Written by: Guest Writer Nadege Minois
It will not be news to you that diversity and inclusion have come to the fore in the last 18 months or so especially. Many studies and reports have added data to show that being an inclusive workplace has many advantages. You want some examples? Well, productivity, staff retention, financial performance to cite only a few. When you add into this that according to a study by McKinsey and Company[1], 40% of employees are at least somewhat likely to leave their job, becoming inclusive is not an option any longer. The same article reports that the main reasons for leaving a job are not being valued by their manager and a lack of sense of belonging. Surprisingly, these factors are considered less important by employers.
This shows that to get the best out of your people, you have to be an inclusive leader. The trouble with it is that it is easier said than done. We think we are inclusive only to discover that people have felt excluded by some of our words and actions. Inclusion can be counterintuitive. This is because we are talking here about aspects and points of view we are not familiar with.
Becoming inclusive is a journey on which there is always something new to learn. In this article, I am going to give you 5 tips to help you begin your journey.
1. Be open to other perspectives
The world as we experience it is not the real world. What do I mean by this? Our world is the result of our perception of it, of our knowledge and experience. We perceive the world through our senses and interpret and react to it with our brain. It means that our way of seeing the world is limited: limited by our senses, our emotional concepts, our knowledge and our experience.
To become inclusive, we need to be able to grasp the world from others’ perspectives. We need to understand there are different ways of seeing the world, that are all as valid as our own view.
When it comes to inclusion, taking our own perspective will not work. The saying “treat others the way you want to be treated” doesn’t work. Unfortunately, it is often the case that people only think from their own perspective. It is not unusual that in an organisation, the way things are reflects the point of view of the dominant cultural group in the organisation.
So, the first tip here is really about asking yourself “If I were somebody else, how could I interpret this? What could it mean to me? How would I do this?”. Think of it: before lockdown, you may have had some social gatherings at your workplace. How often were the activities a reflection of the dominant culture? Did people take everyone’s expectations and needs into account? A common example is after work activities, which parents and carers for instance may have difficulties to attend. If you go for a meal or drink, do you take into account the various requirements of people? It can be the same with online events.
Now, you may wonder: how do I know others’ perspective? Well, it is then that my second tip is useful.
2. Ask questions
As simple as that. We do not know everything. We cannot rely on our assumptions to guess an answer because our assumptions are not correct when applied to unfamiliar contexts.
Asking questions, genuinely, is a powerful inclusion tool. When you ask a question, it brings people into the conversation. They feel valued and that they can contribute.
Asking questions can serve several purposes when it comes to inclusion. It can be for you to learn something you don’t know about. It can be to learn about people, what motivates them, what they like, what they do for instance. It can be asking about how somebody feels about something. It can be to clarify.
Ask questions to show interest in others (and believe me they will notice if it is not genuine). Ask questions as soon as there seems to be any confusion, misunderstanding, mishap, to clarify meaning and reactions.
3. Listen
This is then what you do once you have asked a question and when people speak. You probably have already been in a situation when obviously people were not listening to you when you were talking. Either fragrantly doing something else or you could see they were already thinking about their answers, or maybe something completely different. How did you feel in this situation? Probably not valued and included.
When listened to, you feel valued. You feel included. You feel you contribute; you are taken seriously. You matter.
Pause your own thoughts and just listen and absorb what others are saying. Just listen, don’t interpret. And then ask the next question.
4. Check your biases and prejudices
Let me put something straight here: we all have biases. It is the way our brain works, to quickly make sense of things around us. It avoids us to think consciously each time we encounter something.
The problem is not the biases; the problem is not being aware of them. I refer you to the cognitive bias codex[2] for a list of 188 biases that have been identified.
We make judgments about everybody and everything, about 11 judgments within 7 seconds of meeting somebody. These judgements are based on the person gender, age, ethnicity and so on. Then, we associate these characteristics with others like social status, education, wealth. Finally, we look for evidence to confirm our initial judgements. And all this without consciously realising it.
I invite you to look at the cognitive bias codex and find examples of when you have exhibited some of the biases. No judgement here; we all have exhibited and are exhibiting biases. Then, each time you make a judgment, you have a feeling about something, I want you to ask yourself why is this. Where is this judgment, feeling coming from? Why am I feeling uncomfortable? What makes me think this way about this person? These are questions you can ask yourself.
5. Own your mistakes and learn
Finally, we all make mistakes. Even if we try to be as inclusive as possible, there will be some occasions when we offend someone, when someone feels excluded by our words or actions.
The most important is to realise this and admit, own our mistake. Do not try to make excuses for it. Acknowledge it happened and to go back to my point number 2, ask questions about what it is that made the person feel excluded.
What tip resonates most with you? Which one(s) do you think you mostly need to act upon to become more inclusive?
Brainz Magazine Guest Writer, Nadege Minois
Nadege Minois is a trainer, facilitator and coach in cultural diversity. She helps people and businesses to become more inclusive.
Her mission is to help the world understand each other.
Her passion for cultural diversity began when after getting her PhD she left a native France to work in universities and research institutes in several countries. She has so far lived in 5 different countries.
Over two decades, she has been experiencing cultural diversity and most of all, saw the consequences of people not understanding each other and seeing the world only through their perspective.
Up to the point she decided to follow her calling and set up her business offering training, facilitation and coaching to guide people and help businesses build an inclusive culture.
References:
1. McKinsey Quarterly (September 2021) “Great attrition” or “great attraction”? The choice is yours.
