From diversity to inclusion

Sustainability Gender equality Womentor

Sweden and Swedish companies are good at diversity in international comparison, but have a lot left to do. We have talked a lot about gender equality, but less about diversity and even less about inclusion, says Jonas Stier, Professor of Intercultural Studies, who together with Karin Ahlström led this year's first Womentor workshop for Diversity Managers* at the end of May.

The difference between working for diversity and for inclusion is significant. To put it bluntly: those who work solely on quantitative diversity are more interested in 'kicking the can down the road' and making alibis than in bringing about change, while those who work on inclusion have a real interest in how variations (not differences) work together.

- Inclusion is a prerequisite to fully reap the benefits of diversity. It's not enough to have a quantitatively equal or equal organization if everyone in the workplace doesn't feel included; working on corporate culture, values and the daily work environment is an ongoing process. It's about creating a commitment beyond the rhetoric, says Jonas Stier.

Jonas also drew our attention to something interesting about the concept of inclusion: that we are by definition excluding when we talk about it, giving the rather common reaction "I never felt excluded before someone said that" as an example.

- Why do we never say that men in organizations need female role models? Words create our reality, govern how we think and how we work with an issue, says Jonas, who believes that we should definitely work with the issues - but be careful and attentive when we define.

Difficult to measure and pinpoint

During the workshop, it was noted both that the issue is difficult and that the degree to which companies work with it is quite different. "Inclusion is very broad - and we don't talk about it much", "We check the diversity box by measuring the number of men women etc. but it is more complex to put your finger on what creates inclusion", and "We are working on inclusion although we may not think in exactly those terms" said some.

The discussion on how inclusion can be measured and how employee surveys can be used for this raised many relevant questions - and provided a lot of useful answers. These were some of the conclusions reached by the group together with Jonas and Karin:

HOW CAN WE USE EMPLOYEE SURVEYS TO MEASURE INCLUSION?


Be honest about what you want to get out of it - and what you intend to do with the answers. Do you want to:

  • Know how someone feels about their workplace/job satisfaction once a year? More often?
  • Can we say that we have asked?

As you ask, you get answers

  • Is it good to directly ask the question "do you feel included"? Only if you clearly define what you mean by the question. Rather, ask questions where, upon analysis, you can draw conclusions about inclusion.

Who you ask and when matters

  • Catch new employees early - before they become colored by and blind to the culture.
  • Individuals may experience things differently - and thus respond differently - depending on the context.

Examples of questions:

  • Are you reaching your full potential?
  • Do you feel respected?
  • What conditions do you have to do a good job?
  • Do you think your answer would be the same if you were of a different gender/age/ethnicity etc?

It is not enough to ask

  • The responses need to be analyzed by different groups, such as gender/age/ethnicity etc. to see if there are differences in the responses that indicate a lack of inclusion.
  • Follow up surveys with conversations - complement 'hard facts' with 'soft facts'

Experience is the truth

  • What employees say says something about the business - but it doesn't tell you everything!

Good examples: how Microsoft works with inclusion

One company that is actively working on inclusion is Microsoft, and from them Fredrik Wolbe shared experiences and success factors with the rest of the group.

- We work with diversity and inclusion from a broader perspective - it's easy and natural to start with gender, but there are also many other aspects we talk about and work for. We need to be able to be a representation of the world and the marketplace. Inclusion is not a checkbox to avoid reproach or bad publicity, but one of the key components to remain competitive in the marketplace. Being universally relevant has an impact on product development and business.

The difficulty of working with inclusion, Fredrik believes, lies primarily in not ending up in the fact that it is an activity issue but a value issue - that is, what culture prevails in the company - and that what you have to do is to build the muscle memory that the culture is through ongoing ongoing activities. Examples of such activities Microsoft uses are:

  • Health and safety training
  • Reverse leadership - trainees mentoring people in management
  • Gender equality survey that measures:
  • Recruitment
  • Psychosocial work environment
  • Career opportunities
  • Family responsibilities and work

When asked how to handle being a message carrier of the culture as a manager, Fredrik replied that it is of course important to feel that the company's culture and values are something you can stand for - and that those who do not do so will most likely leave the organization.

SUCCESS CRITERIA ACCORDING TO MICROSOFT

  • Strategic issue for the management team
  • Attentive and fearless culture
  • Inclusion - a common thread in everything
  • Exercise muscle memory
  • Reward good culture carriers, not just good results
  • Successful women as role models
  • Continuous dialog - dare to challenge internally
  • Patience

*All companies participating in Womentor appoint a person from the company management as "Diversity Manager", with the task of participating in workshops and designing for the company long-term and short-term goals, measurement and monitoring methods, and strategies for recruitment, training and development linked to diversity.