representative of the communities in which they operate, have a
formal diversity committee – with access to a budget – as well as
an executive champion to drive this agenda forward.
Despite this overwhelming strategic focus on diversity, many
Canadian organizations are still reporting that, while overt rac-ism,
sexism and homophobia are not as prevalent as they were a
decade ago, diversity in workplaces has not yet translated into true
inclusiveness. Diversity is about ensuring you have people of dif-ferent
backgrounds and experiences represented in the workplace.
Inclusiveness takes it a step further by creating an environment
where people’s differences of thought and experience are actually
appreciated and viewed as a business advantage. Many well-mean-ing
organizations have jumped on the bandwagon to hire for
diversity without having the programs and structures in place to
truly bring diverse perspectives into the fold. Diversity in itself
does not create inclusion – an inclusive environment must be in-tentionally
designed, nurtured and supported.
A truly inclusive workplace is what we call a Great Place to Work
The idea is a kind of radical inclusivity where daily, human in-teractions
at work recognize, welcome and expect great things
from every employee. When there’s an authentic commitment to
inclusion, fairness and trust building throughout the organization,
people experience a positive workplace culture widely and consis-tently
– not just in pockets, which is what we see in many other
workplaces. Great Place to Work For All companies are therefore
better able to cultivate the human potential of all their people –
and to outperform their competitors.
Our economy has evolved through agrarian, industrial and knowl-edge
phases to the point where the essential qualities of human
beings are the most critical, where a culture of innovation is vital to
sustainable success and where everyone’s contributions count. At the
same time, societal and technological changes are creating new op-portunities
and challenges for organizations in the competition for
talent. A reputation for developing employees and for welcoming
people from all backgrounds and walks of life is increasingly crucial
to attracting and retaining the best team possible.
In this new business frontier, organizations will reach their full
potential only when they realize all of their human potential. That
means organizations need to create an outstanding culture for ev-eryone,
no matter who they are or what they do for the organization.
Leading companies, including many of Canada’s Best
Workplaces, are working hard to build diverse, consistently great
workplaces, so they can close the gaps and stop wasting human po-tential.
They realize that Great Places to Work For All are better
for business, better for society and better for the world.
Want to learn more about how you can stop wasting human
potential? Great Place to Work® Canada’s list of Canada’s Best
Workplaces for Inclusion comes out Jan. 16 here. n
Alison Grenier is head of culture and research at Great Place to
“DIVERSITY IN ITSELF DOES NOT CREATE INCLUSION –
AN INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT MUST BE INTENTIONALLY
DESIGNED, NURTURED AND SUPPORTED.”
VGstockstudio / Shutterstock.com
44 ❚ JANUARY 2018 ❚ HR PROFESSIONAL