Driving conscious inclusion within organisations

The culture around us influences everything we do and, although it’s invisible, the effect of culture can be both seen and felt. Inclusion and diversity (I&D) make a fundamental contribution to the success of an organisation and its culture, from driving innovation and challenging conventional thinking to attracting and retaining top talent.

While often grouped together, inclusion and diversity are two separate and distinct concepts. Diversity is a combination of all the unique traits that make us different and similar, inclusion is a behaviour and a way to leverage those perspectives and value individuals for who they are. However, unconscious bias is something that creates barriers and prevents inclusion and diversity from thriving in the workplace. Awareness of biases is important, but we also need to equip people with ways to interrupt bias and to create an environment where differences are not only valued but celebrated too.

To make a long-lasting difference, we must encourage change and bring the unconscious to the conscious. Simply being aware of biases is not enough to ensure that everyone feels valued and included. Recent analysis by Josh Bersin uncovered that many DEI initiatives lack the follow-through, accountability and results to drive real cultural change. Simply put, organisations need to take action, and this is where conscious inclusion comes in.

To be conscious of inclusion, organisations need to take intentional and deliberate steps to ensure that everyone’s unique perspectives, experiences and contributions are recognised, respected and valued. It involves creating a workplace environment where everyone feels they belong and where they can fully participate and achieve their full potential.

A sense of belonging is a fundamental human need. It’s a feeling that every person is wired to want, and a word that translates across language and culture. It occurs when organisations create an equitable environment and the conditions exist for everyone to thrive and feel included because of their uniqueness, not despite it. We recognise that a team is at its most creative when it’s made up of people who think differently from one another, in an environment where different views and perspectives are welcomed and respected.

However, belonging is only possible when every person feels psychologically safe and empowered to speak their mind and express their point of view fully, without fear. Creating psychological safety requires conscious inclusion, whether it be fostering collaboration, recognising people who promote inclusive behaviours or engaging in coaching conversations. Belonging creates the trust that’s needed for people to share their best thinking.

By focusing on belonging, organisations can liberate people and ideas. It encourages people to be courageous, take risks, show their vulnerabilities, and be their true selves. Where psychological safety is present, there’s a sense of dependability on one another, teams are more productive and there’s an intrinsic motivation to make a meaningful contribution. This creates an inclusive and equitable environment where people belong, and contributes to creativity, innovation and action.

Bringing inclusion into the leadership development conversation is critical. Not only does inclusion allow leaders to reflect on their own uniqueness, but it also facilitates an appreciation for the diverse qualities of their teams.

Inclusive leadership is something we actively talk about and promote; it’s a behaviour we expect from everyone, irrespective of their career level. It’s about valuing, seeking out and leveraging our differences to achieve our company goals.

Inclusive leaders are key to engaging employees, allowing diverse teams to perform to the best of their ability and promoting equity. Harvard Business Review found that a leader’s behaviour can make up to a 70% difference in whether an individual feels included or not. So, it’s important that leaders are aware of their influence, actively role-modelling conscious inclusion and helping to guide managers and employees to do the same. An example of this would be the different ways that leaders create active participation in team meetings.  This could be providing opportunities in meetings for small groups to discuss ideas and feedback to ensure everyone has a role to play. Or delegating meeting roles to team members that promote inclusion and encourage diversity of thought. Not only does this ensure that meetings are as effective as possible, but it also encourages active participation from all attendees and a way to ensure everyone’s voice is heard.

Ultimately, the more everyone in a diverse team feels included, the more empowered they feel to share their ideas. This helps to unlock individual potential, enhance the collective power of the team and support the organisation’s ability to innovate – in a way that considers and reflects the diversity of the communities that pharmaceutical companies serve.

Organisations that practice fair and equitable treatment of their people, attract and retain top talent. In our industry, patients come from every culture, race, socio-economic group, religion and sexuality. So, it’s important for pharmaceutical organisations to recruit individuals from diverse backgrounds and build a workforce that is reflective of the diverse populations they serve.

Intentionally putting ‘inclusion’ before ‘diversity’ places the focus on first creating a culture of inclusion, which, by creating that culture, enables companies to attract and retain a rich and diverse workforce. Making organisations more inclusive and workforces more diverse is not simply the right thing to do, but is a key driver of creativity, collaboration and innovation.

Breakthrough ideas happen when a diverse workforce is empowered to challenge conventional thinking and this, in turn, drives better health outcomes for patients. But diversity is also a priority for candidates. Research has shown that employees want to work for companies that recognise the importance of an open and inclusive workplace. Inclusive organisations may also find it easier to retain and recruit top talent. A study from McKinsey found that 39% of respondents have turned down or decided not to pursue a job because of a perceived lack of inclusion at an organisation.

‘Patients come from every culture, race, socio-economic group, religion and sexuality, so it’s important for pharmaceutical organisations to recruit individuals from diverse backgrounds’

Inclusion and diversity should be embedded into the talent acquisition approach end-to-end. More diversity in hiring requires more diversity in your applicant pool and there are steps organisations can take to consciously build a more diverse talent pipeline. For example, this might be making sure your company’s commitment to I&D appears on every job advert as standard, using a range of job boards to ensure you reach diverse communities, or considering non-graduate programmes to encourage talent in diverse socio-economic backgrounds.

This helps to create an equitable working environment and not only brings a wider range of information and perspectives to the table, but also promotes innovation, which is something that can only come from a diverse workforce.

A genuinely inclusive culture goes hand in hand with diversity. It enables organisations to create an environment with a sense of belonging for all individuals and embraces their differences regardless of their background, identity or circumstances. This encourages a wide range of diverse people to successfully come together to harness new insights and perspectives that fuel innovation.

Conscious inclusion is about actively cultivating a culture and environment of organisational diversity, inclusion and belonging. For organisations looking to promote inclusion and encourage diversity of thought, it’s about fostering a culture where employees can speak their minds and bring their best selves to work. Practically, this might be encouraging active listening and asking people to assess their behaviours. For instance, are team members comfortable expressing controversial opinions? Are they actively engaged when discussing decisions with people who may disagree with their point of view? And are they open to being challenged in a constructive way? Fundamentally people should be empowered to express their views and feel supported in doing so by inclusive leaders who value, seek out and make the most of differences.

I&D is a journey, not a destination, and it’s important for pharmaceutical organisations to reflect on their progress but also identify what else they can do to accelerate change for their people, patients and the communities they serve. Inclusion isn’t something that just happens, at least not yet. It requires effort and attention and us to be conscious of our actions and the impact these can have.