What Does Diversity Mean to You?

1. “Employing people that represent the geographic landscape of our customers. Hiring people from all different backgrounds, ethnicities, work experiences, etc.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

2. “Respect and consideration for different world views and cultures.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

3. “Representation from all walks of life.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

4. “A group of individuals that reflects a representation of the larger community or environment of which it is part. This includes race, gender, age, ethnicity, etc.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

5. “Diversity is about recognizing – and celebrating – the different life and professional experiences that people can bring to an organization like NiSource.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

6. “Differences and similarities between people in the work place.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

7. “Bringing together people from different social, racial, gender, cultural, backgrounds, and with different opinions and ideas. Diversity means inclusion.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

8. “A broad base of perspectives, ethnicities, and experiences that reflects a company’s customer base and, ideally, its employee population.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

9. “An appreciation that every individual is unique.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

10. “Access for and acceptance of all people across the enterprise.” “A mixture of backgrounds, experiences, thoughts, ideas, expertise, etc.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

11. “Diversity means having a variety of types of people at many levels of an organization. Primarily, different sexes, different races, and different ages. But it can also mean other things like different backgrounds, different types of education, etc.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

12. “Diversity means both recognizing the need for and respecting the value of a wide variety of different views, talents, backgrounds, and personhood as represented in the community and our workforce.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

13. “Diversity means assuring varied perspectives, backgrounds and experiences are being combined to find the best overall solutions.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

14. “Diversity is the grouping of different backgrounds, experiences, skill sets, perspectives, cultures, ethnicities, ages, principles, and values.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

15. “Diversity to me means having the ability to receive opinions on a particular subject from a group of individuals with a diverse set of experiences and backgrounds.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

16. “Diversity includes the differences that make up the workforce, whether that is gender and race, or sexual orientation, religion, economic status, educational background, etc.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

17. “Diversity means understanding that each individual is unique and recognizing and respecting individual differences such as talents, beliefs, backgrounds, and capabilities.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

18. “Diversity means embracing and encouraging all of the differences in people (such as gender, ethnicity, age, backgrounds, experiences, sexual preferences, beliefs, ideas, management/leadership styles, learning styles, family dynamics.” “Diversity means to encourage and promote the continued development of an organization which values the various cultural, social, and ethnical attributes of existing and future employees.” “Diversity means that our employee base and our management group reflect the community that we work in.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

19. “Variety.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

20. “To me, diversity means the attempt to include, and having respect for, different backgrounds, points of view, philosophies, cultures, races, genders, heritages, etc. as part of the organization’s team.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

21. “Teams with different genders, cultures, backgrounds and experiences that keep a good balance within our organization.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

22. “Inclusion of diverse backgrounds, experiences and opinions in all that we do. Much broader than just race, gender, etc.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

23. “Inclusion and respectful consideration of divergent points of view from all team members. Respecting others’ abilities and differences, regardless of race, sex, etc.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

24. “For me here at NiSource, it means having co-workers who come from a variety of backgrounds and bring different work/education/life experiences to the table. I feel we are a better, richer company if we have employees of different race, gender and religion.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

25. “Including, accepting and respecting people of different cultures, races, socio-economic levels, sexual orientations, religions, national origins, beliefs, etc.” What Does Diversity Mean to You?

27. “Enabling of all view points, regardless of gender, race, religion, sexuality, etc.; inclusion further enables diversity…” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

28. “Being included in something; feeling like a contributor. When you are included in something/anything, you tend to take more ownership and pride in the results. Being included means getting to sign your name to success.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

29. “A culture that is open to new thoughts and new ideas, where innovation and different ways of thinking about issues/problems/opportunities is encouraged and welcomed, from all team members – regardless of race, sex, etc.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

30. “Being heard when offering input and having it weighed equally with members of other segments of the population (including geographic).” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

31. “An inclusive culture is one where individuals can be open, honest and genuine about themselves and their life – inside and outside of work.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

32. “Inclusion is the welcoming of people to draw on their diversity to contribute to a solution.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

33. “Inclusion facilitates the exchange of new perspectives, creates a respectful and accepting work environment, and improves problem solving by inviting different ideas.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

34. “Including, listening to, understanding, doing our best to ‘see things through others’ eyes’ or ‘walk in their shoes’ as the cliché goes. Thinking of the opposite is also helpful. It is not exclusion or leaving out.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

35. “Including and understanding of differences – respecting differences.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

36. “Forced Diversity.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

37. “Inclusion means nobody left behind…” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

38. “To be true inclusion must come from a core value of the leader driving the inclusion that recognizes that inclusion is both the right thing to do and also the best thing to do from a business value perspective.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

39. “Inclusion means listening to others’ perspectives/convictions, engaging others’ opinions, creating a safe environment where people, ideas, and opinions are valued.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

40. “Inclusion means listening to, understanding, and respecting employees from diverse background and helping the team work together as a whole towards common goals.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

41. “Inclusion means (1) having the knowledge needed to effectively complete job duties, and (2) having the opportunity to participate and be a part of issues, meetings, and social networking activities that will bolster your ability as an employee to effectively complete job duties and feel good about the work environment.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

42. “To be included in decision-making and opportunity. I suppose we could be diverse without being inclusive. Or, we could go out of our way to be inclusive even though the population is not very diverse.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

43. “No barriers that prevent people from having the opportunity to reach their full potential.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

44. “Integrating diversity throughout the companies, organizations and teams rather than having pockets of a diverse workforce.” “Inclusion, to me, means the attitude and behavior that promotes and reflects diversity.” “Inclusion means not only being inviting to others, but also accepting.” What Does Inclusion Mean to You?

46. “Because it provides broader perspectives and balance to the way that the organization is managed.” Why is I&D good for our Business?

47. “Because everyone gets an opportunity and it brings into play a variety of thoughts and ideas.” Why is I&D good for our Business?

48. “Diversity and inclusion can open eyes to otherwise unseen solutions to problems built on differing perspectives.” Why is I&D good for our Business?

49. “It goes to the idiom ‘Two heads are better than one.’ We need a workforce that thinks broadly and differently. We need perspectives that are unique, not uniform.” Why is I&D good for our Business?

50. “Companies that embrace diversity and inclusion as an integral part of their business strategy can positively impact productivity, organizational effectiveness, and sustained competitiveness.” Why is I&D good for our Business?