3 minutes
Are your inclusion initiatives not having the anticipated impact? Here are some tactics for getting things rolling.
It’s easy to declare that you’re an inclusive organization. It’s a lot harder to truly achieve the diversity, equity, and inclusion our newest generation of workers crave (and insist upon). That’s because the largely cosmetic, supplemental, reactionary and single-identity-focused DEI initiatives many organizations are embracing don’t create lasting inclusion.
It’s one thing to embrace the DEI trends of the day or proclaim your commitment to “belonging,” but another to really invest in your employees and make inclusion normative. Ensuring that everyone is empowered to thrive isn’t easy, and it doesn’t happen overnight—and that’s OK.
That said, some small tweaks can help you get back on track or gain ground more quickly when your inclusion efforts have stalled. Here are just a few simple actions that have a surprising amount of horsepower.
1. Stop the blame game by changing the language.
If you’re making any group “wrong” in your efforts or excluding people who hold longstanding power and privilege, you’ve already lost your audience. True inclusion must welcome all stakeholders to the table. Otherwise, you’re just perpetuating the “othering” cycle that has long overlooked and marginalized people in the workforce. End the cycle once and for all and move forward.
All humans need inclusion, and that encompasses those who have not been historically excluded. If you hear “us-and-them” language, that’s a red flag. Urge people to replace it with ‘we.’ It may seem like a small thing, but language is powerful.
2. Reassure employees that no one needs to hide or downplay their identity.
Inclusion needs emphasize what unifies people rather than what divides them—and this idea can sometimes baffle people. At times people may mistakenly feel this approach could lead to a bland, homogenous workforce. Nothing is further from the truth.
What people need to realize is that we can have our affinities and choose humanity. They are not in conflict or competition. We can all thrive across our differences.
3. Normalize social tensions.
Remind employees that not only is tension not “bad,” it’s necessary and normal. Social tensions exist whenever there are differences of any kind in groups of people. They are simply opportunities to grow and create something extraordinary together.
Calling out the elephant in the room can be a huge relief. The danger comes only when leaders don’t know how to navigate the tensions and complexities that come from those differences.
4. Scrap the jargon.
Words like heteronormative, transphobia, unearned privilege and antiracism are hard to understand and maybe even off-putting to some employees. Some terms have even been politically weaponized. Instead, make the language of DEI more accessible to everyone.
Use simple words, create common vocabulary, and keep concepts brief and easy to understand. People will be eager to jump in and participate when they know what you’re talking about.
Finally, if you do get stuck, keep coming back to the important questions: “Is what we are doing accessible? Actionable? Sustainable?” If you want your organization to be inclusive and equitable for the long haul, ensure the answer is yes.
Inclusion is an ongoing journey that depends on your staying curious, learning from mistakes and continuously moving in the right direction. Stay on the path and you’ll be amazed by how far it takes you.”
Amri B. Johnson is the author of Reconstructing Inclusion: Making DEI Accessible, Actionable, and Sustainable. For more than 20 years, he has been instrumental in helping organizations and their people create extraordinary business outcomes. He is a social capitalist, epidemiologist, entrepreneur and inclusion strategist. Johnson’s dialogic approach to engaging all people as leaders and change agents has fostered the opening of minds and deepening of skillsets with organizational leaders and citizens, enabling them to thrive and optimally contribute to one another and their respective organizations.
As CEO/founder of Inclusion Wins, Johnson and a virtual collective of partners converge organizational purpose to create global impact with a lens of inclusion. Born in Topeka, Kansas, he has worked and lived in the U.S. and Brazil and currently lives in Basel, Switzerland, with his wife, Martina, and their three kids.
Attend a Related Learning Event!
