Diversity Is Every Color, for Those Who Know How to Accept and Embrace It.
I had wanted to write about this topic for a long time, but the opportunity never came; other things got in the way. It kept being postponed one way or another. It wasn't the right time, I understand that now.
As you can tell from the title, the topic is Diversity and Inclusion. I will address it in terms of working life and the situation in companies, but given today's perspective and the protest movements that began in the US over the last 2–3 weeks and spread around the world, I think it would be far more appropriate to first approach it through our own lives and the state of humanity as a whole.
Let's get started!
The concept of diversity was originally used to distinguish people and groups from one another in terms of dimensions such as age, gender, ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education and national origin. For many years, institutions and states used diversity, consciously or unconsciously, to separate and even distance people and communities from one another along the dimensions listed above. Throughout history, humankind has lived through the very painful consequences of this choice. While the past has left huge wounds in the heart of humanity, recent events signal that these wounds could deepen even further. The anti-racism protests, and how quickly they spread around the world, have shown once again where we stand on diversity.
Why Is It So Hard to Face "Those Who Are Different From Me"?
As all this is happening in the world and we wake up to a new protest every day, "one question" keeps echoing in my mind, as it does for many of us. Why is it so hard to face "those who are different from me"?
Partly as a result of my reading, especially in the field of coaching, and starting from concepts such as "not judging anyone" and "everyone's experience being unique and their own," I think the real problem is "our inability to bravely come face to face with those who are different from us," and I suspect everything, whether in private or working life, starts here.
Really, why is it so hard? Have you thought about it too? Why do we have such a problem with those who are different from us, who think differently, who speak differently, who take different paths or try different methods? Why can't we face them? Is it so hard to accept? Why is it so difficult for us to say "you are like this, I am like that, but together we can be stronger"? Personally, I think we are living in a time when, far from accepting, we have not even the slightest tolerance for what is different, and I experience this firsthand on certain issues. It is very painful, but also very real.
On the day we answer these questions, we will have understood what diversity really means and what powerful richness it holds. I hope that time is very near😊
Now to Working Life..
Diversity & Inclusion. In the business world, diversity is evaluated together with "Inclusion" rather than on its own.
So why have these 2 concepts started to receive so much attention? Why do they occupy so much space on companies' agendas and, more importantly, what will they affect in a working life whose conditions will change considerably because of the pandemic? Let's try to find answers to these questions bit by bit.
Even though we have not yet fully grasped what diversity means in our private and social lives, over the years the business world has discovered just how valuable it is to be one, to be together, to draw strength from differences, and to accept, or at least respect, what is different. In fact, recently diversity has begun to emerge as a topic that "unites and strengthens" rather than one that "divides," differently from the definition we gave at the beginning. So what happened to bring about this shift from dividing to uniting and strengthening? What changed in people's minds?
First of all, we can say that the value that "those who are different, or who stand somewhat apart from the majority" can bring to companies came to be understood. Then it became clear that "respecting and appreciating those who are different from you" strengthens companies just as it strengthens individuals. And this "strengthening" was not one-dimensional. Companies that accept, respect and appreciate what is different were seen to get several steps ahead of their competitors in terms of both performance and prestige. If this were not the case, 450 CEOs of some of the world's largest companies in the US would not have pledged in 2018 to increase diversity in their companies.
What Does Diversity Bring to Companies?
According to research, companies that put diversity front and center see increases in profitability, creativity and productivity, and at the same time become more likely to attract talented employees. On top of all this, diversity also brings to life very valuable factors that enrich companies and their ways of working, such as tolerance, respect for what is different, understanding one another more deeply, acceptance and drawing strength from differences.
I love wordplay. If you look closely, the Turkish word for diversity, "çeşitlilik," contains another very important word: "eşitlik," meaning equality. Not long ago, just a few years back, companies were setting up separate boards and platforms to ensure gender equality. Ensuring gender equality in recruitment and management was very important. It still is, but efforts that put women even further forward, and in this sense increase the number of women managers and women in senior management, are continuing and growing. While we are on the subject, let's share a McKinsey study. The McKinsey research titled "Why Diversity Matters" shows that companies that value gender diversity are 15% more successful than their competitors in the sector. The same study also finds that this figure rises to 35% in companies that make a point of having employees of different languages, religions and races.
But is this enough on its own? That is, focusing only on the "gender" dimension of diversity. I think this is what we mostly do in our country, but in my view it is not enough, because this again means limiting ourselves, this time to a single kind of diversity😊 Yes, women should take a greater part in working life, there should be more women managers, every woman who wants to work should be able to work (the share of working women in Turkey is 22%, according to Konda's December 2019 study "Türkiye'de Toplumsal Cinsiyet ve Hayat Tarzları" (Gender and Lifestyles in Turkey)), and yes, I too think women should run the world. But if we are looking at this from a gender perspective, I would like to take this opportunity to remind you that people with different sexual orientations should also be included in working life, and that we should not forget they too are a very important part of "diversity."
What About Inclusion?
Inclusion is closely related to something that we at Digital Institute have always insisted on. Guess what it is? 😊 "Culture," of course.
It is not enough to say diversity is very important to me, I valued it this way, I value it that way, I did this and that. From now on it won't be enough at all.
For companies, any initiative or project that does not include real, measurable actions will reach the point of "better not to do it at all." If there is one thing that matters, it is this: first embracing, down to your very core, an inclusive culture that puts diversity at the center; then ensuring it is embraced by employees at all levels across the company; embedding that culture fully as quickly as possible; and, from there, enabling all employees to become voluntary ambassadors of this culture. The number of companies that can do this is not very large, and they are highly influential in the global business world.
In short, the coming years will belong to companies that "first create an inclusive culture and then embrace it, that is, internalize it." Leaders will have very important responsibilities in this period, that much is certain. But the extraordinary business results, creativity, sustainable success and the ability to pull ahead of competitors that follow will make all their effort worthwhile.
If we have the opportunity to touch on diversity again in the future, perhaps we will go into a bit more detail about the responsibilities that fall to leaders.
Wishing that everyone, people and companies alike 😊, can #embraceallcolors,
Wishing you days full of health,
