue to raise the bar on individual and collective performance and employ strategies to attract and leverage the skills of an increasingly diverse workforce.

Creating an inclusive work environment requires more than incremental change; it requires breakthrough change. It means a radical shift in the mindsets and skill sets of people at all levels. It calls for a different approach to problem solving, setting goals, and accomplishing organizational results. It encompasses leadership style, the expectations of every person, decision-making approaches, partnerships within and across teams and organizations, reward and recognition systems, and accountability--in short, every major component of organizational life. The following eight steps can help organizations make the leap.

Tie inclusion to the organization's vision, mission, strategy, and direction.

Inclusion is not an end itself, but a means for achieving higher operational performance. One leader recently discussed inclusion as a key business strategy: "Every moment, in every room, we don't know how much talent, knowledge, and ideas are being wasted." For an inclusion culture change effort to be successful it must be positioned and communicated as a key strategy to achieve the organization's mission and direction, as well as structured for success with appropriate resources and leadership commitment.

Connect the effort to each person's ability to contribute and do their best work, together. Answer: "What's in it for me?"

For an inclusive environment to take hold, each person needs to understand what is in it for them and what is expected of them in this new environment. The goal of an inclusive environment is to create a workplace in which each person not only feels a sense of belonging but is able to do her or his best work. It entails a two-way street--one in which the work environment encourages involvement and each person brings their brain and voice to work and every situation they encounter; and a work environment in which people are willing to speak up, share their ideas, and include others. It calls on a higher level of contribution and of people "showing up" more fully at work. The breakthrough to an inclusive environment must be one in which each individual feels they have an important and valued role to play in the organization's success--a success that is the result of access to a wider range of ideas, experiences, and perspectives, and that breeds more innovation, better problem solving, and fuller vision.

Treat all people as talent and key assets.

Many organizations claim that "people are our biggest assets," but don't nurture, value, and leverage this asset. An inclusive environment leverages the right talent to find the right solutions to the organizations' concerns, issues, or problems. If you want people to "bring their brains to work," you must create an environment that encourages people to bring bold ideas to the table and rewards a wide range of thinking. The environment cannot be one in which conformity is a key to acceptance.

Develop new expectations and competencies.

Inclusion is about competence and a raised level of results from partnering with others. To work effectively in an inclusive environment people need to have the ability to:

partner with others
work on diverse teams
collaborate across the organization
deal effectively with conflict
coach others
take risks
speak up and share their experiences, ideas, and thinking.

As an organization becomes more inclusive, it needs to reassess and redefine competencies and the hiring and promotion criteria for people at all levels.

Provide visible leadership that models the new behaviors.

Leaders can talk all they like, but until they start demonstrating inclusive behaviors themselves, a new culture will not take root. Inclusion cannot be delegated down--it starts at the top as a new way of interacting and working throughout the organization. When people see leaders living it--collaborating across the organization, soliciting people's opinions and acting on them, and valuing knowledge over hierarchy--they know the initiative is for real. As one client told us, "I will know we are serious about inclusion when leaders start asking a different set of questions."

Develop a comprehensive pipeline strategy for retention and recruitment.

Attracting and retaining a diverse group of people who have the right skills to achieve higher operational performance will not just happen. It calls for a deliberate realignment of all processes focused on talent and people, including brand strategies; aggressive hiring and sourcing strategies; internal competencies for hiring and interviewing a diverse pool of candidates; thoughtful integration processes; development, coaching, and mentoring metrics that hold managers accountable for the retention of talent. In an inclusive organization allowing individuals to contribute as quickly as they can becomes a key metric for assuring that the organization is getting the best thinking from its people.

Create and support multigenerational work teams and interaction.

Organizations always struggle with blending new people (with fresh perspectives and ideas) and seasoned people (who have invaluable experience and wisdom); usually, new people are ignored or stifled. Support groups and work teams need to nurture a process and a dynamic that gives younger people opportunities to contribute their ideas more readily. Creating partnerships among the four generations that are in most organizations also assures that as people are retiring, the knowledge and experience they hold does not get lost along the way.

Hold people accountable for coaching and leading inclusive and diverse teams.

As with any critical business imperative, it is all about results. Merely "trying" (and failing) to be more inclusive is no more acceptable than "trying" (and failing) to generate sales, provide excellent customer service, or ensure quality products. People throughout the organization need to be held accountable for modeling inclusive behaviors. This will only happen when specific procedures and reward systems use inclusion as a criterion for success.

Creating an inclusive organization is a major undertaking for any organization. For many, it means the very DNA of the organization ("the way we have always done business") must change. As most businesses today know, change is coming faster and faster. Inclusion is a key strategy to enable organizations to be the adaptive, creative, and innovative organizations that will succeed today and in the future.