The Inclusion Maturity Model

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Shannon Layton, Marketing Executive

It is imperative that employers build a solid and sustainable culture of inclusion and belonging.

Although organizations are investing more than ever before in creating more diverse and inclusive workplaces, many are at the start of that journey and finding their way. 

Everyone has a part to play in creating a truly inclusive and welcoming culture of equity. One of the biggest challenges facing any organization when developing its people, is to make sure any learning whether in a digital or face-to-face setting, is transferred into their day-to-day roles. It is only through this application that any learning becomes effective and you get a return on your investment.

The Inclusion Maturity Model

To help organizations understand where they are in their inclusion journey, we’ve brought together a simple diagnostic tool – the Inclusion Maturity Model. 

Developed in partnership with The Centre for Inclusive Leadership, it will first assess your reasons for looking at inclusion, where you sit on your journey, and help you take the right next step toward a highly principled and performing organization. 

After thirty years of conversations with multiple organizations, we have found that there tend to be seven reasons that have brought them to the inclusion agenda.  You will receive a score from 1-7, which we call ‘The Seven Why’s’. These cover 3 stages: Transacting, Transitioning, and Transforming.

1. Passive – There doesn’t appear to be any burning driver that brings you to the agenda.
2. Pressurized –  A high-profile incident or a number of complaints internally may have forced your hand to make a change.
3. Placating – Your interest in the inclusion agenda has been driven by both internal and external optics to prove you are not unresponsive to the issues of systemic inequality.
4. Pragmatic – You’re driven by concern over legislation, and optics, or have had to deal with some increasingly uncomfortable conversations.
5. Paranoid – You’re paranoid about simply fixing your diversity metrics as a way to demonstrate that you’re in the business of service and good.
6. Principled – You’re driven by a fundamental belief that workplace inclusion is the critical success factor for any people-centric business.
7. Passionate – You’re driven by the WHY of inclusion which informs your behaviors, cultural artifacts, core values, and the basic assumptions that tell us who you are.

Ready to take the diagnostic?

Designed for internal L&D or HR team members, it will take you around 10 minutes to complete. We’ll ask questions about your organization and your people. 

When you’ve finished you’ll have instant access to information about your score, and receive helpful resources and recommendations on how you can move on to the next step. 

Learning Pool and The Centre for Inclusive Leadership can also provide you with specific feedback on where you currently rank, what you might look to improve first, and how we can help you on your journey.

Your response is personal to you and we won’t ever publish anyone’s individual diagnosis.

Take the diagnostic now