What we mean by Social Inclusion

“Social Exclusion refers to the multiple and changing factors resulting in people being excluded from normal exchanges, practices and rights of modern society. The commission believes that all Community citizens have a right to the respect of human dignity.” (Commission of the European Communities 1993)

There are many issues and dimensions involved in becoming an inclusive society. Therefore definitions of what exactly is meant by social inclusion reflect this diversity. However for the purposes of producing some clarity we utilise the following dimensions and indicators (based on work by Janie Percy-Smith).

Dimensions affecting Social Inclusion and their indicators

Issue / Dimension	Indicators
Economic	Long-term unemployment Job insecurity Workless households Income poverty
Social	Breakdown of traditional households Unwanted teenage pregancies Homelessness Crime Disaffected youth
Political	Disempowerment Lack of political rights Low registration of voters Low voter turnout Low levels of community activity Alienation/lack of confidence in political process Social disturbance/disorder
Locality	Environmental degradation Decaying housing stock Withdrawal of local services Collapse of support networks Concentration/marginalisation of vulnerable groups
Individual	Mental and physical ill health Educational underachievement/low skills Loss of self-esteem/ confidence
Groups / Diversity	Concentration of above characteristics in particular groups: Disabled people Ethnic minorities Elderly etc.

Increasingly Organisations, Businesses and Corporations have become aware of the social aspects and the social outcomes of their activities and performance.

As time goes on, more and more Businesses are realising the influence, the questioning power and pressure stakeholders have over their company. By taking responsibility for the social impact of their organisation on the stakeholders (customers, suppliers, landlords, clients, staff, managers, shareholders etc) Businesses can benefit significantly by embracing Social Inclusion as a way to increase its Business success and profit (the life blood of the economy) not as something that just has to be done. The mandatory approach where it fits into an existing structure is not a recipe for success. Social Inclusion makes good business sense and should be an integral part of the organisation. Social inclusion strategies have to:

Form a part of the mission
Be a part of the vision
Be accepted by Board of Directors (or equivalent)
Integrate into policies and procedures
Include taking action within the organisation
Be understood and practiced organisationally wide
An iterative processes accepting never ending improvement as a concept

Businesses need to engage with Social Inclusion and leverage out the proven benefits some organisations have enjoyed e.g.

Increasing retention of staff
Having better recruitment practices
Increasing your staff’s well-being and hence performance
Opening up channels of communication to stakeholders
Increasing levels of creativity within the workforce
Attracting more clients/customers (niche marketing eg., disabled people)
Meeting legislative obligations (inoculation against legal proceedings being carried out against businesses)
Better supplier relationships
Reduced costs
Increase profit

The process for achieving the above benefits is through our range of services, (the social audit in particular). The size of the organisation will dictate the amount of benefits it will enjoy, however, we make it our duty to be able to work with organisations at any level of awareness or size.