Building an Inclusive Organization


As you know, in a global workforce, people bring with them different work habits and cultural practices. People are constantly moving across borders, into and out of different countries. Employees’ and customers’ national cultures are constantly dictating the appropriateness of particular situations and behaviors. Because of this, there is a great need to be inclusive in our workplaces, and this need to be inclusive requires everyone to “get it right the first time.” A cultural slip can have dire effects such as lost customers, severed relationships, high employee turnover, legal ramifications, and much, much more.

There are four practical reasons behind inclusivity efforts in the workplace:

  1. Increased global workplace heterogeneity
  2. Increased domestic workforce diversity
  3. The need for creative problem solving
  4. Deepening cultural self-awareness and other awareness

Business as usual is changing, and that means we have to change too. Following the words of a well-known Africa proverb, “We start at the beginning.”

Cheryl Williams