Inclusivity In The Workplace

Practice Nurse Debbie explores the topic of inclusivity in the workplace, and what healthcare providers can do to promote a healthy environment that allows inclusivity to thrive.

Hello, my name is Debbie, and today I'm going to be talking about inclusivity in the workplace.

What Is Inclusivity?

So, what does this mean? I think inclusivity would mean something different to everybody, but to me, inclusivity in the workplace is an environment that I would say promotes confidence, and belonging, and community in the workplace, so there's no form of segregation. Just having a sense of belonging, a sense of uniqueness, and you feel welcomed in that work environment.

Personally, I don't get my identity from my work or my job, but it's nice to know that I'm in environment that respects my identity, who I am, where I'm from, what I believe in, and I think that is key in inclusivity.

I'm going to be speaking about a few things that I think promotes a healthy environment for inclusivity.

Having A Voice

Number one is being able to have a voice in my workplace. I'm very happy that at least once a month we have meetings whereby clinical staff, admin staff, the reception, the logistics, and everyone else is able to come together and voice any concerns, and any changes that could be made.

Everybody’s voice is respected; we go around in a circle and everybody's able to speak as opposed to one person is speaking for the whole clinical team or one person is speaking for all the admin team. Everybody's able to say something.

Then on top of that, we also have nursing meetings where we're able to discuss with the nurses, the healthcare assistants, and the pharmacists, the things that we may deal with differently to everyone else in the practice.

And I think that makes me feel heard, it makes me know that I've got a voice and a say in the things that happen in the practice, as opposed to you blink one day and something has changed. Instead, it's a decision that we're all able to make together.

A Sense Of Belonging

Another thing that I would say is just something as small as having my name on the door, that gives me a sense of belonging that this is my room, this is where I see my patients, and I think it's very helpful.

I mean, everybody's got their name on the door, from the pharmacist, the nurses, the doctors, of course, and just something as small as that just brings a sense of welcoming and just belonging.

Inclusivity would mean something different to everybody, but to me, inclusivity in the workplace is an environment that promotes confidence and community… Just having a sense of belonging, a sense of uniqueness, and you feel welcomed in that work environment.

Considering Equality Vs Equity

Another thing that I would say that is important with inclusivity, and this is something that I read somewhere recently, was about equity and equality.

Equality speaks of looking at everybody together and saying, "Okay, this is everybody's lot equally. Everybody gets 10," for example. Whereas equity speaks on looking at each person's circumstance, looking at each person uniquely and individualistically, looking at their character, looking at what they need, and giving them what they need according to their situation. And I think that is key.

So, when it comes to things like pay rises, it's not a case of “okay, it's across the board”. I know some people, they would like that, they'd rather that. But I think equity is more important because you can look at the person, look at what they've done, look at what they do, look at their lifestyle, and be able to say, "Okay, this is what this person needs."

Doesn't matter what's happening to X, Y, and Z, but this is what this person needs holistically, uniquely, this is what they need. I think that is key to inclusivity because it makes you feel, as an individual, that you are being seen and heard yet again.

Meeting Individual Training Needs

Another thing that I think is important, for inclusivity, is making sure, and this goes back to equity and equality, and feeling heard, is that there's certain training needs that I would need that somebody else wouldn't need. And being afforded that opportunity to train in a certain way as opposed to somebody else does it, you don't need to train for that.

I remember I've been in situations like that myself where thankfully I've always been on the favored side, whereby I've wanted to train for something and someone else can't train for that because no, there's another department for that.

I remember when I was working as a healthcare assistant and I wanted to go on the phlebotomy course, and thankfully I was chosen to go on the course. But many people discouraged me and said, "Oh, they won't pick you for the course because I've tried before and I haven't been allowed because we don't do phlebotomy in this department," (phlebotomy meaning taking blood).

I was thinking to myself, for my own personal development and going forward in the future, I would like to learn how to take bloods. I can put it on my CV when I'm going to the next place.

And I think being afforded opportunity to train, to learn is a very important when it comes to being in the workforce and feeling included, feeling like you matter and your training needs matter.

Conclusion

So, I think putting all these things together, and there's so many things out there, and again I think inclusivity means something different to anybody, but I think one important thing with inclusivity is that you feel like you matter, and you're not just hired, but you feel included.

I hope this video helps.

If you're an employer or an employee, it's very important that wherever you're working, you feel safe, you feel among, you feel welcomed, you feel confident, you feel comfortable in that work environment.

Thank you.