Presented by Dion Chang
Diversity is about who is in the room. Inclusivity is about what each person does. In South Africa, we’ve managed to embrace diversity, but we have a long way to go to be fully inclusive.
The steady rise of identity politics has escalated issues of diversity into a demand for inclusive diversity. Social movements such as #blacklivesmatter, the #metoo and #femicide movements have, and will, continue to alter the way in which businesses function and interact with employees and consumers.
As brands prepare to engage with a more socially conscious and influential younger generation – who double up as consumers and employees – businesses will need to be mindful of the expectations, specifically of Millennials and Generation Z, with regards to inclusive diversity.
To put it simply, it’s not enough to have a representative workforce – what is important is what positions they hold. As the world of work evolves, so too will employee expectations rise, in terms of how companies embrace and recognise gender, race, ethnicity and other frames of identity and belonging. This will become pivotal in terms of luring and retaining the best talent for your workforce.
This Flux Trends trend briefing – The Importance of Inclusive Diversity in an era of Identity Politics – tracks the impact of identity politics on brands and businesses, and more importantly, why inclusive diversity is essential for the increasingly complex interpersonal dynamics of a future workforce. Businesses will no longer be able to just tick the diversity box and call it a day. They will need to ensure that their stance on diversity in the workplace is inclusive and impactful.
The Trend Briefing will expand on:
- Political Tribes and the social movements they spawned.
- Embracing a workforce that includes people with physical differences and fluid gender identities.
- Future Market: why inclusive diversity issues can make or break Gen Z and Gen Alpha brand loyalty.
- Why representative marketing matters and the dangers of “Woke Washing”.
- The impact and cost of diversity without inclusivity in the workspace.
- The pitfalls of AI bias, when your business adopts machine learning and relies on algorithms.
Who should attend:
- Anyone who understands that trends today inform business strategy: this includes executive leadership, management, marketing, media and service industries.
- Companies that search for new ways to navigate the increasingly disrupted business landscape and understand that today’s socio-cultural issues have become pivotal to business.
- Brand managers as well as PR and communication strategists.
- Anyone in HR, or heads of diversity & inclusion departments – and if your company does not have this role or division, then that’s enough reason to attend.
Aren’t you curious to see where your business fits in?
– Looking at Trends as Business Strategy-
If you are interested in booking this presentation for your team or clients please contact Bethea Clayton on connected@fluxtrends.co.za or +27764539405
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Image credit: Gallo Images/ Getty Images
