Workplace diversity refers to the variety of differences between people in an organization.
Far more important is the concept of inclusion in a company, because it shows whether diversity is only regarded as a nice to have or as a proper concept which is part of the company´s culture. Embracing diversity means creating a workplace in which people of all backgrounds and cultures feel included, welcomed, and valued. Inclusion involves respecting individual differences and capturing the advantages they provide.
I have been working in a tech company for four months. The whole company is organized in an agile structure, not just the developers. After my first week of team meetings and daily stand-ups I came to the conclusion that an agile work environment might be a good tool for diversity management. I had the idea that people care for my special situation, being a single mother who has strengths and weaknesses like every human being working in a company. Leading a diverse company requires a structure which allows people to unleash their potential. Most important is that the whole organisation is run by digital leadership. Diversity, like other company values, needs to be lived top down in order to work. A very good example of diversity management is the Berlin based cleaning company Forever Clean which was a client of mine for several years. From the very beginning it was part of the company culture to integrate people with disablities the same way as non- disabled workers. This concept finally lead to economic success.
The latest debate on the google manifesto written by a male google employee refered to the subject of gender diversity. Regardless of whether it was a good decision to sack the man or not, the whole discussion showed that we are only at the very beginning when it comes to the question whether inclusion really happens or not.
Now Workplace culture and company review platform Comparably has come out lately with a ranking of the top 10 tech companies for people of color, as well as the top 10 for women.
