Below, we first briefly explain what we mean by „inclusion“ and „organisational development.“ Next, we describe the importance of inclusion for organisations. Building on this, we outline (possible) approaches for transforming an organisation into an inclusive one. Finally, we spoke to two people about successful examples of inclusive organisations.

Definitions: Inclusion and organisational development

Inclusion, according to the definition by Aktion Mensch, which we endorse, „literally means ‚belonging‘, i.e. the opposite of exclusion. When every person – with or without a disability – can participate everywhere, at school, at work, in their neighbourhood, in their leisure time, that is successful inclusion.

In an inclusive society, it is normal to be different. Everyone is welcome. And we all benefit from this: for example, through the removal of obstacles so that the environment is accessible to everyone – but also through fewer barriers in people's minds, more openness, tolerance and better coexistence.

Inclusion is a human right enshrined in the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Government of the Federal Republic of Germany has signed this agreement. …

Inclusion is not a topic for experts; on the contrary, it can only succeed if as many people as possible get involved. Everyone can contribute to this in their own environment.“

Organisational development (OD) „is a concept for developing organisations ... with the aim of actively and flexibly adapting to the challenges of a constantly changing environment. It is a development in the sense of greater organisational effectiveness and greater job satisfaction for the people involved.“

In this sense, we understand organisations as „learning organisations“. OE is implemented with the participation of as many members of the organisation as possible and incorporates the organisational culture: formal and informal rules, hierarchies, values and behaviour patterns, traditions and rituals.

OE involves examining and working on relationships, behaviour and attitudes: towards the individual and their own group (team, department, division), towards other groups and the organisation as a whole. The structures and processes of an organisation are then adjusted accordingly during or after the OE.

According to Mabey and Pugh, there are five defining characteristics of OE:

• OE is a broad-based medium to long-term approach. It encompasses the entire organisation or parts of it, e.g. individual units or departments.
• OE is based on findings and methods from behavioural sciences, organisational and business psychology, and group dynamics.
• OE is process- and goal-oriented.
• OE erfordert moderation by internal staff or external experts.
• OE is participatory, i.e. it involves all affected parties as participants.

Consequently, OE always means promoting the people in the organisations and not just restructuring or possibly cutting jobs.

OE is used in large companies, administrations, churches, the army, social and humanitarian institutions, and many other areas of society. Due to the rapid social and global changes currently taking place (technical/digital innovations, financial crises, demographic developments, etc.), organisations are under great pressure to adapt. As a result, OE is inevitably becoming a recurring process in some organisations.

Inclusion and organisations

Inclusion is not only a social issue, but also a highly political concept. In our understanding, inclusion goes beyond the approach of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities: in terms of diversity, it means equal access for all to everything.

However, this also means giving up privileges for those individuals (or groups) who have so far been able to secure these opportunities and positions largely for themselves. Competition for jobs will increase, the workforce will become more heterogeneous, taking into account different needs and interests will become more complex, and equipping workplaces appropriately may become more difficult and expensive.

If organisations take the implementation of inclusion internally seriously, they must address the question of what resources they (can) make available for this purpose, e.g. in terms of money and time, space and materials; and where acceptance exists among the workforce or where and how this acceptance can be created.

People with visual impairments, for example, are accepted in most organisations if the impairment can be compensated for by wearing visual aids (glasses or contact lenses). We take this acceptance for granted nowadays. The same usually applies to people with hearing impairments and their hearing aids. It becomes more complicated when physical impairments can be compensated for by aids, but these in turn require further support: wheelchair users, for example, need barrier-free rooms and appropriate entrances and stairways. The question of acceptance arises again in a different context when an organisation wants to attract more people with a migrant background or believers of different religions who ask for rooms where they can practise their religion undisturbed during work breaks.

At the same time, inclusion offers great opportunities for organisations: by practising diversity and (complex) interest balancing internally, organisations are closely aligned with social developments; and thus they are closely aligned with demand and the opportunity to develop precise, target group-oriented approaches and offerings. In addition, those involved get to know many different perspectives – which can be fun and enjoyable – and thus broaden their horizons. In our view, these are the greatest advantages of an inclusive workforce in an increasingly diverse environment.

Initiating change – the organisational level

If an organisation wants to move towards an inclusive workforce, the initial question is: How can we design our system so that people can participate and contribute in all their diversity (for the benefit of the organisation and the well-being of those who work there)?

For implementation within the framework of an OE process, this means (ideally):

• The members of the organisation develop a vision of an „inclusive organisation“. The vision is shared by all those involved in the organisation, at least in its core statements.
• Concrete goals are derived from the vision.
• A strategy is developed to achieve these goals. The strategy is based on an assessment of the current situation and available resources. It also takes into account any fears and concerns that those involved may have, for which opportunities for reflection are created during the process.
• The strategy is implemented in the

▪ Change or adaptation of structures: e.g. staff composition, accessibility, inclusive language, work processes, communication structure,
▪ as well as changes in organisational culture: view of humanity, attitudes, values, rules, behaviour patterns, rituals.

• The results of the process are continuously reviewed, and procedures and structures are adjusted as necessary.

Initiating change – how can individuals initiate change in their own organisations?

Individuals who want to promote inclusion in their organisation need allies – such fundamental change cannot usually be achieved by lone warriors. One approach could be:

The first step

• What do I want? Why? (Vision, guiding principles)
• What is my „added value“ from inclusion?
• What disadvantages do I see, what fears do I have?
• What resources are available to me?

The second step

• Who do I need for this / who are my allies?
• What is the „added value“ of inclusion?
• What disadvantages do you see, what fears do you have?
• Who am I addressing and with what aim?

12 further steps „...

1 Orientation: What is our inclusive guiding principle?

2 Communicating: How can we find a common language?

3 Getting involved: What do we actually want?

4 Organising: How can we become capable of acting?

5 Taking stock: What is the current situation?

6 Describe objectives: What do we want to achieve?

7 Taking stock: Are we on track?

8 Finding ideas: What might solutions look like?

9 Making plans: How do we proceed?

10 Implementation: Roll up your sleeves... and get started!

11 Follow-up: What have we achieved?

12 Thinking ahead: The end of the old... is the beginning of the new!“

The example of primary school

Special needs teacher Christian Geißler works at an inclusive state primary school in Berlin-Neukölln. The school team is „visibly diverse in terms of gender, age and family language“. In an interview, Christian Geißler explained the reasons why inclusion works at this school:

„There needs to be a critical mass of people (... a noticeable and influential group) with a pro-inclusion attitude – which for us would mean avoiding discrimination and recognising diversity (which in turn means creating appropriate conditions so that everyone can learn according to their abilities). In hierarchical organisations such as public schools, we need school administrators who want inclusion and who create the necessary personnel and material conditions for it. If these three things are in place: teachers and educators as well as school management who want inclusion; trained staff who can implement inclusion; and material resources (teaching materials, rooms, etc.), then it is best not to start with all classes, but only with those classes in which educators who want inclusion are working. In the best case scenario, they will develop a practice that is interesting and convincing for other educators. We had the above-mentioned conditions in place – inclusion was then introduced across the board for all classes, which also met with resistance. This was because some educators were afraid of being overwhelmed. In the meantime, however, this has subsided. Although we are still and repeatedly overwhelmed and sometimes overburdened. But perhaps that's how it is when you're working towards a utopia (which is what inclusion is for me – a path, a goal and a utopia). ... I was also convinced by the reasonable reactions of the children I work with. They ask (as often as they need to): ‚Why is he like that? What is she doing there? Why can't she speak? Why does he always get easier tasks? ...‘ And at some point, that's just the way it is and everyone works on their own stuff. If adults treated each other that way, I would think that was good.“

Organisations with an inclusive approach

Raul Krauthausen

is an activist who campaigns for the rights of people with disabilities and, thanks to his decades of commitment, is an expert on inclusion in organisations. During our conversation, he mentioned several companies whose approach to creating an inclusive workforce he finds particularly noteworthy. For example, Boehringer Ingelheim established an action plan back in 2012 to promote inclusion within the company. And SAP, an IT company, is currently targeting people with autism spectrum disorder for recruitment, working with the placement agency auticon together. The Erlangen-based company access has set itself the task of specifically helping people with disabilities enter the primary labour market. However, according to Krauthausen, what is lacking in Germany is an equivalent to the Austrian career moves – A job placement agency founded by a person with a disability that not only cooperates with the largest job portal in the country, but also offers consulting services for companies that want to become inclusive.

Raul Krauthausen states very clearly: „We don't need any more workshops for people with disabilities, no more support and integration companies.“ Instead, he asks about people with disabilities in the management of charitable organisations in the non-profit sector – and finds none. But that, Krauthausen continues, is where inclusion can begin, where it is also taken seriously: instead of doing something for people with disabilities, it is better to do something with them. Basically, it's about the same questions that the women's movement has been asking for decades: How can education be improved? What can be done about the glass ceiling? How can empowerment take place? And when will management start doing something about it?

Raul Krauthausen suggests not holding any more workshops and similar events on inclusion. He believes it would be much more promising to organise encounters – to create opportunities for HR decision-makers, trainers and managers to meet people with disabilities. „That would be education! From person to person!“

Conclusion

Our conclusion is that, in order for the transition to an inclusive organisation to be successful, in addition to the necessary theoretical knowledge and resources, the commitment of interested individuals is essential. We therefore conclude our article with a quote from former professor Marianne Wilhelm, Vienna, about her two decades of commitment to inclusion:

„I
At the place where I stand
With the people I live with
With all the power I have and
All the love I am capable of giving.

Further links on inclusion and diversity

• http://www.charta-der-vielfalt.de/fileadmin/user_upload/beispieldateien/Downloads/Charta_der_Vielfalt-ÖH-Brosch_WEB.pdf
• http://www.denkmodell.de/hintergrund/diversity-management/
• http://www.jugendsozialarbeit.de/media/raw/Andreas_Oehme_Inklusive_Organisation_von_Bildung_Erziehung_und_Sorge.pdf
• http://www.jugendsozialarbeit.de/media/raw/JS_Beitraege3_WEB.pdf
• https://magazin.betreut.de/inklusion-durch-diversity-management-1033/
• www.inklusionspaedagogik.de
• www.sozialhelden.de
• www.inklusionsfakten.de

Kerstin Engelhardt / Nicola Kriesel

This article was originally written for a brochure published by the Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband (Parity Welfare Association). We would like to thank our interviewees for their support!