Many workers have some familiarity with measures associated with diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives. About six in ten workers report that their company has policies in place that promote fair hiring or promotions as well as access to training on these subjects.
Integrating DEI concepts into your workplace requires more than awareness and policy changes; it demands a shift in culture.
1. Attract Diverse Talent
Diverse teams tend to produce more creative, innovative, and effective work when their members can bring different perspectives to the table. Therefore, it’s essential that companies attract diverse talent while creating an inclusive workplace for them – this means hiring inclusively while using flexible work schedules, offering training/mentorship programs as well as reviewing current policies from an inclusive lens and seeking input from employee resource groups on any areas that may be exclusionary.
Diversity Equity Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) is not an unfamiliar concept to organizations; however, its achievement can often prove challenging. Leaders are sometimes unwilling to alter how things have always been done; but in order to attract and retain top talent you must commit to creating an inclusive work environment by altering interview practices to eliminate unconscious bias, recruiting from more places, creating a culture of inclusivity as well as placing more women in leadership roles or upskilling female employees to fill critical positions.
Simply put, investing in Diversity, Equality and Inclusion Board initiatives (DEIB) shows your commitment and can speed up goal attainment more rapidly. Findem’s search function for candidates who care about diversity can quickly help identify qualified applicants without needing to sift through lengthy candidate profiles or depend on unreliable surveys responses.
Employees who do not feel valued for their unique identities can quickly lose interest in their jobs, which leads to 36% greater profitability for companies that prioritize DEIB. In order to keep employees engaged and ensure the continued profitability of operations, companies should make DEIB an integral component of everyday operations through inclusive behaviors, mentorship opportunities and bonding experiences where personal stories can be safely shared between coworkers.
2. Create a Culture of Belonging
Diversity efforts at companies often center around policies and procedures, employee resource groups, and events that raise awareness about various aspects of identity. While such initiatives typically fall within the purview of HR/people or culture teams, all leadership teams should embrace DEIB as a core value that ensures all employees feel included and welcome within their workplaces.
Diversity can provide an indicator of an organization’s welcoming culture, but belonging is more than a superficial sentiment. Belonging means being seen for who you are as an individual, having your work valued and being accepted within your role – qualities which come together in companies with strong cultures of belonging, which allows employees to bring more meaningful work and higher engagement to their jobs.
Companies with strong workplace cultures experience many business benefits, such as higher retention rates, enhanced productivity and cutting-edge innovation. Furthermore, such businesses can attract and retain customers and partners who understand their value proposition more easily, become more resilient against changes or disruptions quickly due to having a more diverse workforce that adapts quickly, and more likely to retain employees who appreciate what the workplace has to offer. All of these results are realized as a result of creating an inclusive workplace culture which ultimately fosters empathy in employees – see this video from 15Five Academy course to gain insight on how best you can foster this type of culture within your own workplace!
3. Retain Diverse Talent
Diversity, equity and inclusion isn’t solely about recruitment: DEI also plays an essential part of talent management; having an employee pool that reflects both racial and ethnic diversity helps retain employees more effectively while decreasing turnover rates. Unfortunately, many organizations still haven’t fully committed to DEI strategies; symbolic statements or surface level efforts won’t do much to attract or retain diverse talent; with millions of jobs still unfilled in October 2022 it is time for organizations to take an in-depth look at their DEI policies and make real changes that make changes that count!
Retaining diverse employees requires two things to thrive: belonging and opportunity. Belonging is defined as feeling included and valued by their company beyond skin color or gender considerations – it refers to what it means to be human overall. Belonging isn’t something that happens naturally but must be fostered through systems and processes put in place that create this sense of inclusion and belongingness.
Cultural competence training, employee resource groups and affinity circles that bring employees with similar characteristics or experiences together are just some of the ways you can create an inclusive culture in your company’s policies and practices – from how to communicate with external candidates to ensuring gig workers and temporary employees feel like part of a team.
Opportunities are what keep people within an organization, and these can take many forms. From simply providing equal career advancement or training opportunities for all employees to setting up programs to promote women and minorities more quickly to offering flexible working options for employees caring for children or elderly parents – or providing an outlet where employees can discuss how microaggressions and bias affect their experience at work and how best to address them – opportunities keep employees happy in any organization.
4. Create a Culture of Equity
Inclusion goes beyond simply having diversity on your team – it’s about cultivating an atmosphere in which all employees feel they belong and can contribute their unique perspectives and ideas freely. By emphasizing inclusivity as part of company goals for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging goals.
Establishing an inclusive culture is key to retaining diverse talent. Studies have demonstrated that organizations with higher levels of diversity in leadership achieve 38% higher revenue than those with lower diversity levels in management.
To foster an environment of equity within your company, facilitate open and candid conversations among your leadership team about its goals in terms of Diversity, Inclusion, Equity and Belonging. Make sure your leaders are on board with this initiative and encourage them to set an example that sets positive precedent for all others within your organization.
Consider creating a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee to assist your leaders with this initiative. Bringing people from various departments and demographics will ensure all voices are heard and represented, driving progress by identifying any gaps or barriers to success and acting as sounding boards for any questions or concerns that might arise.
5. Measure Your Progress
Measure your company’s diversity, equity and inclusion goals by the degree to which employees from underrepresented groups feel welcome in the workplace. This can be accomplished by reviewing data, monitoring trends and collecting employee feedback via surveys or focus group interviews. When evaluating DEI initiatives’ results, identify any areas needing improvement and take appropriate corrective actions as required.
An essential step toward building a diverse and inclusive work environment is cultivating trust. One way of doing so is through showing vulnerability and cultivating empathy within the workplace, particularly from leaders. Leaders should feel free to discuss their personal struggles with marginalization as well as hopes and fears in the workplace with team members – this shows they are human, relatable people and fosters an atmosphere of belonging among employees.
Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives depend heavily on leadership buy-in to be successful. Leaders should clearly articulate their desire for more diverse and equitable workplace environments and what steps they plan to take toward reaching this goal. Furthermore, leaders must support efforts of those working on diversity and inclusion initiatives by providing resources and training necessary for success.
Setting clear diversity, equity and inclusion goals and measuring progress can be challenging. But with some planning and commitment, an effective plan can help your organization become more inclusive for all employees. Just take it one step at a time; changes won’t come overnight! Stepping by step you’ll see significant shifts in culture.