Diversity and Inclusion Part 2- What is included in inclusion?
Last month we reviewed the general idea of Diversity and all its elements. This month lets take a closer look at the idea of Inclusion.
If we go back to our friends at Oxford Languages, they give us two definitions of inclusion.
1.the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure.
2.the practice or policy of providing equal access to opportunities and resources for people who might otherwise be excluded or marginalized, such as those who have physical or mental disabilities and members of other minority groups.
When it comes to the workplace, we often default to the second definition. This is perfectly reasonable as this is the area of focus and challenge that is most prominent in today’s business world.
However, if we take a close look at the first definition, it would actually serve us well too. Ensuring all staff feel included and valued as part of your structure would by default also decrease the marginalization that is referenced in the second definition.
A strong inclusion strategy will bridge the gap between these two perspectives while ensuring that the dealership is working on improving access to those that may lack opportunity and resources and still building a place where everyone is valued, heard and included.
Just like with diversity, this can be seem like a daunting undertaking filled with enough small pieces to confuse anyone. But it doesn’t need to be difficult to start. Will it be a challenge? YES! Will it be a massive undertaking to launch? NO!
Like all great strategies, it can be built upon and refined over time and starts with knowing your current state. The evaluation of where you are at can be both statistical and also opinion based. Do you have current and valid information on how included your current staff feel? Do you know your employment equity data? Do you have a strong sense of what that means and how you can improve it?
These are key elements in building a strategy that will prove worth while. Here are a few quick tips to start learning about your current state:
1) If you have recently done an engagement, psychological safety or other related employee survey, take a look at how included your people truly feel and what they say about being an employee.
2) Review your recruitment data- applicants and candidate as well as employee equity information can be key in knowing where there may be opportunity to improve your equal access plan.
3) Think about the ideal state of your dealership. If everyone there TRULY felt included and you lifted the barriers, what would that look like and what is the gap from where you are?
4) Ask! Talk (surveys are great for this too) to everyone, especially the people in your organization that make up the diverse workforce in your dealership. What would they like to see improve, what do they love about things now?
5) Don’t forget to look at what you are doing right. Are you involved in the community? Do your staff promote how valued they are? Do you give exceptional opportunity to have their voices heard? Although an inclusion strategy is usually about change and improvement, we also need to ensure we do not lose sight of what is already working.
Having a strong inclusion strategy is a building block towards a stronger workplace with greater engagement and productivity, and we will continue with providing you additional building blocks towards your D&I strategy in the coming months.
If you would like to know more about how DealerPILOT HR can assist dealerships in building towards a strong D&I strategy, please email us at info@dealerpilothr.com.