Diversity refers to the variety of people with different group identities within the same workplace. Diversity and work aren’t separate because we tend to judge the nature of workers by the gender, race, and other diversity of the people who do the work. Workplace diversity includes both employees and customers. Diversity and affirmative action are sometimes thought to be the same—but they aren’t.
Affirmative action policies are designed to improve work outcomes for underrepresented groups by providing them with extra help in the employment process. Affirmative action plans have increased the number of women and minorities in several occupations and in management and thus help promote diversity at work. Valuing diversity is broader in scope, as it doesn’t focus simply on not discriminating against diverse groups and helping only some of them, sometimes at the expense of others through reverse discrimination.
The terms diversity and inclusion are often used interchangeably, but they are different. Most organizations have moved from affirmative action to accepting differences to valuing diversity to inclusion—valuing all types of diversity, which includes integrating everyone to work together while maintaining their differences. Inclusion is a practice of ensuring that all employees feel they belong as valued members of the organization.
An inclusive value system creates a sense of belonging: a feeling of being respected, being valued for who you are; feeling a level of supportive energy and commitment from others so that everyone can do their best work. To be inclusive, we all need to empathize with everyone—put ourselves in their shoes and try to understand where they are coming from and accept them for who they are rather than reject them or try to make them into who we want them to be—just like us.