Inclusion in business sounds like a great goal for small service based business owners, but what does it actually mean? Inclusion is both and intention and an action. But before any intentions are to be set there’s something else that needs to be done first.
The first step to inclusion in business
Yes, you’re socially conscious and you’re aware that there’s social injustice in society and within the service-based business industry too. Being conscious of the marginalisation and social inequities is not enough to inform you on how your business can be inclusive. You need to find out what problems are being faced by marginalised people in your industry and what can be done to counter act it with intentional equitability, accessibility, and safety.
So, how do you know the best, most impactfully inclusive thing you can do in your business is? You listen to the source. The marginalised people who are experiencing the exclusion first hand.
Listen to what they’re saying the problem and listen to what they are saying is the solutions to those problems. At the end of the day, there’s no way business owners can know or understand the lived experiences of marginliased people with all the complexities and nuances that life brings when they come into contact with businesses.
The people closest to the problem are the closest to the solutions and we would be naïve to think we could possibly know better than someone who experiences marginalisation and exclusion first-hand.
Finding marginalise people who are speaking about the how businesses exclude their community, listening to them will give you the information you need to move into the next stage of setting inclusive intentions for your business.
Inclusion as an intention in business
Inclusive intentions are part of the inclusive business equation. Inclusive intentions are when you think about and consider marginalised people when imagining or forming any kind of ides in business. It’s the contemplation of how to have a welcoming, accepting and safe space in every facet business. It’s can be there when you’re creating a form, when you’re building a course, when you’re facilitating a group, or when you’re designing a conference, summit, or retreat.
The need to be inclusive by considering the needs of marginalised people, the obstacles they may be facing, or the safety risks that may threaten them in your business space, must be done in the creation stage. Having listened to marginalised peoples voices before first will guide you to the best and most effective inclusive business intentions to set.
The fact that the stories, ideas and and solutions shared by marginalised people are what’s leading your inclusive intentions, in itself is doing it in an inclusive way.
Once the inclusive intentions have been set, it’s time to move to the next step… inclusive action.
Inclusion as an action in business
Inclusive actions is when you make sure the considerations and equitable accommodations, that the marginalised community calls for, are acted on and brought into fruition. Businesses can’t be inclusive if the inclusion stops at intention. There must be inclusive action too.
Inclusion must be active in the imagination, the manifestations, and the delivery phase of business.
Inclusion must also be in place an active within your business before marginalised people are even there. This means you’ve consider marginalised people before they are in contact with your business. You are being inclusive of them by making sure there’s a space for marginalised people in your business every second of the day, and not just when they’re already accessing your business.
You’re essentially creating an inclusive business space in preparation for marginalised people. Regardless if they working with your business or not.
This is why I’m an Inclusion and Diversity Coach… Because inclusion precedes organic diversity. When done this way, it speaks volumes about your business and how you value inclusivity.
What does this mean inclusion for your unique business?
Because you’re inclusive intentions and actions are based on the many voices of marginalised people from different communities, it means that being an inclusive business is not going to look the same for every business.
Some forms or social marginalisation are location based. Some forms of inaccessibility are industry based. Some forms of inclusive solutions are income-based.
The way your business is inclusive will be unique to you and your business. If you need help determining them, please contact me via my Facebook or Instagram DM’s.
In conclusion please know: To be inclusive, marginalise people must be INCLUDED in every stage of creation and manifestation of your business processes, systems, courses, programs, events and overall services.
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