ORIX Australia’s second diversity and inclusion live event, Culture, Curiosity and Courage, was an opportunity to focus on what it means to build a more diverse and inclusive workplace and how we can all contribute to shaping organisational culture.
Moderated by Nicky Bryson from Canon Australia, special guests included Julie Eccles, ORIX Australia’s National Manager of Small and Medium Business, Rebecca Ullman, Canon Australia’s General Manager of Services and Support, Tracy Wilson, Metcash’s General Manager of Marketing and Pooja Bhatt, Pitney Bowes’ Director of Client Relationship Management and Supply Chain ANZ. The group shared some of their seminal workplace experiences when it comes to diversity and inclusion.
As Tracy explained, inclusion allows you to bring your whole self to work. “When you do that, you’re so much happier and engaged, it allows you to achieve a better outcome.”
Rebecca Ullman agreed diversity in leadership delivers business benefits. “Diversity is much more than gender. Teams that include geographic, gender, race and age diversity make the best decisions. Moreover, inclusive companies are more likely to lead and capture new markets1.”
Pooja Bhatt explained Pitney Bowes’ laser focus on diversity is one of its biggest assets. “Diversity and inclusion can be a significant competitive advantage. We are a hundred-year-old company, and our continuous focus on diversity and inclusion has helped our organisation to become more responsive to our global clients. We’ve been able to attract the best talent. Having a diverse portfolio of leaders has helped us become more productive.”
Julie Eccles explained an experience early on in her career helped her understand how important it is to create an environment in which everyone feels safe sharing experiences and knowledge. She uses the Johari window as an example.
“It’s a window that looks at what’s known to others and known to self and what’s unknown to others and unknown to self. Introducing diversity and creating safe spaces supports an environment in which information and knowledge is readily shared. This increases the public arena, which is what’s known to self and known to others. More importantly, it reduces blind spots.”
Tracy noted cultural change requires concerted effort across the organisation. “We all need to be in this together, you need to bring people on the journey.”
Events such as this are just a part of the puzzle when it comes to developing a more inclusive culture. At ORIX Australia, we pride ourselves on being part of the solution when it comes to supporting diversity.
1 Source – www.forbes.com/sites/eriklarson/2017/09/21/new-research-diversity-inclusion-better-decision-making-at-work/?sh=4ea3d18a4cbf
