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The ABC of DEI - Diversity Equity and Inclusion
The ABC of DEI - Diversity Equity and Inclusion

October 11, 2022

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Read this short anecdote on a person named Rajesh. He is a person with autism. He is a qualified, hardworking and sincere professional. While Rajesh was hired based on his competencies, he could not be retained in his job for long. Why do you think that a person such as him, who was professionally no less competent than his peers was not able to be retained by the organisation? A few questions come to mind.

Could it be because of his disability?

Could it be because he was unable to keep up with the work?

What could have possibly led him to quit the workplace?

A deep dive conversation with the HR explained Rajesh’s exit in just two words. Unconscious bias.

What is unconscious bias?

On his first day, Rajesh went up to his designated work floor. His co-workers knew someone new was joining but they were also told about his disability. As a result, their automatic response towards him was of assuming him to be intellectually compromised or less competent. This is what we call unconscious bias. This unconscious bias led to discrimination at the workplace towards him because employees did not know how to be around him or treat him. Assuming effects of his condition without being properly trained or sensitised to it led to Rajesh feeling excluded and unwelcomed. In such a situation, his best option was to quit and find something more inclusive.

What was the reason for such a behaviour? Did they intentionally do it or were they just unaware? Did they mean to hurt Rajesh or were they ignorant? It is highly likely that ignorance was the reason.

The ABC of DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) at the workplace

Situations like the one Rajesh & his colleagues (who were persons without disability) face can be overcome using 3 simple steps that I call the ABC of DEI.

A stands for Awareness and Education, B stands for Building Behavioural Change and C stands for Creating Transformational Impact.

In my experience, many organisations who are keen & committed to improve their DEI Quotient directly jump to C with a grand vision to create impact while often overlooking A & B.

At the start of, let’s say a PwD Hiring intervention, many enterprises start the DEI Journey with C. They set aggressive targets to hire a certain number of PwD’s. Recruitment also happens with vigour. However, over time, retention of these PwD’s starts to pose challenges as shop floor level awareness, sensitisation education was not given the necessary attention. Using the ABC method, enterprises could surely address the root cause of the problems that prevent a workplace from being fully diverse and inclusive.

A for Awareness and Education

Ignorance may be bliss but not when it comes to dealing with persons with disability. The root cause of ignorance is unawareness. As children, we were repeatedly educated about traffic rules and road safety. We were told every day that while crossing the road, we need to look towards both sides and then cross. If we didn’t do it, we were told the consequences, how those consequences would affect us and change our life. In a similar fashion, by educating the employees on basic rights of persons with disabilities, the condition, the challenges PwD’s face and what we can do to make the workplace more inclusive for PwD’s is the first step in D&I training. Any awareness begins with education.

B for Behavioural Change

After being told about road safety and traffic rules, we were able to implement those in our day-to-day life. Now, as adults, we look left and right before crossing the road. This is behavioural change that is a direct result of education and awareness. By educating our employees on persons with disabilities and making them aware, we are creating enablers to behavioural change. Behavioural change among persons without Disabilities is the cornerstone of diversity and inclusion at the workplace.

C for Creating Transformational Impact

When employees are educated about persons with disabilities, they become aware and sensitive towards them. This enables an organisation to ensure that the workplace is sincerely diverse and inclusive. Such behavioural changes go a long way in normalising diversity and inclusion as a part and parcel of work life. Discrimination finds no place in such an environment and discriminatory attitude becomes an outlier. This is what helps create a transformational impact across society leading it to be more diverse and inclusive towards persons with disability.

Just as a child begins learning the alphabet with ABC, employees and in fact, all non-disabled persons need the ABC of DEI as a starting point. Diversity training and inclusion must be undertaken with the larger objective of creating transformational impact driven by behavioural change brought about by awareness and education.

Start small and start with the basics. For the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

SV Krishnan

Founder & CEO – Dialogue in the Dark / Desination.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/krishnan-s-v-88434317/ 


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