Inclusivity at workplace and its significance:
Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) are often used interchangeably today to refer to a deliberate effort by organisations to make all employees feel a sense of belonging, regardless of their identities. These three terms coming under the ambit of ‘inclusivity at workplace’, are interconnected and together contribute towards binding the cultural fabric of an organisation to its employees.
Diversity is the ‘what’ that describes a group. Inclusion is the ‘how’ that goes into making each of the members feel a significant connection and care. Equity is the presence of a level playing field for each of the members, despite their challenges or limitations.
Today, organisations go all out to ensure that these are more than just buzzwords for them, and they have imbibed it in their DNA.
With the evolution of time, there have been several additions to the efforts for inclusivity at workplaces. But the one group that remains neglected is that of the Working mothers.
Do working mothers feel welcome at work? Or is there a disconnect between words and actions? Has the policy of DEI permeated through the workforce, or is it only a matter of discussion and felicitation in the board rooms?
To delve deeper into this topic, let’s first understand what are the characteristics of inclusion.
Characteristics of Inclusivity at Workplaces:
Inclusion has many facets to it but it can be categorized primarily into the following four characteristics:
1. Respecting diversity
It embodies the saying—let’s respect the differences and celebrate the similarities. Diversity brings unique perspectives and ideas that lend character to an organisation.
2. Providing a level playing ground:
Regardless of the background, limitations or challenges, inclusivity at the workplace ensures fairness of opportunities to all team members. There is no room for any sort of bias, and all efforts are focused on ensuring fair play.
3. Empowerment:
The ultimate objective of inclusivity at workplace is to make every individual feel significant in the bigger scheme of things—that his voice matters. This in turn reinforces his self-belief and impacts his contribution to those around him.
4. A sense of accessibility and belonging:
Empowered individuals develop a strong sense of belonging to the organisation—which is fundamental to having ownership and responsibility.
Together, these characteristics foster a culture of inclusivity at workplace, leading to the holistic well-being of individuals, and teams, in a way that benefits them as well as the organisation.
Now, whichever organisation or team, you may be a part of, carry on a litmus test for inclusivity of working moms. Does your organisation pass or fail?
“I’ve yet to be on a campus where most women weren’t worrying about some aspect of combining marriage, children and a career. I’ve yet to find one where many men were worrying about the same thing.”
–Gloria Steinem
A Tale of Two Officers
In one of my corporate roles, I was at a Client’s office, where I came across an experience that changed my perspective. To roll out a project, the Joint secretary had called for his team to assess the manpower requirement. The HR manager mentioned a lady, holding a critical position in the project, and who was one of the top-performing officers), “Unfortunately, she’s on maternity leave”. To this, the IAS officer smiled and said “ It’s not at all ‘unfortunately’. It is a blessing that she’s bringing a life to this world. She will get many opportunities to shine on in other projects, but this personal project of hers will be what will drive her to give her best. I have never seen an underperforming mother”.
That incident left an indelible impression on my mind. The respect with which he spoke, there was no need for him to correct the Manager, yet, there he was—setting the record straight. The sheer conviction and gentleness in his voice while subtly correcting the Manager’s perspective was a masterclass in leadership.
It reminded me of a previous incident from a few years back when a senior, a female, had mentioned how a team member who was in her advanced stage of expectancy, was of no use to her, and that’s why she was assigned to oblivion in the head office. It was disgusting to the core, and coming from a female was sickening to another level—a stark reminder of how wrong people in the wrong roles can bring down the culture of an organisation, poisoning its very essence.
The leaders often mistake callousness for ambition, lack of empathy for drive, and aggression for assertiveness. Many a time, they consider vices of being rude/insensitive as virtues of dynamic leaders—another sign of toxic leadership, oblivious of the damage they bring upon the morale of their teams and the culture of the organisation.
But in the light of that Government conference room, I saw a ray of hope—at the moment when a man spoke for a woman, reinforcing my belief that true leadership is beyond traits and metrics, and is a unique towering virtue that comes to light only in moments like these when any ordinary human would falter.
This brings us to explore what needs be done to make the inclusivity at workplace count for working moms and make them feel welcome, and celebrated at work.
Four Steps Towards Meaningful Inclusivity at Workplaces
- Recognising challenges faced by women: “There are only two genders at work—males and non-males”, joked a female colleague once. “There’s no place for females”. The statement came out from a place of frustration for a woman who had just returned to work after maternity leave and needed to head home in the evening. She was well aware of the fact that she was discussed about, for being the first one to leave the office, where late hours were the norm. She never took any breaks for tea, coffee, smoke, or even gossip, only to be able to see her infant on time. Sadly, what was discussed was not her efficiency, but her hardwired nature to run home, not socialising enough at work, or being unavailable on weekends.
Unless organisations recognise these challenges and implement inclusivity in spirit, there will be more and more brilliant women opting out of corporates. - Foster a supportive culture: A supportive culture does more to increase the creativity, productivity and overall mental well-being of employees than any other award/reward system. This can be only implemented from the top down.
- Flexible working hours: Studies show that women value flexibility above all other factors in the workplace. Flexibility to choose their work days or timings within a stipulated timeframe empowers them. It reduces the anxiety that weighs them down due to being unavailable for their family, despite being primary caregivers. Corporates that have switched to remote or hybrid models are going to have an edge over the others to attract quality talent, because of the flexibility they offer.
- Respect family time: Finally, the freedom to switch off from work, without being guilt-tripped, is precious. Organisations that respect the personal time of their employees, earn their respect in return.
Again, these are steps towards meaningful inclusivity and can be only driven from the top. Without the leadership turning advocate for these values, they will remain carved in policy manuals, meant to be read only at fancy meetings, ironically late in the evenings, way past work hours, by the same lady officer who was once ridiculed for leaving office early.
Leadership advocacy for inclusion
The responsibility of leaders to drive inclusion from the top is immense. It is not only an ethical move, but also a strategic one—to be able to elicit the best out of a diverse team, through inclusion in its truest form.
Leaders in general, and women leaders in specific, need to lead by example. The lady officer in the incident mentioned above, would herself have gone through the same stage of life, on the other side of the corporate ladder. What was required of her, was empathy when it was her turn, to give back to someone. Instead she chose vindictiveness—if she could have gone through hardships and managed, inflict the same on the others.
As Dumbledore mentioned in the Sorcerer’s stone ” It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.” And leadership is all about choices.
If you are a leader, you must show staunch support for these values:
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- a supportive culture,
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- work-life balance,
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- employee communities for well-being,
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- equal opportunities
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- respect family time
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- celebrate diversity and cater to the different needs of team members
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- a positive work culture through collaboration and cooperation, and less judgement.
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- Be sensitive to the specific needs of employees.
Above all, as a leader you must embody these values and respect them to command respect from your team.
Once these values start to exist outside of boardrooms and conference halls, or manuals and circulars, the organisation will become a beacon of hope for working mothers, where mothers feel welcome on all days, not just on Mother’s day.
Ask yourselves, if you and your organisation truly embody these values, and have been empathetic towards the working moms. Or are you too a part of those teams, where inclusion is only for celebration at annual events.
If working mothers get their due at workplace, in terms of a conducive culture, it will create a ripple effect that will reflect on the organisation too.
And above all, there will be no need for a heartbroken top performer to write the following lines, when constantly being judged:
