Diversity vs Inclusion: What’s the

difference?
If we want to understand the difference between diversity and inclusion, we need
to define both terms first.

Diversity in the workplace refers to a workforce that’s made up of people from,

among other things, different ages, cultural backgrounds, geographies, physical
abilities and disabilities, religions, genders, and sexual orientation.

True workforce diversity, however, goes beyond these (social) categories. It includes
all the elements that make individual employees unique from one another; their
perspectives, preferences, characteristics, even their biases.

According to SHRM, inclusion can be defined as the achievement of a work

environment in which all individuals are treated fairly and respectfully, have equal
access to opportunities and resources, and contribute fully to the organization’s
success.

So then, when we talk about diversity vs. inclusion, what’s the difference? Put
simply, diversity is about the what – it focuses on the makeup of your workforce.
Inclusion, on the other hand, is about the how – the creation of a work environment
and culture that enables all employees to participate and thrive.

How inclusion and diversity lead to

organizational success
Separate concepts or not, diversity and inclusion do go hand in hand. After all, you
can increase your diversity hiring efforts in order to reach your workforce diversity
goals all you like, if you don’t have a culture that ensures everyone feels welcome,
you might as well save yourself the trouble.
Let’s take a look at the various ways in which inclusion and diversity lead to
organizational success.
Better financial returns
According to a 2015 McKinsey report called Diversity Matters, companies in the top
quartile for both racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to have financial
returns that exceed their national industry medians. For companies in the top
quartile for gender diversity this is 15%.

D&I drives innovation

Various research studies show that there is a relationship between diversity and
innovation. A diverse set of experiences, perspectives, and backgrounds is essential
for innovation and the development of new ideas.

A study by Harvard Business Review found that companies with an above-average

total diversity (meaning migration, industry, career path, gender, education and age
diversity), had 19% higher innovation revenues and 9% higher EBIT margins.

In its 2018 report, The Diversity and Inclusion Revolution, Deloitte found that
organizations with inclusive cultures were, among other things, six times more
likely to be innovative and agile: they see more angles on potential problems,
imagine smarter and multi-faceted solutions and spot the biases in what they’re
creating.
In an inclusive workplace, all employees can find senior people in the organization
who will endorse their ideas and convince those in charge of budgets to use
resources in order to develop those ideas. In non (or less) inclusive organizations,
this is a lot harder for minorities such as women, people of color and LGBTs – which
means that those organizations lose out on a lot of potentially great innovative
ideas and market opportunities.

Attracting and retaining talent

Organizations that embrace diversity hiring benefit from a larger talent pool than
those who don’t. Their vacancies will gain interest from a wider range of candidates
because more people with different backgrounds can relate to the organization.
The same thing goes for retaining talent. Employees who feel that they are
accepted and appreciated for who they are – no matter what their gender, age,
perspectives or sexual orientation, are happier and thus less likely to leave.

Along the same lines, companies that focus on D&I initiatives to make employees
feel more welcome tend to have a workforce that is more satisfied too.

Better performance and greater productivity

According to an executive briefing by the Society for Human Resources, research
shows that generational diversity can improve organizational performance. It also
shows that HR practices that improve the age diversity climate in a company can
potentially further improve that performance.
According to the same briefing, both older and younger workers are more
productive in companies with mixed-age work teams.

7 Examples of diversity and inclusion

activities in the workplace
Alright, we’ve identified what the difference is between diversity and inclusion and
how D&I lead to organizational success. Let’s now have a look at 7 examples of easy
to implement diversity and inclusion activities that celebrate employee differences.
Each of these activities shows that when it comes to diversity vs inclusion, the latter
is necessary to make the former work.

1. The Respect Discussion

A simple yet important one to start with. The idea is for employees to walk up to
one of their colleagues, preferably someone they don’t usually interact with, and
introduce themselves. Once the introductions are made, they talk about what
respect means to them, how they define it and give examples of how this can be
demonstrated in the workplace.

Once this conversation is finished, the group gets back together and the various
examples of respect are shared with the entire group and discussed. The goal of
this exercise is twofold: to contemplate about the concept of respect from different
points of view and to think about how others might view a person’s actions through
the prism of their own, unique experiences.

The Respect Discussion is a fantastic way to make your employees really think
about the manner in which they interact with each other.

2. Food
What better way to unite people and celebrate diversity than with food, right?
Organize a breakfast, pick-nick, lunch, 4 o’clock snack or what have you where
employees bring in (homemade) dishes from or inspired by their culture and
heritage.

Not only does this kind of activity offer a great opportunity to taste all kinds of
delicious food, but it also gives employees a chance to share and connect on a
different level.

3. Money in the jar

If you’re familiar with the concept of a swear jar you’ll know what’s next. The money
in the jar idea can take various shapes. It can be used to encourage a gender-
neutral language for better diversity and inclusion in the workplace for example.
A word like ‘guys’, for instance, can make female employees feel excluded and, by
extension, unhappy. By making everyone who uses the word guys in a wrong
context put a Dollar (or any other kind of amount and/or currency) in the jar, this
increases people’s awareness against using gendered words at work.

4. The Paper Basket Exercise

Rather than giving you a lengthy explanation of this game I suggest you watch the
below video.

https://youtu.be/2KlmvmuxzYE

The overall idea of this exercise is to show how privilege works and how a team of
individual contributors can still support and help each other if they want to; it
shows that inclusive actions can help a team to do more.

5. Step Apart, Step Together

This diversity and inclusion activity aims to show employees how similarities can
(literally) bring people back together, no matter how different they might be. It
works as follows.

You’ll need two volunteers who will stand in front of the group, facing each other.
The rest of the group will then name things that might indicate that one person is
different from the other.

Think of their hair color, where they’re from, the shoes they wear, religion, etc.
When there’s a difference between the two volunteers, they take a step away from
each other. When, on the other hand, they’ve got something in common, they step
back together.

Put simply: no matter how different we are, there’s always a common ground for us
to meet on.

6. The Diversity Calendar

This one makes complete sense from a D&I perspective. After all, keeping track of
and celebrating only the ‘standard’ holidays won’t make all of your employees feel
like they’re part of the family.
On top of that, a diversity calendar – and the celebration of multicultural holidays –
is a great way to create awareness.

7. I am… But I am not

This is another simple yet effective diversity game. You can either hand out a piece
of paper to each person in the group, or you can do a verbal-only version. Every
participant fills in the phrase ‘I am… but I am not….’

For instance: “I’m over 60 but I am not counting the days until my retirement.” The
goal of this D&I activity is, as you may have guessed, to get rid of stereotypes and
bias among employees.

On a final note
And that’s a wrap! When it comes to diversity vs inclusion, we now know that the
latter is crucial if you want the former to work. We also know that organizations
that manage to make their D&I efforts work benefit from better financial results, a
higher degree of innovation and improved employee retention. Of course, building
an inclusive culture is not something that can be done overnight. The 7 examples of
D&I activities in the workplace we listed, however, can be a valuable tool to use
along the way.

FAQ
What’s the difference between diversity and inclusion?
Put simply, diversity is about the what – it focuses on the makeup of your
workforce. Inclusion, on the other hand, is about the how – the creation of a work
environment and culture that enables all employees to participate and thrive.
How do inclusion and diversity lead to organizational success?
Truly diverse and inclusive organizations tend to have better financial results, be
more innovative and agile, attract a more diverse pool of candidates, have happier
employees who are less likely to leave, and show better organizational
performance and productivity.
How do diversity and inclusion drive innovation?
Organizations with inclusive cultures see more angles on potential problems,
imagine smarter and multi-faceted solutions and spot the biases in what they’re
creating. Also, in an inclusive workplace, all employees can find senior people in the
organization who will endorse their ideas and convince those in charge of budgets
to use resources in order to develop those ideas.

https://www.digitalhrtech.com/diversity-vs-inclusion/#What