The Business of We

Encouraging diversity by recruiting and promoting different profiles can only be a first step. One must go on to ensure that all categories of employees, each with their singularities, can flourish in the company—the very goal of inclusion policies. This is the main message of the book The Business of We. Its starting premise is that a badly managed diversity policy runs the risk of not keeping its promises. The idealized melting pot then gives way to communitarianism, creative confrontations of ideas turn into latent conflicts, and discriminations undermine feelings of equity and belonging.

To avoid these hazards, the author calls for good intentions to be confronted to the realities of the workings of human groups. Identity-based antagonisms (“us” against “them”) exist and need to be taken into account, without naivety. Laura Kriska suggests acting on three levels—individual, organizational and symbolic (office layout, signage, etc.). She also advises differentiating our approach according to five typical attitudes within the majority group, from those who are indifferent to those who actively resist because they feel threatened, including those who support inclusion initiatives in principle, but don’t know how to help in practice.

A useful method in change accompaniment and intercultural management.