By Mat Rosso, Partner, Executive Search & Talent Intelligence
Over the years, I’ve witnessed many businesses go all out during heritage or awareness months, showcasing employee stories, special panels, and Pride flags in their logos. Although these initiatives are significant, I’ve grown increasingly convinced that inclusion cannot be contained to a specific time window every year.
Every day must be dedicated to it.
I’ve also worked with teams of different sizes in my own career, from tenacious startups to well-established corporations. I have supported business expansion, led searches, and collaborated with top teams across the many areas of life sciences and technology. One thing has been extremely evident, regardless of whether I’m seated across from a CEO or an early-career hire: individuals flourish when they feel appreciated and noticed daily, not only during designated recognition months.
Rather than being seasonal, true inclusion is structural. It manifests in our hiring practices, personnel development, decision-making, and how we conduct ourselves in private. People take chances, exchange ideas, work together more freely, and eventually contribute to the expansion of the company when they feel psychologically comfortable. I have personally witnessed how much more effective a team is when different viewpoints are not only accepted but actively involved.
I’ve seen inclusive teams surpass expectations in my own work and not because of quotas or appearances, but rather because they think more clearly, challenge more critically, and innovate more quickly.
However, I have also witnessed what occurs when inclusion is viewed as an action rather than a way of thinking. It turns into a performance. People can see right through it.
- Talent with high potential departs.
- Trust is undermined.
- Culture also suffers.
The fact is that year-round inclusion is more than just a moral position. It’s advantageous for business. Businesses that make the commitment experience improved consumer and client brand equity, increased employee engagement, and stronger retention. Furthermore, research from McKinsey and Deloitte continues to demonstrate that inclusive, diverse firms routinely outperform their counterparts in terms of financial performance.
For me, however, it goes beyond measurements. It’s intimate. I’ve worked hard to create spaces where individuals felt they could fully participate and make a meaningful contribution, but I’ve also been in spaces where the same few voices dominated the debate. I understand what it’s like to be undervalued and what it is to have authority. This is the reason this job is so important to me.
When done correctly, inclusion is silent and reliable. Who gets the stretch assignment, who gets invited to the conference, and who gets the benefit of the doubt are all examples of how it permeates daily life. It is found in the laws we enact and the unwritten customs we permit to endure.
We must look past the banners and hashtags if we are to create businesses that genuinely represent the world we live in and prosper as a result. Without a doubt, let’s continue to celebrate the important months. But for the remainder of the year, let’s also work on the more profound and significant projects.
Because the culture changes and the business follows when inclusiveness becomes ingrained in our daily operations.
