Are You Engaged in Diversity, Equity Inclusion and Belonging Initiatives at Your Organization? (DEIB) Initiatives? If so, then you likely understand the value of attracting diverse talent while creating an inclusive workplace culture can improve employee retention rates and lead to cutting-edge innovation.
But what exactly is belonging? This concept goes beyond diversity and includes factors like assuring contingent workers have a sense of identity.
Attract Diverse Talent
Have you heard the terms ‘diversity, inclusion and belonging’ (DEIB) used in the workplace? Adopting DEIB principles into your company culture requires dedication and ongoing commitment if DEIB principles are to succeed; diversity has many benefits that could give your business an edge against competitors including increased employee retention rates and cutting-edge innovation that gives an edge against them.
Diverse individuals possess different characteristics that define who they are as individuals, such as gender, race/ethnicity, age, sexual orientation, disability status and military service status. It is beneficial for teams to have a mix of demographics in their roster; however, more emphasis should be put on inclusion and belonging than meeting any percentage targets; people need to feel valued and respected for their unique perspectives for DEIB to really have its desired effects.
Young professionals of the millennial and Gen Z generations tend to place great value in DEIB companies that prioritize diversity. A Glassdoor survey conducted earlier this year found that 76% of job seekers consider the diversity of an employer an important consideration when selecting potential employers.
Adopting a diverse and inclusive culture will open your company to more talent, helping you find qualified applicants to fill open roles more easily. Use multiple recruitment channels and implement inclusive hiring practices to eliminate unconscious bias during interviews.
Diverse and inclusive workforces foster innovation by offering different perspectives and ideas from employees with different backgrounds, experiences, and points of view. Such diversity encourages critical reflection about current processes as well as problem solving in novel ways.
No matter how diverse and inclusive your workforce, without tools and resources to measure its effects it will remain incomplete. Tracking results of DEIB initiatives is key to continuous improvement. A tool like Findem allows you to track how each demographic (gender, race/ethnicity, military service history, age) are represented within your applicant pool, giving you the ability to quickly adjust sourcing strategies if a specific group isn’t being sufficiently accommodated.
Engage Diverse Employees
For your diverse workforce to perform optimally, employees need to feel like they belong. Integrating diversity and inclusion policies into an organization’s culture can create this sense of inclusion and help employees feel valued – this in turn leads to improved performance and an enjoyable work environment.
To foster a sense of belonging, it’s crucial for individuals to see themselves represented both in leadership roles and throughout the workplace. Furthermore, having diverse individuals at various levels within an organization allows everyone to share their unique ideas and perspectives freely.
Apart from offering opportunities for employees to connect with others who share similar identities at your company, it is also beneficial to provide training that encourages an appreciation of diverse cultures, traditions, and worldviews. One way of doing this could be having representatives from various communities speak about their cultures within your organization or having the leadership team actively participate in these conversations so as to set an example and demonstrate that it genuinely cares about being inclusive.
Implementing employee resource groups (ERGs) that focus on specific identities or issues can give employees a way to connect with people who understand their experiences while supporting each other as they navigate the workplace. Some of these ERGs might focus on issues like sexual orientation, gender identity or aging in the workforce while others could address facets like work-life balance, family or community service within your company.
As part of creating a sense of belonging, companies should establish clear policies on harassment and other issues that may alienate members who don’t fit with the majority. Employees need to know what constitutes unacceptable conduct at work and where they can seek assistance if they encounter discrimination or harassment on the job. It is vital for organizations to have such policies clearly visible so they are aware of what’s acceptable and where to go for help if discrimination or harassment arise.
Retain Diverse Employees
An inclusive workplace allows employees to feel safe to bring their true selves to work and collaborate effectively with people who understand them and their experiences, leading to better collaboration, increased productivity, reduced burn out or turnover and ultimately saving the company money in the long run. A diverse and inclusive culture also helps foster a sense of belonging for all employees – including contingent workers – which boost morale and retention, especially among millennials.
Companies are increasingly turning to Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) initiatives in order to attract, engage and retain talent. DEIB takes a more comprehensive approach to recruitment that encompasses hiring practices, policies, systems and processes – rather than meeting quotas for underrepresented groups, it seeks to foster an environment in which every employee feels valued and can contribute their best ideas.
An integral component of DEIB implementation is understanding that DEIB isn’t only an HR issue. Instead, its success requires leadership engagement at every level in an organization – especially at leadership. Leaders must champion DEIB by having open discussions about what DEIB means for business.
Diversity in the workplace can also help improve performance and spur innovation. According to studies, teams composed of members from diverse backgrounds are more effective at solving complex problems due to offering an array of perspectives and insights from each member; additionally, diverse teams tend to be better at recognizing new opportunities and exploring uncharted markets.
As part of your effort to ensure all employees feel valued, consider celebrating the diversity of cultures and religions within your workplace by offering various holidays – for instance National Hispanic Heritage Month, Diwali, Eid al-Fitr or Hanukkah could all be celebrated here. You could even offer floating holidays so employees could select which days are most significant to them.
Belonging is enhanced through employee resource groups (ERGs), which enable members to discuss issues that affect them the most. Collective Health offers ERGs for different social identities and encourages employees to attend them; watch our Building a Culture of Diversity and Inclusion webinar to see how three purpose-driven companies are using ERGs as an opportunity to have challenging yet critical discussions within their workforces.
Create a Culture of Belonging
Diversity, equity inclusion and belonging (DEIB) has emerged as a core concept used by HR teams to improve morale, engagement, success and growth within organizations. DEIB goes beyond simply having a diverse workforce; rather it also means making sure that everyone feels they belong.
Create a sense of belonging among employees is both challenging and highly beneficial. When employees feel valued for their unique perspectives and contributions, they’re more likely to remain productive and engaged at work – be they new hires or veterans alike. Everyone deserves to feel like their voices matter in the workplace.
To build a culture of belonging in their company, companies must first develop and adhere to a diversity policy and establish goals for reaching inclusion objectives. Furthermore, leaders should practice what they preach by setting an example through diversity, equity and inclusion – without doing this, others may find it hard to embrace these values themselves.
Belonging is a relatively novel concept to workplace culture, and many companies are still trying to figure out how best to implement it. This may mean making sure all employees feel included; ERGs or simply altering hiring processes and policies so underrepresented employees have an easier time finding employment are just two methods for accomplishing this task.
Another effective strategy for cultivating a culture of belonging is through engaging in regular discussions regarding inclusion and diversity, with particular focus on their respective significance. These dialogues can take place during meetings or training sessions; or through celebrating holidays important to various cultures or religions.
Diversity has become increasingly important in the workplace, and companies that fail to prioritize it risk falling behind their rivals. For businesses to remain competitive and attract top talent, embracing a culture of diversity, inclusion and belonging is imperative; doing so ensures they have a team with diverse skillsets, leading to improved bottom lines.