_This opinion piece was written by Kavita Hansla, UK Civil Service Fast Stream.
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If I had a penny for every time I saw the words “diversity” and “inclusion” on social media, I would be a multimillionaire. Over recent decades, the importance of these buzzwords has snowballed — but the way we talk about them can often make them seem a novelty.

My real hope is that the age of viewing diversity and inclusion as a “checkbox” is well over and that people all across the world are playing their part in making a difference — closing the gap between what is being said and what is being done.

Giving others a voice

It was around this time last year for National Inclusion Week 2017 that I jumped on the social media bandwagon and decided to live up to my own name — Kavita means poetry in Hindi — to lead the UK Government's first independent poetry project.

The project was based on a poem I wrote about diversity and inclusion in the civil service. For me, the transformation from written poem to poetry film came about after the realisation that no matter what we are talking about, everyone wants to know that they are seen, heard and belong. And that was exactly my intention with the video.

It’s thanks to the UK Civil Service and Apolitical that this message was received both at home in the United Kingdom and in over 100 countries across the globe. What was clear was that this poem resonated with people from across all walks of life, because the messaging was consistent with and was amplified by the 31 brave members of staff across government who were filmed speaking words from the poem each. The power was quite literally in giving people a voice.

My voice

I’m a British Asian woman, born and raised near Heathrow in London, where for the past 26 years planes have the provided the soundtrack to my life. I went to state school and then on to study chemistry at university. Soon after leaving, I stumbled across government work, and here I am three years later, on the UK Civil Service Fast Stream, an accelerated leadership program which offers people the unique opportunity to impact society around us.

Society in all its magnificence and glory paints a very complex picture today. It’s a picture that is very hard to draw on and regularly update, which begs the question: how is this accounted for in policy that affects our tomorrow? This is why the UK Civil Service is so keen, as are many other countries, to have workforces that reflect the society they serve.

When diversity is rich, inclusion cannot afford to be poor

To explain the importance of diversity, I use the analogy of a toolbox. Imagine trying to help a friend that has a leaking roof with a toolbox that only contains 50 versions of the same exact type of hammer. Yes, you have tools to use but you don’t necessarily have the right variety to be able to do the job effectively.

Now imagine a toolbox that is full of many different tools, across all shapes and functions — well, you’d be in a much stronger position to face the majority of problems. This type of toolbox on the scale of an organisation as large as the Civil Service is so crucial.

But it is when diversity is rich, inclusion cannot afford to be poor. This means that while the science is getting the right people through the door, the art is in making sure the mix works well. Following on from the toolbox analogy, inclusion would be having the knowledge of how to bring the best out of each and every tool in the box.

Over the next 12 months following the release of my poetry project, I created opportunities to mentor diverse interns, spoke to hundreds of young leaders at receptions about my experience of diversity and inclusion and ran workshops and away days to encourage inclusive thinking at work.

The consistent theme among diversity, inclusion and poetry is the power of telling a story through feeling

For National inclusion Week 2018, I received not only support from the UK Civil Service, but a platform to run two of my first ever workshops on how to use poetry to talk about everyday inclusion in the workplace. Much like with diversity and inclusion, poetry comes in many different forms — none of which are more superior than others, just different. And the consistent theme among diversity, inclusion and poetry is the power of telling a story through feeling.

In the workshops, we listed the barriers to diversity and inclusion across different groups and talked about how these barriers make people feel, using words like unconnected, unvalued and alone. We then listed all of the inclusive actions we would take in our everyday lives, such as organising socials at lunch as well as outside of work, using inclusive language and adding subtitles to videos to communicate to all audiences. Our aim was to transform these feelings to connected, valued and together.

I was blown away by the power of the poems written, an example of which I published in a recent blog, all of which had the underlying message that when diverse skills and experiences are harnessed, we all have the opportunity to make a difference. This is what is happening for me, and it is fantastic to see that the UK Civil Service has pledged to continue this work in its mission to be the UK’s most inclusive employer by 2020.

Differences are the one thing we all have in common

We need to celebrate our differences — after all, our differences are the one thing we all have in common. So please do consider the next time you are influencing policy or decisions in your everyday work whether you understand the needs of the people it will impact.

If not, take the chance to invite others to join the conversation. We need to be conscious that the actions we take today affect our tomorrow, our next week and next year. — Kavita Hansla

(Picture credit: Pixabay)