There is a severe skills shortage in the Western World, driven by demographics. Clearly the talent pool needs to be deepened, but the question is how.

And it is not just a matter of recruiting talented people in all their many permutations; it is also a matter of how an organisation can create an inclusive environment and culture in which diverse people flourish and stay. Rene Nathan, Executive Coach consults to Mettle Group on Diversity in the Workplace – its not just about Gender and spoke recently on this topic at the AIM (NSW) Leadership Special Interest Group.

It is apparent to me that in order to create such an environment we need to address the obstacle of exclusion. This reveals itself in behaviours that are largely unconscious and hard wired by long social practice. These unconscious drivers of exclusion are powerful and are difficult to address and change unless they can be explained in a way that is rational, unemotional and clear. In this article I propose not only a way of ‘seeing’ the dynamics of exclusion at work, but also how organisations can address the issue and effect change in behaviours, mindset and the culture from one of exclusion to one of inclusion.

Every organisation I have observed in relation to inclusion has already identified diversity as a major focus. For most of them, this is narrowly interpreted to mean ‘women’. Ask a senior executive about diversity and the conversation soon turns to the fact that there are insufficient women in the senior ranks and on the Board. These executives are concerned that the organisation is hiring the ‘best and brightest’ (which means at least half the graduate intake is female), but that within ten years, despite the investment in training and skills development, the majority of the women will leave.

At the outset, it is necessary to reposition the focus away from just women because it diverts us from the real issue. ‘Diversity’ in these organisations in fact means inclusion of ‘other’ or ‘different’. The impact of this narrow interpretation is profound because the same organisation that has an issue with retaining senior women manifests a parallel characteristic in that it does not foster, reward or enjoy the benefits of ‘other’ or ‘different’ thinking. The issues of ‘women’ and ‘diversity’ are merely symptoms of a broader and equally important, indeed vital, issue: diversity of thought. There is increasing recognition, backed by research that inclusion, with its resulting diversity, is key to an organisation’s ability to innovate and therefore ensure its successful long term survival.