Introduction
Inclusion is said to be the action of including. Moreover, its meanings include enclosing and comprehending. In inclusion, individuals are committed to inclusive and non-discriminatory practices. Inclusion is an organizational practice and effort according to which different groups of people and different individuals having different backgrounds and diverse cultural norms and values are socially accepted and treated equally.
The differences can be of different types; they may be due to religion, race, ethnicity, gender, age, origin, country, marital status, etc. These differences could also be due to educational background and training. Moreover, they could include an individual’s nature, such as being introverted or extroverted. Inclusion is said to be the sense of belonging. This sense makes employees feel respected and valued so that they feel like members of a group or company. Having this sense, people can feel a high level of supportive energy, which makes them work harder and better to achieve their mutual goal. Inclusion makes people feel valued and motivated toward work; they are told that they are an important factor in the success of the company. Evidence shows that when people are valued by the company, they feel valued and motivated; thus, they work at full capacity and feel like members of the organization’s mission. A culture like this helps increase the performance of employees to the maximum (Roberson, Ryan, Ragins, 2017).
Diversity is said to be a dimension that is used to differentiate between different groups and people. In short, it is all about empowering employees by valuing everything that makes them different from others, whether the factor of difference is age, ethnicity, culture, religion, gender, or anything else.
Diversity helps in exploring the dimensions of differences in a positive way. It consists of completely understanding one another and ensuring that the values of each and every individual are safe (Hunt, Layton, Prince, 2015).
Diversity is said to be the condition of being composed of different elements. The meaning of the word diversity is variety. Specifically, diversity is the inclusion of different types of people having different races and cultures.
Diversity and inclusion are a challenge for any organization, specifically for those organizations where the culture previously was less diverse and authoritative. Treating all employees fairly can maximize employee productivity.
Analysis
The true goal of any organization in diversity activities is to grow and raise the specific population in order to effectively collect the maximum advantage of the diverse nature of people. Organizations that hire diverse kinds of employees are said to be more successful than the ones that hire more particular kinds of employees (Downey et al., 2015). Diversity is the key to success because having different kinds of employees or having employees with different cultural backgrounds means having more ideas and solutions to problems because people of different natures tend to solve problems in their own ways, which sometimes makes it easier to identify the best idea. Problem-solving is very easy when using this perspective. Organizations with diverse kinds of employees are more likely to be successful at driving the company forward and increasing innovation. We can analyze cultural inclusion and diversity by going through different TV ads.
A brand named H&M advertised its product in a very racist way: a black kid was wearing a hoodie with “Coolest Monkey in the Jungle” written on it, and this ad raised many voices. Celebrities from all over the world pointed out this racist fact and showed anger at this terrible act. The brand then apologized to everyone, removing the picture from all H&M channels. The brand was further asked to give a statement: “We agree with all the criticism that has been generated; we got this wrong, and we know it and agree on it. We appreciate the support of those who have seen our product images, and the promotion was not intended to cause anyone offense.”
Another Ad On TV Showed This Racist Aspect
After H&M got dragged for publishing an image of a black kid with the word monkey written on it, Amazon also became part of the criticism over the slogan “Slavery gets shit done.” People were so annoyed by this ad that they were offended, and the product was reported by several people as an unethical way of marketing products and raising racism among people. An Amazon spokesperson said about the marketplace sellers, “The market sellers must follow the guidelines for selling, and those who do not follow the strategies will be subjected to account termination.” The post was removed from Amazon’s website, and the products in question are not available anymore. Unfortunately, the internet never forgets such things.
Many human rights organizations complained to Amazon about the insensitive nature of the online retail stores.
Another ad became subject to criticism; the brand name is Wycon, which recently released a gel nail polish shade into the market. The shade was called “Think as Nigga,” as this shade was black. Other similar brand products were named “Lap Girl” and “Dirty Talk,” but the black shade portrayed a very negative racist impact on the environment.
After being caught, the brand renamed the products with just numbers; each shade was assigned a different number. The brand never apologized for the shade name and just said, “Sorry you felt that way.” The company was not sorry for the act it committed; it just portrayed the message that the consumers got it wrong.
Another brand named Shea Moisture made a commercial for a hair care product. The ad showed three women, one black and two white; the white women had blond and red hair. The black woman is shown talking about how people in the past used to make fun of her due to her hair. The ad continued with the two white women, who were also grieved about their hair in the past. Some black women felt that Shea Moisture was turning its back on black women. This ad was subject to huge criticism, as black women usually have much thicker and kinkier hair than the women in the ad.
There is another brand that portrayed racism in the market; the brand is named Dove. The ad showed a black woman wearing a brown shirt. The woman then pulled the shirt over her head and turned into a white woman in a beige shirt; this ad portrayed the idea that the woman had become cleaner by using Dove.
This was a very negative message to the market, showing that black girls are not clean. After this act, Dove apologized and removed the offensive ad from the site.
There was another TV commercial that became very controversial in terms of racism. A company named Qiaobi showed an ad in 2016; it released a commercial in which the blackness is washed out of a man. In short, a black man whistles at an Asian woman; the man has white paint marks on his face.
The woman gives an indication to come closer and pulls the black man toward her as if she’s going to kiss him. But she pulls him into the washing machine with the detergent in it, and after some time, a white man comes out of the washing machine. This ad showed the racist idea that the detergent was able to wash the blackness out of the man. Qiaobi then apologized for the ad and removed it from the site. The ad was removed after running on TV for a month.
Many other big companies like Apple, Starbucks, and Marriott are also practicing the rules of diversity and inclusion. They mention their diversity as a main cause of success; they hire people of every nation and religion in order to capture the maximum number of ideas. They feel proud to mention their diversity as an important aspect of their workplace culture.
Strategies For Changing And Creating Conditions For Work Inclusion And Participation.
There are several strategies that are favorable in making the work environment favorable to diversity and inclusion (Benschop et al., 2015). First of all, if the organization has successfully modified the process of recruiting new employees and its hiring practices to capture a more diverse range of employees and audiences, the step after that is to engage them and support them as its own employees.
The following are the steps that are involved in making the most suitable environment for employees to support diversity:
- The workplace culture
- Diversity training
- Mentoring
Describe How You Will Implement Them.
When employees feel that they cannot be themselves at the workplace, they will not bind themselves to the team and will not work effectively and efficiently on the tasks they are assigned. In order to integrate them thoroughly into the work environment, the company culture should be designed in such a way that it favors employees’ commitment and consent; moreover, it should also value employees’ views and nature (Davis, Frolova, Callahan, 2016). Leaders play an important role in developing the organization’s culture and leading it toward diversity and inclusion. There should be a proper mechanism for feedback as well as open communication. Everything should be transparent, and all employees should respect the norms and values. There should also be an educational approach for this purpose; people’s fears should be addressed through education about diversity.
Conclusion
To conclude, the actual goal of any organization in diversity activities is to grow and raise the specific population in order to effectively collect the maximum advantage of the diverse nature of people. Organizations should hire diverse kinds of employees in order to be more successful than those that hire more particular kinds of employees (Nkomo, Hoobler, 2014). Diversity and inclusion are a challenge for any organization, specifically for those organizations where the culture previously was less diverse and authoritative. Treating all employees fairly can maximize their productivity. Diversity is the key to success because having different kinds of employees or having employees with different cultural backgrounds means having more ideas and solutions to problems because people of different natures tend to solve problems in their own ways, which sometimes makes it easier to identify the best idea. Problem-solving is very easy when using this perspective. Diversity in the workplace is very important not just for employees but also for the good of companies. With a diverse working environment, everyone will work open-mindedly with their colleagues. Moreover, a diverse working environment can benefit the workers and help the company grow faster and become more successful. Companies compete with other companies and bring in new customers by making their companies diverse and inclusive.
References
Benschop, Y., Holgersson, C., Van den Brink, M. and Wahl, A., 2015. Future challenges for practices of diversity management in organizations. Handbook for Diversity in Organizations, Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp. 553-574.
Davis, P.J., Frolova, Y. and Callahan, W., 2016. Workplace diversity management in Australia: what do managers think and what are organisations doing?. Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, 35(2), pp. 81-98.
Downey, S.N., Werff, L., Thomas, K.M. and Plaut, V.C., 2015. The role of diversity practices and inclusion in promoting trust and employee engagement. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 45(1), pp. 35-44.
Hunt, V., Layton, D. and Prince, S., 2015. Diversity matters. McKinsey & Company, 1, pp. 15-29.
Nkomo, S. and Hoobler, J.M., 2014. A historical perspective on diversity ideologies in the United States: Reflections on human resource management research and practice. Human Resource Management Review, 24(3), pp. 245-257.
Roberson, Q., Ryan, A.M. and Ragins, B.R., 2017. The evolution and future of diversity at work. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), p. 483.
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