Recognition is the secret ingredient in bringing diversity and inclusion together

Repeating a phrase often enough can sometimes give a false impression that we understand its meaning. Diversity and inclusion is a prime example. As a term, it’s embedded in organisations across the globe, but, while it’d be crass to suggest it as nothing more than buzzwords, deconstruction is necessary if D&I is considered truly a success.The diversity side of D&I is not difficult to grasp, and it can be achieved somewhat mathematically – at least in terms of recruiting employees from a range of backgrounds, and with a range of visible or physical traits – but it is all too easy to assume that inclusivity will naturally follow.“We have this analogy of the iceberg,” says Niamh Graham, vice president of Global HR at Workhuman. “We talk about the iceberg as above the waterline being all of the things you can see about a person – gender, colour, race, age, size – then under the waterline, which is the mammoth part of any iceberg, are all of the things you cannot see. So, if you think about orientation, religion, how one thinks, their values, their style, their work ethic: they’re all the things you cannot see.“Inclusivity and bringing the two together is the difficult part, but if you view individuals in that light, you see all that as relevant, and what we’re talking about is that you are a human.”It isn’t difficult to see what inclusion – that sense of belonging and meaningfulness – can bring to an organisation and its employees. Graham talks about this being the human era for the workplace, as much as it being a digital era, and that the sheer amount of time people spend at work, as well as all of their being they give to a role, makes it as much an extension of their home life as a separate entity that exists solely to provide food and shelter.In that sense, the feeling of being included, and being seen, is hugely important. A workforce that feels a sense of belonging in their organisation is likely to lead to a reduction in turnover, as well as increases in loyalty and productivity. Simply put, it soothes the headache of talent retention and ensures that talent is best placed to reach its potential.In a more real, even more critical sense, it allows employees to arrive for work not brimming with anxiety, but as part of a community that makes work life feel more than purely bearable. People feel seen, understood and appreciated, just as they’d hope to be in any other aspect of their lives.But while the effects are tangible, bridging that gap between diversity and inclusion can often feel abstract. As far as Workhuman is concerned, there is a secret ingredient: recognition.“Recognition, in essence, is about gratitude,” says Graham. “It’s about showing appreciation to your employees; it’s about creating a human-centric, employee-first culture. When we think about recognition, we’re saying, ‘I see you, I see the whole you, I see the inside and out.’ If you change the mindset in relation to that, rather than seeing just an employee or a number, that makes a dramatic difference to how a company views its people and its people strategy.”Workhuman is unsurprisingly at the forefront of such trends in HR; its cloud of human applications, based on recognition and creating a flowing stream of gratitude throughout an organisation, has been transformational for those companies that have embraced their ability to demand and show results for real change.Those unseen aspects of employees’ characters are a driving force, allowing for peer-to-peer recognition as well as up and down a chain of command, so that unsung heroes within a business – often those more introverted types whose achievements can be unknowingly missed, but the loss of whose talents would be severely felt – are rightly heralded by a workforce community.“What our clients are seeing is the power of recognition,” says Graham. “The power of gratitude is positively influencing their culture, but it’s positively influencing the connection and inclusivity aspect as well. In our recent study, we’ve seen employees love their jobs four times more when they’re in an organisation that has meaningfulness and connectivity, that sense of belonging. That is huge.”Those who find the concept difficult to grasp shouldn’t be deterred, however. At first glance it is perhaps an odd marriage, using data and technology to build a very human community, but platforms such as Workhuman’s are there as tools to aid the progress of this human era, rather than to simply defer responsibility to a computer. As ever, when using forward-thinking technologies such as these, it is about retaining that sense of authenticity.The peer-to-peer aspect is massive in this regard. If you think about those characteristics that would fall below the waterline in Graham’s iceberg analogy, there is none more important than mental wellbeing. In fact, it is a singular issue in that it is not only largely unseen, but is also so often hidden by those suffering and in greatest need of support.By creating a real sense of gratitude among all workers, and making gratitude part of the organisation’s language, those who might fear sharing struggles with an employer can still be ‘seen’ by their colleagues, still share in that company-wide respect, and if in time the taboo is not wholly exorcised then at least it needn’t mean anyone feel marginalised.“Our company core values are ‘determination, imagination, innovation and respect’,” says Graham. “But we’ve broken down respect to ‘respect for teamwork, respect for customers’, and we’ve added one called ‘respect for all.’ We’ve added that to specifically state what we are and who we are as an organisation, and how we feel about our people.“And respect for all – no matter whether it’s the seen or the unseen – that respect for all covers all of that. That’s an expectation we have of our company, of our values team, and of all our employees. Embracing everybody for their whole self. That’s had a hugely positive impact.”• Workhuman®, formerly Globoforce, is the world’s fastest-growing Social Recognition and continuous performance management platform. Its human applications are shaping the future of work by helping organisations unite their workforce around a shared purpose. Click here for more information.

Recognition is the secret ingredient in bringing diversity and inclusion together

Topics

Confirm cancellation

Interests

Interests