Unleashing potential: navigating towards embedding inclusiveness excellence in your organizational identity

To succeed in today's rapidly changing and diverse world, organizations must prioritize inclusiveness as part of their core identity. 

In brief

• Organizational success relies on prioritizing inclusiveness, fostering innovation, and attracting diverse talent and customers.
• Navigating organizational growth involves optimizing inclusiveness through behavioural and systemic assessments, strategic initiatives, and continuous monitoring.
• Explore the wider frameworks and structures that influence your company's culture and environment at the systemic level.

To succeed in today's rapidly changing and diverse world, organizations must prioritize inclusiveness as part of their core identity. Inclusiveness refers to an organization's capability to respect, cultivate and get the most out of the unique differences among its employees, its customers and any of its other audiences to foster an environment of collective growth. 

To achieve inclusiveness, you should conduct assessments at both the behavioural and systemic levels.

At the behavioural level, examine your actions and practices to identify potential biases or discrimination. This can be achieved through employee surveys, focus groups and interviews while following the principles of psychological safety. This will give you insights into your people’s perceptions of the work environment and of their lived experiences so you can identify areas for improvement.

At the systemic level, examine the broader systems and structures shaping your organization’s culture and environment. This involves reviewing recruitment and hiring practices, performance evaluations and promotions. Understanding how these systems and structures may perpetuate discrimination or bias empowers you to make changes that foster inclusivity, unlocking your people’s potential and cultivating a growth mindset.

Once you’ve conducted these two assessments, you can formulate solutions to reshape the culture to enhance inclusiveness, aligning with your strategic imperatives. This could involve initiatives such as:

• Aliging the leadership on the rationale to become more inclusive
• Defining inclusiveness goals that will enable the organization’s strategic imperatives
• Providing training and education for employees on topics such as unconscious bias, cultural competency, and diversity and inclusion
• Reviewing and revising policies and practices to ensure they are inclusive and equitable
• Establishing diversity and inclusion committees or task forces to develop and implement strategies
• Offering mentoring and sponsorship opportunities for underrepresented groups
• Determining metrics that will support the effectiveness of the implemented initiatives, help assess the overall sentiments and demonstrate the positive correlations between inclusiveness improvements and the achievement of strategic imperatives

With a fluid workforce and a rapidly changing environment, it’s crucial to note that inclusiveness is an ongoing journey rather than a one-time event. You’ll need to regularly and objectively monitor progress, course correct as required and ensure you’re moving in the right direction.

Promoting inclusiveness is not only the moral choice, but an imperative towards achieving a competitive edge in the market. Inclusive organizations are more likely to have a diverse and engaged workforce, which can lead to increased creativity, innovation and productivity. Additionally, those organizations are better positioned to attract and retain a diverse customer base, translating to heightened market share and revenue.

By prioritizing inclusiveness, you can effectively address your organization’s strategic imperatives, creating a more equitable and successful work environment for all.

The views reflected in this article are the views of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the global EY organization or its member firms.