Inclusion is not complicated!

Everyone is different.

There has been an increasing buzz around the topic of “Inclusion” and the importance of this in the workplace. In my view this is simple – we should all aim to treat everyone as a unique and individual people.  Everyone has the right to feel welcome, respected and represented in the workplace.

To achieve this, it is important to acknowledge we are all different. The topic of being heterosexual / LGBT is key (an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender), these terms are used to describe a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity. This combined with our identities forms a complicated mix of factors, including: 

• Age 
• Ethnicity  
• Religion 
• Cultural background 
• Socio-economic background 
• Gender identity and gender expression  
• Sexuality 
• Physical ability  
• Any other characteristics 

Quite a broad list which reconfirms my opening statement - we are all different and we should embrace this concept openly.

As recruiters, we need to be aware of our role in being unbiased and open minded. We should strive to have a zero-tolerance policy towards any kind of discrimination and suggest the best person to our clients based on their skills, knowledge and the value they can bring to an organisation.

A good starting point is to stop and think about the wording you use on job adverts, as a client or recruiter, the adverts should be gender neutral.  Avoid pronouns such as he / she and opt for the phrases such as they / the role.  Review your job ad wording - does your current approach exclude any group with your choice of wording?  

As a professional recruiter, it is your responsibility to guide your client if you feel they are not following best practice.

Educate yourself and your teams as to why inclusion is so important to having a fair and balanced workplace where every person feels accepted and included. 

There is a vast expanse of resource available on the intranet on this topic I found the following of particular interest:

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