Miguel Gurrola and Egbert Schram point out some guiding principles that can help you to gain more clarity around Diversity and Inclusion.

1. The reality currently found within
organizations presents great challenges to
succeed in the market place. One of them has
to do with “D&I” in an interconnected and
interdependent global environment. While
this is an aspect widely talked about in recent
years, it is still a challenging topic that leaders
want to understand better in order to deliver
results while inspiring their teams in a world
that is complex and full of paradoxes.
When we talk about “Diversity and Inclusion”
within an organization we refer to the people
who interact with each other in order to
achieve results. Organizations want to take
advantage of the Human Capital they poses
in a more effective way. Additionally, those
people want to contribute to achieve Business
results in a respectful environment where they
can deploy their potential, learn and grow in an
integral way.
Geert Hofstede, after more than four decades
of research in intercultural management says:
“the world is full of confrontations between
individuals, groups and nations who think, feel
and act differently. At the same time these
individuals, groups and nations are exposed to
common problems that require cooperation in
order to be solved”.
Hofstede’s proposal sounds very reasonable.
In order to understand the different ways
in which organizational leaders and their
followers think, feel and act in the geographies
where the organizations operate, you need to
find the right solutions to the challenges they
face. Ignoring this important principle carries
a high probability of failure of “D&I” strategies
within organizations.
Diversity and Inclusion “D&I” in a Global Business Environment
By Miguel Gurrola & Egbert Schram
The reason is very simple: people can’t isolate
themselvesfromtheglobalinfluenceatwork.
Focusing only on what’s local is the prelude to
professional failure at the personal, team and
organizational levels, that is why developing
a management mindset with an intercultural
mentality which takes advantage of “D&I”
represents not only a competitive advantage,
but also a greater ability to adapt with
less resistance and waste of energy to the
challenges of current organizational world.
The link between “D&I” and Culture in a
broader sense is one of the major challenges
that Leaders are facing. Culture is defined
by Hofstede as “the collective programming
of the human mind by which one group
differs from another group”. Its impact is
influential in people that are supposed to
work together for a common purpose. As
cultural differences manifest themselves in
several ways: symbols, heroes, rituals and
values, it is important to develop the know-
how and competence to optimize different
ways of thinking, feeling and acting in the
Organizational environment to achieve a
competitive advantage in the market place.
However, companies often make the mistake
of assuming that people from around the
world are motivated by the same things
when in practice; motivating factors are
quite different from one culture to another.
Let’s remark that business leaders have a say
on all this. There is so much to learn about
this topic, which is why it is very important
to understand that people having diverse
perspectives are a great source of learning
and development for business leaders; an

2. asset to build strategies in a more systemic
way and a unique source of collaboration
to deliver greater results. So it really makes
business sense to check the fit between “D&I”
and Culture. Without a clear picture about it, it
is easy to loose focus and impact.
If we become more specific about the impact
that Organizational Culture has on “D&I”, it is
very important to get a clear picture on you
where you stand: Are you diverse enough? Are
you similar enough? Geert Hofstede and Bob
Waisfisz define Organizational Culture as the
way in which the members of an organization
relatestoeachother,theirworkandtheoutside
world in comparison to other organizations.
When an organizational leader understands
this, his/her effectiveness is higher.
Let’s take the following example considering
two dimensions in Hofstede’s Organizational
Culturemodel:Inaworkingenvironmentwhere
thereisaverystrongworkdisciplineorientation
(alotofcontrolanddiscipline;surprisesandthe
need to improvise are avoided) combined with
a very local orientation (people identify with
the boss and/or the unit in which one works;
Strong social control, be like us) this specific
combination give us objective elements to
say that in such an Organizational Culture, the
likelihood that “Diversity and Inclusion” is a
threat is high. The next step is to visualize the
external restrictions that might influence why
people identify strongly with their immediate
boss; in an SWAT team or army unit this kind
of behavior is more functional then it is in a law
firm.
In other words, certain existing factors within
and around yourOrganizationalCulture can be
strong enablers or inhibitors to achieve desired
behavior.
One of our Polish clients had similar challenges
to become more competitive. Here are some
questions which can help to get a wider
perspective around the topic, for example:
++ How can you take advantage of
professionals coming from other
countries?
++ How to make sure that Polish
professionals are able to succeed in a
highly competitive environment?
++ How to build a highly motivated diverse
workforce capable of working together
in cross border projects?
++ How to become more competitive in a
global business environment and win
tenders across borders?
Building intercultural capabilities together
with other ones such as Business Acumen,
Managerial Effectiveness, learning agility,
etc. will help leaders to increase their
competitiveness and ultimately, their market
value.
Here you have some guiding principles that
can help you to gain more clarity around this
important topic:
1. Make sure you have a well-thought-out
“D&I” strategy, one that is articulated, well
connected with your Organizational Culture,
easy to understand and supported by the
members of the organization at all levels.
Dialogue and consensus among leaders is
critical, since the success of such a strategy
will depend to a great degree on those
factors.There is a lot of information and there
are tools and methodologies for “Diversity
and Inclusion” from reputable sources. Make
sure to have a clear understanding of the
enablers and inhibitors of to build a diverse
and engaging work environment where all
people deliver greater results.
2. Be focused and disciplined to achieve a
successful implementation of your strategy
with a focus on continuous improvement and

3. learning. Carry out continuous measurements
and make any necessary adjustments. Be
honest about what works well, what does not
work well and what can be done differently,
without losing sight of the fact that every
process should lead to concrete impacts.
Consistency is the name of the game.
3. Build a supportive organizational culture
where diversity is appreciated at all levels of
the organization, developing competencies,
skills and knowledge according to the roles of
the actors along this process. It’s important not
to underestimate the effort that is required in
ordertoimplementaneffective“D&I”strategy.
Educating people on this topic is a key success
factor.
4. Find a balance between business goals and
leadership support to your “D&I” strategy.
Makesurethatthereisatruedialoguebetween
leaders and employees in order to establish
development goals and realistic expectations
around this important topic.
5. Capitalize on cultural differences and make
diversity a competitive advantage. There
are cultural diagnosis tools coming from
Hofstede’s research, used by all certified itim
international associate partners that can help
increase the effectiveness of your organization
with an intercultural approach.
6. Learn from successful organizations what
you wish to achieve. Be curious to learn
best practices within and outside of the
organization. An open mind and openness are
needed to accept that others can do things
better than we can.
These are some of the aspects that should be
considered. For more information contact us
at info@itim.org
The Authors
Itim International improves the effectiveness
of Talent Management Strategies in
Organizations. Our unique research based
tools and methodologies in both National and
Organizational Culture help organizations to
manage Talent Management Strategies in a
more effective way.
www.itim.org
Miguel Gurrola
itim International
About itim International
Egbert Schram
itim International