Creating a More Inclusive Work Environment

          Diversity and inclusion are complementary and work best when applied together. Yet some companies mistakenly assume that once a diverse staff is hired, the work is done. This could not be further from the truth. Inclusion reinforces the value a company places on the need to hire employees who exhibit intangible assets such as knowledge, experience or professional background; it then nurtures and offers support for those individuals to perform at the highest levels attainable.

          According to PwC’s 18th Annual Global Survey, 85% of CEOs identified a diversified and inclusive workplace as being influential to an improved bottom line. Here are three steps to help reinforce your company’s attempts towards achieving a truly diverse and included population.  

Assess Your Current Standing

            First perform an assessment to measure the existing level of diversity within the workplace. Execute data analysis activities to reveal the amount or percentage of employees who meet specific categories. These should include race, gender, disability and sexual orientation for instance. Note how many of these individuals hold specific titles within the company’s higher tiers of leadership.

            This assessment will be significant because it serves as an undeniable reality check. Knowing whether your company adequately achieves diversity is vital in order to properly determine the level of inclusion. The results should be used as a measuring stick to evaluate future efforts.

Recruit a Tribe

          Creating a more inclusive workplace takes a team—a tribe of reliable, socially awake individuals. Anyone who exudes passion about civic rights are obvious recruits. Among the tribe, some members may already hold leadership positions. However, be intentional to identify natural leaders within their perspective departments. Your tribe should be influential whether the purpose is to motivate co-workers or modify hiring practices or adjust the ceiling for potential promotions.

          The primary purpose of the tribe is to bridge the communication between all tiers of the staff. Serving as an advocate for inclusiveness means discussing existing challenges and developing strategy to destroy racial, gender, age and other biases in the workplace. 

Do the Work

          The tribe’s main objective is to create a filter through which your company can see in different perspectives or hear through a unique experiences directly derived from the existing staff. This creates an opportunity to adapt a well-informed narrative on how best to manage your people.  Strategic and active listening will serve as the team’s grassroots effort for gathering constructive feedback from the staff regarding a myriad of issues. The next step should include developing initiatives and introducing educational resources aimed at resolutions to ensure all employees feel as if they belong. Employee retention levels seem to be directly affected when underrepresented employee groups are advanced toward professional excellence.

          The team’s findings will also affect potential recruits. Identified needs of a diverse staff will help fine tune new hire objectives. The Human Resources department can also market jobs by emphasizing the company’s commitment to employee inclusion.

Conclusion

            Strategy is a must in order to effectively achieve employee inclusion within a company. Be decisive and make inclusion a priority. The first step is to perform an inventory check and see how your company measures up in terms of diversity. Develop a non-biased team of influential, people managers who will be tasked with collecting real-time data regarding the current challenges of underrepresented employee groups. The final step is to establish a few different ways to properly address identified issues with the intent of complete resolve.