And why we should care about it
Our article “Companies finally getting serious about diversity” set the ground for some reflections on diversity and inclusion at work, talking about the current situation and the challenges that firms are facing to create a truly diverse workplace.
This however was just the starting point. The Dreamando team would like to guide you through a complete series of articles to get your head around the topic of diversity and inclusion. The goal is to empower you with a new awareness, so that you can make the most out of your experiences abroad and also highlight your uniqueness when applying for jobs.
In this article we start off by the basics: what do the concepts of diversity & inclusion mean and their differences. This should help you to grasp what it really means to work in a diverse and inclusive company, and thus help you in choosing your next employer.
What is the difference between diversity & inclusion?
Diversity and inclusion are two linked concepts that are yet not interchangeable. The term diversity refers to the practice or quality of including et involving people from a range of different social and ethnic backgrounds and of different genders, sexual orientations, religions etc. The term inclusion looks at how well the perspectives and contributions of the diverse people are integrated in a given environment.
This means that an environment can be very diverse with a representation of different social and ethnic backgrounds, genders and sexual orientations but yet if the perspectives of certain individuals are not well represented and valued, this environment will not be inclusive.
What is diversity & inclusion in the workplace?
Diversity is the representation of different people in an organization and inclusion is ensuring that everyone has an equal opportunity to contribute to and influence every part and level of a workplace.
In a diverse and inclusive workplace everyone feels to be equally involved and supported, regardless of who they are or what they do for the company. Research shows that such an inclusive environment creates outstanding employee experiences while creating engagement and energy within the company.
That is why companies have started to rethink their recruiting process to ensure diversity, as well as controlling the percentage of women employees in managerial positions or – more generally – the representation of cultures and ethnic background in their workforce.
These reflections reveal true diversity and inclusion in the workplace. These are elements you should look up before deciding where you want to work. Why? Because it will affect your employee experience and how you will be able to make full potential of your personality and diversity, while growing as a professional. We were there… We thought factors such as pay, prestige and location are what mattered the most but we realized how working in an inclusive company is stimulating and helps you to go further.
How can you understand if a company is really inclusive? Stay tuned we will tell more about this in our next our next article!