Diversity is all the ways in which we differ. In the business context, it is not just the visible diversity of gender, ethnicity and such like that is important but the different points of view, ways of thinking and multiple solutions for a given situation or problem that impacts business positively

Inclusion on the other hand, is the set of “enabling” policies and programs that organizations can create leading to an environment where diversity can thrive. It is that magical synergy an organizations builds in its culture which gives it its extraordinary results in productivity and employee retention.

Creating Inclusiveness is not easy. It is just not natural for people of differing backgrounds and perspectives to get along easily with each other. Stereotypes and prejudices that prevail in society are often reflected in the workplace. North Indians Vs South Indians, regional language cliques or the IIM and IIT-ians hanging out only with their own ilk are some of the not-so-happy outcomes of this diversity at work.

Unless there is conscious organizational investment in building and enabling an inclusive environment, prejudices and intolerance can impact the work environment and productivity of employees. Besides, discrimination or harassment based on personal biases and prejudices can lead to various workplace grievances including legal issues.

There are several reasons. For global organizations, the world is its market place. A multicultural base of customers, partners and suppliers must be matched with an equally diverse set of employees if the organizations is to represent and sense the needs of those it serves and enter new markets and product segments.

Research tells us that diversity is the key to new thinking and innovation. In a business environment where innovation and creativity are mantras for success, the new perspectives that a diverse group can bring enhances tremendously the quality of solutions, company policies, products and customer experiences for organizations.

In an environment where the war for talent is intense, if people feel that an organizations is not a fair and inclusive environment with equal access to opportunities and growth, the organizations will not attract all segments of the talent pool.

Diversity Management is a relatively new field of work in India and most organizations are in the early stages of assessing how they must begin work in the area.

As respectful relationships are the building blocks of a successful organizations, it is important to base initiatives by assessing the current level of inclusiveness in the organizations. An Inclusiveness survey followed by focus groups of employees can help to identify work place issues that are distracting employees and provide valuable insights into people management practices in the organizations.

Interventions can accordingly be designed to address these specific issues. This survey will also serve, as the base on which to measure effectiveness of interventions.

While this is an interesting question and has intuitive appeal, the truth is that we are all different. To ignore that we are of a particular gender or culture or background is denying recognition of the unique skills and needs as a person. For e.g. to ignore that a person is physically challenged is to ignore/disrespect a very important reality of the person.

This will depend entirely on what we were trying to achieve in the first place. Is it to increase numbers of specific target groups or is it part of a strategy to enter new markets or is it to service current diverse markets better, or is it to bring in greater creativity and innovation in the organizations. Or possibly the need might be simply just to improve inclusion of the current workforce so as to enhance their productivity and retention.

Once we clarify the goal, creating metrics to track progress will be easy.