Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace
Diversity and inclusion in the workplace is not just a trend. There are legal, financial, and organizational health reasons to prioritize diversity and inclusion.
A diverse and inclusive workplace ensures people from different backgrounds are accepted. All employees are treated equally, and everyone has access to the same resources and opportunities provided by your company.
Prioritizing diversity and inclusion will make your company better, stronger, and more competitive.
Benefits of Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity and inclusion benefit your company by giving you access to a larger talent pool, helping employees feel more engaged and connected, and broadening your innovation and creativity. Developing a diverse workplace also helps you perform better financially and protects your company from legal issues.
Broader Talent Pool
Prioritizing diversity in the workplace gives you access to a wider pool of potential talent. Think outside the box when it comes to recruiting employees. There are many organizations available you can partner with to hire underrepresented groups.
This can include veteran groups, second-chance hiring, or groups that support hires from backgrounds that often get overlooked. People with differing backgrounds give greater insight to important decisions for company growth. Different perspectives help you better understand your customers and provide better insights into potential outcomes, leading to better processes and productivity.
Increased Employee Engagement
When employees feel better represented within your company, they are more likely to remain engaged. Allowing for diverse voices allows employees to feel their voices will be heard and helps them to feel they have an impact on your company’s success. Taking the steps to help employees feel they belong will lead to increased productivity and better results across your company.
Increased Financial Performance
Companies with active diversity policies see increased financial performance over those without diversity policies. Diversity and inclusion in the workplace can result in up to a 39% increase in financial performance.
This is true for all levels in your company. In fact, companies with more diversity in their management teams have seen revenue increases up to 19%. Diverse companies also see 2.5X higher cash flow per employee than companies who do not embrace diversity in the workplace.
Improved Decision-Making
Decisions are best made when you can analyze multiple perspectives. Diverse decision-making groups help you see potential issues and opportunities you may not see otherwise. In fact, diverse teams show 50% better results with their business decisions.
Embracing diversity and inclusion in the workplace also opens new markets you might not have access to otherwise. Diversity increases your ability to break into new markets by up to 70%.
Reduced Legal Issues
There are numerous laws and regulations at the state and federal level that govern diversity in the workplace. Implementing diversity and inclusion policies helps you maintain compliance with these regulations that include:
- Fair Labor Standards Act
- Civil Rights Act
- Americans with Disabilities Act
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
These regulations are designed to protect employees from discrimination and harassment in the workplace, and failure to comply with these regulations can lead to costly fines and penalties, as well as potential lawsuits. These legal ramifications hurt your company financially and can harm your reputation, making it harder to recruit and hire talented employees.
How to Increase Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace
Increasing diversity and inclusion in the workplace has many benefits for your company, but doing so requires strategic changes and cooperation from your leadership team. Diversity should be implemented in your recruitment and hiring, training, and employee management policies.
Recruiting & Hiring with Diversity in Mind
Recruitment and interviewing materials should not be skewed towards specific characteristics such as age, race, sex, etc. To maintain compliance with the different governing regulations, your job descriptions and interview questions should avoid discriminatory language.
To help avoid discriminatory language, it’s best to create a standard process that ensures no biases are included in the hiring process. Create standard job description and interview question templates that are written based solely on the job role. It’s also helpful to include people from diverse backgrounds on your hiring panels, and make sure everyone involved with the hiring process is trained on how to avoid bias and discrimination that could cloud the hiring process.
When recruiting, utilize organizations that support underrepresented groups or attend job fairs in more diverse quarters to help open your talent pool. Make the application process easily accessible to ensure everyone who might qualify for the role has the opportunity to apply.
You might also consider offering flexible work options such as remote or hybrid work, flexible schedules, or part-time options. These types of opportunities can increase your employee retention, as 87% of workers prefer flexible work schedules. These options can also reduce your operating costs, as you will need to use fewer resources in the workplace.
Training on Diversity and Inclusion
To implement increased diversity and inclusion in the workplace, make sure all employees are trained on how to avoid discrimination and harassment, incorporating specific company policies and procedures into your training.
This starts with leadership. Your leadership teams need to be thoroughly trained and ready to embrace diversity and inclusion policies to demonstrate proper acceptance throughout your company. This also means you need to ensure any antidiscrimination policies are enforced at all levels, and everyone knows the process involved in dealing with discrimination and harassment complaints.
Implement Anti-Discrimination and Anti-Harassment Policies
To ensure all employees feel safe and accepted in the workplace, you want to set clear expectations around discrimination and harassment policies. Establish what constitutes discrimination, harassment, or bullying, and make sure these policies are clearly understood by all employees.
Set clear corrective actions involved with violating antidiscrimination and harassment policies, and ensure these corrective actions are enforced at all levels in your company. Provide easy, clear methods to report issues, and ensure managers know the proper procedures to deal with or elevate any issues that come up.
Promote open communication across teams, giving everyone a chance to have their voices heard, and encourage all employees to share ideas that could improve your business. Provide reasonable accommodation for employees who need it, and make sure managers are ready to support employees and help them thrive.
Most importantly, accountability is key. Review policies regularly and make sure discrimination and harassment issues are addressed promptly and correctly. Diversity and inclusion in the workplace is an ongoing process, and it’s important to ensure employees have a voice in how these policies are implemented and enforced.
Creating a Safe Work Environment for All Employees
Diversity and inclusion in the workplace ensure a safe working environment for everyone. Diverse, healthy work environments increase profitability, productivity, and reputation. Embracing diversity reduces your legal liability and helps you create a company that is attractive to potential high performers.
If you need help reviewing your current HR policies, implementing policies that increase diversity and inclusion for your company, or any other people management concern, learn how HR Service, Inc. can help you develop a thriving company culture.
Written by: Penny Clark, Marketing Specialist