Diversity, equity, and inclusion are core principles upon which we can build fair and inclusive work environments within companies and organisations of all sizes and sectors.
Diversity recognises the importance of forming teams composed of individuals with different identities, backgrounds, characteristics, and experiences. It often refers to aspects such as gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability, age, religion, family status, and socio-economic background.
Equity refers to ensuring fairness and impartiality in the policies, practices, and opportunities offered to employees, clients, and even suppliers of a company or organisation, particularly for those who belong to groups that remain underrepresented in broader society and the labour market.
Finally, Inclusion focuses on fostering a culture of respect where the diverse perspectives, ideas, and talents that each individual brings are valued and contribute equally to the outcome (product, service, achievement) for which the team works.
At inc.lude, we believe that equity and inclusion-related goals and practices, within a company or organisation, are much more than just regulatory compliance or goals for a corporate communication campaign. They are about cultivating a culture where everyone can bring their best self to work, regardless of their background or identity. This is why our approach to all the services we provide and the projects we implement is based on data, research, and best practices, as well as a holistic and human-centred model of organisational thinking tailored to the specific needs and goals of each client.
Incorporating diversity, equity and inclusion principles and goals into an organisation's overall strategy is not just a moral imperative. It is neither a passing trend, a marketing trick, nor an easy way to counter long-standing issues in the company’s collaborative culture. Rather, it is a strategic business decision with clear benefits, requiring data, targeting, commitment, monitoring, and resources.
Companies and organisations that prioritise a fair and inclusive culture and make meaningful investments in related strategies unlock numerous benefits, such as increased innovation, enhanced employee engagement, satisfaction, and retention rates, broader market penetration, improved decision-making, and a stronger company reputation, especially in terms of employer branding. By ensuring that teams, departments, and the organisation as a whole operate fairly and inclusively, businesses can tap into the wealth of perspectives, experiences, and talents brought by their employees and partners. In doing so, they become leaders in creativity and innovation while better serving the needs of diverse customer groups and local communities.
Furthermore, cultivating a culture of psychological safety and collaboration, where individuals feel valued, boosts employee morale, increases productivity, and attracts top talent from a broader pool.
In today's globalised reality, attention to equity and inclusion is not a luxury but a competitive advantage that fuels long-term success and sustainability for any organisation.
You can contact us by phone, email, or through the contact form on our website to schedule a discovery meeting and discuss your needs and priorities. Based on these, you will receive targeted proposals upon which we can build together smaller or larger (but always impactful!) diversity, equity & inclusion projects.
Our services are designed to serve a broad range of companies and organisations across all market sectors. In our 13 years of experience, we have successfully collaborated with multinational corporations, large Greek organisations, small and medium-sized businesses, companies undergoing transformation, non-profit organisations, and public services. This breadth stems not only from the expertise, experience, and flexibility of our team but also from our commitment in equity, diversity, and inclusion that lay the foundation for a healthy work environment regardless of the number of employees or the company’s turnover.
On the other hand, not all companies are equally ready to place inclusion issues at the top of their strategic priorities. Based on our experience, those that most need inclusion and are highly likely to support it substantively are:
- Multinational corporations that need to implement international people strategies, adapting them to local ecosystems.
- Large companies facing European regulatory frameworks related to due diligence, non-financial reporting, board diversity quotas, or similar requirements from prospective investors or new markets.
- Businesses preparing for or managing mergers and acquisitions.
- Fast-growing companies that need to adjust their processes, infrastructure, and culture to accommodate larger numbers of employees.
- Companies of any size with a strong social vision but limited resources (employees or expertise) that could develop and implement a long-term strategy internally.
- Companies beginning their equity and inclusion journey but unsure of which initiatives are best suited to their needs and bring measurable results.
- Companies highly motivated to attract younger generations of employees or customers.
- Businesses from traditional sectors facing the challenge of integrating employees from four, or even five, different generations within their workforce.
- Companies with a cluster structure, forming multicultural teams that often collaborate remotely.
- Non-profit organisations working in diverse environments or needing to assess their impact using diversity, equity and inclusion criteria.
- Public sector organisations undergoing modernisation or transformation.
No matter the profile of your business or organisation, we can collaborate to develop and implement comprehensive people strategies that align with your unique organisational goals and challenges. Companies that are committed to fostering an inclusive work culture, driving meaningful change, and promoting social equity are those that can most fully leverage our team’s expertise, dedication, and resources.
Our services are tailored to meet the needs of professionals from all departments and hierarchical levels within organisations, including senior executives, HR managers, team leaders, as well as employees in administrative, managerial, or operational departments.
Executives and employees from Procurement, Customer Experience and Service, Compliance, Corporate Social Responsibility, and Communications departments, often believe they are less involved in diversity, equity and inclusion matters than HR departments. However, can actually play a pivotal role in shaping a long-term, transformative social responsibility and sustainability strategy. Developing their skills, raising awareness, and supporting them on this journey is a key capability and priority for us.
Whether you need guidance on needs assessment and goal-setting, wish to enhance your organisation's policies and practices, or are seeking reliable partners to design impactful awareness and training programs, inc.lude can be a valuable ally in consulting, project management, training, and communications, to deliver the best outcomes for your company’s work culture.
A needs assessment (or impact assessment) is a project that aims to explore where a company or organisation currently stands on diversity, equity and inclusion issues and how it can improve its position. Through the collection, processing, analysis, and synthesis of quantitative and qualitative data, with a focus on the aspect most relevant to the organisation, our team produces a concise yet comprehensive report that reflects:
- The organisation's strengths in managing diversity
- Areas for improvement identified
- Recommendations that can lead to measurable improvement in the current position
The report may also include additional sections such as the relevance of inclusion issues to the organisation, benchmarking surveys to map the broader ecosystem relevant to the company, examples of best practices, etc.
Such a project is the first step in developing a targeted strategy or addressing persistent challenges faced by the organisation.
Yes. Based on the findings of the "Needs Assessment" (small or large scale), our team can support the company's project team in planning and implementing a DEI and/or social responsibility strategy in a 2-5 year timeframe.
Depending on the selected training topic, participants develop skills such as:
- Understanding and analysing key equity, diversity and inclusion concepts and dimensions, as well as specific aspects of diversity
- Using data to address people and sustainability related challenges
- Inclusive leadership
- Inclusive communication
- Managing unconscious bias
- Preventing and combating workplace violence and harassment
- Active listening
- Providing inclusive feedback
- Building trust
- Cultural, emotional, and social intelligence
- Non-violent conflict resolution
...and much more.
In every inc.lude training, participants receive practical tools and steps to integrate the knowledge they have gained into their daily work. In longer trainings, they also have the opportunity to work in small groups and co-create specific action plans, which favour the sustainability of positive change within their teams and the organisation as a whole. Inc.lude can also support teams to create materials that reinforce organisational memory and support long-term change, as well as organise follow-up sessions with participants. These sessions aim to address challenges encountered during the application of new skills and practices, deepen the understanding of concepts and tools, build a supportive community among employees, answer questions, and identify further educational needs of the team.
An understanding, on the part of management, of the importance of diversity, equity and inclusion for every aspect of the organisation's operation and development is a key element in the success of any related strategy and initiative. This effort often encounters obstacles that take the form of:
- resistance to change by members of the management team
- a limited understanding of the practical importance of such a discussion
- the perception of inclusion issues as 'luxury' issues and the inability to prioritise them
- the lack of relevant stimuli and up-to-date knowledge on the subject
- a fear of DEI-backlash
To overcome these obstacles, our team designs and implements activities specifically tailored to the needs and constraints of senior management teams, with the aim of developing their skills to take action on key diversity, equity and inclusion issues. In addition, we provide consulting support to clearly identify the regulatory framework that directly or indirectly affects the organization's ESG strategy, answer potential questions from team members, and prepare a complete and understandable presentation that can be used to present this information in a concise and targeted manner to the organization's senior management.
We allow the recording of our training sessions only when they do not include experiential activities, and only with the consent of the trainer and the participants. In such cases, the recording of keynote speeches and trainings is available at an additional cost.
Each of the awareness-raising or training topics offered by inc.lude can be delivered in a short or longer duration (from 45 minutes to multi-day workshops), depending on the needs and constraints of each team or organisation. The longer the training, the more interactive and experiential it can be, making it more effective in building the sustainability of the change it brings. In every case, even in shorter trainings, there is the possibility of creating materials that support long-term change and organising follow-up sessions with participants. These sessions aim to address challenges encountered during the application of new skills and practices, deepen understanding of concepts and tools, build a supportive community among employees, answer questions, and identify further educational needs of the team.
The number of participants depends on the type of training. Indicatively:
- Awareness talks (up to 1 hour): No specific participant limit, apart from any restrictions imposed by in-person delivery (e.g., room capacity).
- Seminars (1.5 to 2 hours): The number of participants is 40-50 people, both online and in-person, with the possibility of dividing into groups for optimal participation.
- Workshops (3+ hours): For optimal effectiveness, participation is recommended for up to 20-30 people, with emphasis on dividing into groups for a more interactive and experiential experience.
Our team is available to discuss which training format best meets your company's/organisation’s needs.
The choice between online or in-person training depends on various factors, including:
- The number of people who need to attend
- The geographical distribution of participants
- The available budget
- Any time constraints on the duration of the session
- Participants’ familiarity with technology
- The organisation's preparedness and training culture
- External conditions such as the time of year, the environment, weather, and public health
inc.lude provides interactive and impactful awareness and training actions both online and in-person. The final choice of delivery medium is best made after a meeting where we can more thoroughly assess your current needs and constraints.
Awareness and training, being the most flexible components of a DEI strategy, are often used as a springboard for creating “firework” actions, without specific targets and without a strategy to measure their impact. The truth is that no training, however small, is unnecessary—however, with a greater investment of energy and time, the impact of the training you offer can be significantly larger and contribute to transforming the culture of a department or even the entire organisation.
Together, we can create a comprehensive and long-term program of awareness and training for different internal and external stakeholders, with specific KPIs to monitor throughout the implementation and after its completion.
Currently, no. While we understand the usefulness of asynchronous training methods for reaching large corporate populations, we still have significant reservations about their effectiveness, particularly for topics related to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. These topics are often sensitive for many participants, raising questions, concerns, and objections. Thus, the content is better absorbed when individuals have the opportunity to engage with it in a synchronous, interactive manner, within the learning community created around each program. Therefore, as an alternative to asynchronous programs, we recommend methodologies such as training trainers/ambassadors, focusing on upskilling people leaders within the organisation, distributing micro-learnings via existing company communities, and offering longer, more comprehensive programs.
However, if you believe that asynchronous training is the only suitable tool for addressing the needs of your workforce, please don't hesitate to contact us to explore how we can create or adapt content for your teams.
Leadership development programs -and, more specifically, inclusive leadership ones (which are often personalised), usually involve not just training activities but also other tools such as coaching and performance reviews to facilitate leaders' transition to a more inclusive model of team and organisational leadership. This is especially important for executives who have gained most of their experience in more traditional or conservative organisational environments, where change is often frowned upon and may be met with resistance at various points of the transformation process. In these cases, since training alone is insufficient, we propose a holistic program that supports individuals and organisations in sustainable and practical ways at every step of the process.
inc.lude manages projects related to people- and social responsibility-related projects, with a focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, including (but not limited to):
- Equity and inclusion action plans
- Designing and implementing mentoring and reverse mentoring programs
- Creating support structures for employees with caregiving responsibilities
- Organising inclusion-related events
For any related project, please contact us so we can find the best way to collaborate. Our team, with its expertise and specialisation, can take on part or the entire project, relieving teams who often handle such initiatives alongside other complex and demanding tasks in their daily work.
Of course! If you feel your team lacks the time, resources, or expertise to undertake systematic and impactful inclusion and social responsibility initiatives, don't hesitate to contact us to find the appropriate model for a long-term collaboration.
inc.lude focuses on content that helps disseminate the goals, initiatives, and achievements of an organisation in the field of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, both within its internal ecosystem and to external stakeholders. Examples of such content include:
- Newsletters covering one or more aspects of diversity targeted at the company’s workforce
- Social Media posts (images, infographics, videos, etc.) to raise awareness among the external audience and share initiatives and actions
- Executives' speeches on related topics
- Submissions for DEI-related awards
- Non-financial reporting sections related to diversity, equity and inclusion
- Micro-learning content complementing live awareness and training actions
- Handbooks aimed to reinforce organisational memory and ensure the sustainability of change
inc.lude takes on both ad-hoc and ongoing creation of impactful content based on the organisation's needs and strategy at any given time.
If they have the relevant expertise, of course they can! However, non-specialised individuals or teams often depend on diversity, equity and inclusion-related content from other countries and cultural contexts, resulting in final products that are rigid, insufficiently tailored to the specifics and characteristics of the ecosystem they are aimed at, and sometimes even inappropriate or offensive in relation to the needs and sensitivities of the target audience.
inc.lude provides six different categories of services that outline a comprehensive change journey in the field of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and social responsibility/sustainability related to people.
Starting with a needs assessment, we move on to consulting for policy design, action planning, and strategy development. We continue with developing inclusive leadership skills for organisational management and people managers, followed by raising awareness and training the entire workforce or specific departments. Finally, we manage larger related projects and create content that supports the dissemination of the organisation’s social sustainability goals and initiatives to both internal and external audiences.
Of course, each company can choose the “stages” most needed at any given time, but the rest of our services will be available to complement and complete the actions you choose whenever needed.
The services we offer are like “building blocks” that we use to create the structure best suited to each organisation's needs. We have worked with companies of varying sizes and from diverse industries, placing great emphasis on a detailed diagnosis of each organisation’s goals, priorities, and constraints (and those of its people!) before designing any project, large or small.
Monitoring and evaluating the quality of our projects is a key element of our strategy, and is tailored to the nature, size, and duration of each project. Even for small-scale activities like a one-off training, we gather feedback from participants and always request evaluations of our services from the team responsible for the project on behalf of the organisation. For larger projects, we establish KPIs from the outset to assess the progress and effectiveness of the project at different stages, always in relation to the organisation’s broader strategic goals.
The core team of inc.lude has 13 years of experience in consulting and training projects related to the broader field of diversity, equity and inclusion. We continually update our knowledge through international organisations such as the UN and ILO, as well as reputable educational institutions, staying up to date with the tools, trends, and methodologies being developed in this field. Our network of collaborators includes individuals and organisations with long-standing experience and solid training in specific aspects of diversity and inclusion, who continuously invest in their skill development through our very active community.
Yes! All our services are available in both Greek and English, and we can collaborate with professional translators and interpreters to adapt the content to other languages as needed. For projects implemented for companies outside of Greece, we dedicate additional consulting time to fully understand the regulatory framework as well as the particular culture of the country. This ensures that every training session, action plan, initiative, or piece of content aligns with the sensitivities and needs of the specific audience.
Of course. Whether the company already has a DEI strategy or if we will co-develop one, our team can take on the detailed design and implementation of specific actions within the strategy. These involve designing and optimizing policies, assessing accessibility, creating impact monitoring processes, investigating substance, drafting non-financial DEI-related reports, conducting training or empowerment actions, developing inclusive leadership skills, and creating content to communicate these efforts to both internal and external audiences of the organisation.
