There is a podcast which I have been listening to for quite some time (almost 2 years) its been going for a lot longer and its a gem to listen to. The podcast is called the element of Inclusion.
Its been a breath of fresh air in a crowded market of Diversity & Inclusion experts., partly because of the free flow of extremely useful information in podcast format.
For example he’s boiled down a lot of mater and found 3 key elements (element of inclusion)
People
Organisations ind it difficult to engage with people that are currently being excluded “Employee resource groups directly engage employees that are underrepresented and excluded. These are the people at the Bottom of the pyramid who are being ignored”
Potential.
Organisations find it difficult to create a culture of inclusion “Employee resource groups can help to change the narrative of what it means to be a successful employee within an organisation and this is one of many things that helps to change the culture”
Performance.
Organisations find it difficult to articulate a compelling business case for diversity
A lot of the core information is usually buried deep in academic papers and dense books. As we are all now time poor, its amazing to have Dr Jonathan (Jonathan Ashong-Lamptey) read through the books and papers pulling out the wheat from the chaff, and then dicing it up into easily digestible form for all. Once you digested, you have direct links to the source material be it a book, review or a paper. This is so uncommon in a industry which keeps the source hidden away.
I do believe his mission of empowering 1 million people like me to make our workplaces more inclusive is a noble one; but also possible with the information Dr Jonathan keeps putting out.
Here’s some of the noticeable episodes I heard recently, although I would suggest starting with the 150th episode.
In this book review episode, Jonathan extracted some key parts from the book disability the basics including these 3 points.
The Disability Paradox
“There’s a perception that the lives of people with disabilities are completely undesirable, however the author said that data revealed that people with disabilities consistently report a quality of life as good as and sometimes better than people non disabled people.”
The Social Model of Disability
“some people have physical impairments, but it’s society through exclusion, through stigma, through oppression that makes people disabled”
The Thriving Disabled People’s Movement
“I was ashamed to say that I knew next to nothing about the disabled people’s movement. Described as the last liberation movement, it’s been inspired by previous movements like Civil rights”
The middle point about the social model of disability had me skipping backwards to hear it again and take it all in. Very apt for some of the neurodiverse conditions and one of those things I will always remember now.
I hadn’t really thought about this one too much till we went into lockdown for Covid19 but Dr Jonathan really made things super clear.
Why Loneliness is Misunderstood
“It’s possible to feel lonely while among other people, and you can be alone yet not feel lonely”
The Difference between Social Isolation and Loneliness
“social isolation is not loneliness and loneliness is not social isolation.
Not everyone who is socially isolated is lonely and not everyone who is lonely is socially isolated”
Why Social Exclusion May Lead to Loneliness
“If you’re an individual that is being socially excluded, ie socially isolated against your will, we don’t need the research to recognise that that person may have an unpleasant experience”
I swear by this one, and talk a lot about fireworks opposed to sustainable interventions. I also see this happen with one off training.
One Off Interventions are less likely to engage people in a meaningful way
“it’s the employees who get to see the truth, they get to see if the words and actions match up. They’re the ones you really need to buy into the narrative”
One Off Interventions are not as effective as programmes of change
“one off interventions have a smaller effect on attitudes, a smaller effect on how people feel and a smaller effect on behavioural learning compared to interventions that are part of a longer programme of change”
One Off Interventions won’t change systems of disadvantage
“It’s not always about individual behaviour, it’s about a system that reproduces existing norms and one-off interventions don’t solve that”Just these 3 are a
I always knew this to be true but Dr Jonathan armed me with some excellent case studies and data which is actionable.
Of course we didn’t actually get into the air for 45mins from Manchester, giving me no time to run across the airport through passport control with the express connection ticket and luckily catch my flight as it was also delayed and they couldn’t quite close the gate with people arriving from previous flights. Trust me it was a close call!
