Page 94 - South Mississippi Living - August, 2023

DIVERSITY &
The Importance of
INCLUSIVITY
story by Victoria Snyder
in the Workplace
You’ve probably seen or heard the phrase diversity, equity, and inclusion (often seen as the acronym DEI) before. But what does that actually mean? And why is it good for business?
your place of work. Inclusion is there to help employees feel like they belong, are listened to, are engaged with their work, and are in a safe space to be themselves.
When all three of these elements are combined, you’ve created a working environment where everybody feels valued for their individuality, has opportunities for growth, and is able to bring their unique viewpoint to the company. Utilizing DEI has been proven to strengthen employee engagement with their place of work and improve employee retention.
If employees do not feel like they belong or aren’t accepted by their peers, they will have a negative experience at work and will look for new opportunities at places that do make them feel included. This is why it’s so important to promote openness and acceptance and discourage discrimination and microaggressions.
Diversity of staff brings more than just physical and societal differences – it also brings diversity of thought and experiences. If everybody you hire is from a similar background, everybody will behave similarly and have similar skills and experiences. Overall, DEI will organically improve the pool of ideas within your organization.
First, let’s take a look at some definitions.
Diversity is about who makes up your workforce. What type of people work for you? Are they representative of various backgrounds? Examples include race, gender identity, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, neurodiversity, religion, age, physical ability, and more.
While equity sounds similar to equality, there are differences. Equity is more about giving people the chance to have equal opportunity. Equality simply means that everybody is treated the same. Equity is recognizing that everybody comes from a different background, and sometimes things must be adjusted for the result to be equal and fair.
Inclusivity is about the environment at the workplace.
Does the organization accept all employees and assist them
in making significant contributions to the company? Are employees able to voice their opinions and not feel that their job is at risk? It’s all about feeling accepted and comfortable at
94 | August 2023
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