Multiple belongings and experience in the company: how can we enhance them? This is the question that stimulated the conversation between Flavio Fabiani, Elena Crudo (Peoplerise) and Sergio Caredda in the live broadcast of Let’s Peoplerise with….
Very often we identify the concept of diversity with only one lens, which may be the lens of gender, rather than the lens of sexual orientation, the lens of disability or the lens of age, for example. In reality, each of us belongs to different ‘attributes’ that make up our individual uniqueness.
And this has a very important impact in organisations: very often, we focus on the external aspects, but multiple belonging to the organisation also means belonging to a professional family, for example._S. Caredda
A view that integrates the meaning of multiple belongings on a personal level with that undertaken in the context of organisations.
The theme of multiple belonging brings us back to the concept of intersectionality, understood as the way in which different biological, social and cultural categories (such as gender, ethnicity, social class, disability, sexual orientation, religion, age, nationality, neurodivergence, and others) interact at different levels. This influences individual experiences in terms of discrimination, oppression or privilege. These characteristics drive the way individuals perceive and interpret the space they inhabit.
An intersectional view is therefore crucial to understand the complexity of individual identities within organisations.
What are the practical implications of the co-existence of multiple belongings?
The co-existence of multiple belongings in organisations requires us to refocus the way in which a company is organised. This perspective challenges certain facets, that have been the only ones possible until recently.
- The first practical implication is the need to rethink the design of the organisation. Organisations must be thought of as an enabling space for alternative thinking to majority thinking. The construction of different spaces has pragmatic implications on organisational arrangements. These must be observed and designed so that they become places of growth and freedom for all people, where creativity can emerge in order to improve processes. This aspect is beginning to take hold through the school of Human Relations or through concepts such as emotional intelligence. Thus, aspects that have been previously confined outside of the professional sphere, become now central and needto find a suitable place of expression.
- To do this, it is essential to work on a second aspect of transformation: evolving managerial skills. Whereas the managerial role used to be purely vertical and specialised (technical), today it is necessary to develop skills in a transversal manner. This requires the development of a strong competence in valuing differences. Only if the competence and responsibility to create enabling spaces for thinking become widespread can diversity policies be successful. An evidence of successful diversity policies is the presence of teams characterised by the intersection of multiple affiliations. Heterogeneous teams also become more functional, because they collect multiple points of view.
- These two first steps foster an inclusive and cohesive organisational culture that respects the uniqueness of each individual, recognises and values different affiliations and identities, and actively promotes diversity and inclusion as core values. This culture not only improves employee motivation and engagement, but also serves as a foundation for sustainable and innovative organisational performance. The challenge is to maintain consistency between the values promoted by the organisation and the everyday practices within the company, while transposing these cultural values and practices to different international contexts. How? By promoting open dialogue, by creating safe spaces for sharing experiences and by implementing policies that recognise and support the people’s diverse needs in organisations.
- Finally, one aspect that should not be underestimated is the meaning that people give to their work: it is not the same for everyone. Some people may strongly believe in the organizational purpose. Others, not identifying with a meaningful purpose, may consider work as a means of subsistence. They may volunteer somewhere else, because that is where they are better able to exploit certain aspects of their belonging. All this is part of the richness that they bring into organisations and that we must somehow protect. Therefore, observing and accommodating these differences also allows management to treat with respect the choice of bringing only some of one’s affiliations into the company.
Perspectives on multiple memberships and intersectionality
To value multiple memberships, the organisation must approach reality with a critical eye. The aim is to move away from the typical engineering approach, which until recently has characterised most companies.
It is important to integrate different lenses, to avoid acting on memberships independently and in silos. A simplistic approach would fail to grasp the complexity and intersectionality among belongings that are mutually connected.
A gaze aimed at grasping the intersectionality between memberships allows to limit a direct approach to only measuring representations in the population. Thus, simplifying the gaze enables to recognise each person for who they are and how they fit into the organisational context.
Who is the guarantor of diversity? The role of the diversity manager
The role of the diversity manager must be vertical in order to pay proper attention to diversity and the resources dedicated to crucial issues such as inclusion and diversity management. However, it cannot be the sole figure responsible for and guardian of diversity and inclusion. The tendency to isolate responsibility for diversity management in a single figure or department may, in fact, not always be effective. This approach may lead to less significant results compared to when diversity issues are more widely integrated and shared across all levels of responsibility.
Through their role, therefore, a diversity manager’s aim must be to provide the tools for all management to work on diversity inclusion. This commitment translates into inclusive leadership practices on a daily basis, continuous training and the development of an organisational culture that values diversity in all its forms. In this way, specialisation, in integration with other specialisations, acquires its full potential value.
The manager’s role is to value the uniqueness of people, because every contribution these people make in the team and at work is worthwhile as unique.
_S. Caredda
📍 Continue by watching the live video: link
📍 Learn more about DEIB
DEIB: come viene sperimentata in Arsenalia Group? with Marta Calabretto
