Through the human resource leadership of your company, your company recruits an inclusive and diverse workforce. This workforce includes a wide range of ethnicities, races, genders, ages, and perspectives. Hiring people with such diverse backgrounds and identities reflects the company's inclusivity with pride. 

Research has shown that benefits of diversity include better leadership, higher innovation, stronger decision making, higher job acceptance, higher performance, and higher revenue.  

However, inculcating Diversity and Inclusion in the workplace isn’t that easy. Often times companies neglect the inclusivity aspect which requires a culture where all employees feel included. That can be a striving force to drive talent to your company, for which it is crucial to get the inclusion part right. Inclusivity is the key to maintaining diversity in the workplace. So how can you check off the diversity and inclusion (D&I) box on your to-do list for building a great workplace?

Here are the top ways through which you can practice diversity and inclusion at your workplace:

1. Educate your Leaders

Start with the frontline tier that directly communicates and makes decisions for the company. The executive team is a huge signifier for the rest of your company from your stakeholders to customers. Many times, the leaders and the HR can take D&I for granted which might sideline the company goals for diversity. The top management of your company speaks great volume about your culture. 

2. Acknowledging Different Cultures and Practices

Honoring different cultures and religious practices can be important to encourage diversity and inclusion. Different holidays and celebrations of different cultures can be taken into consideration. Floating holidays to accommodate religious holidays can be a good practice. With these practices, employees feel satisfied and supported which helps the company in higher employee retention.

3. Making Sure Every Voice is Heard

Many times employees quit jobs when they feel that their authentic self is not being valued or appreciated. It can be vital to create an atmosphere where all employees feel a sense of connectedness to the company and its people. Employees need to feel free to express themselves based on their unique perspectives. Companies must make sure employees feel included and respected regardless of their age, gender, religion, or country of origin. 

4. One on One Conversations

It is important to learn what employees care about. One-on-one discussions with employees can be a great practice to learn what the employees care about. For this to be effective, managers need to be open-minded, in order for employees to feel safe, comfortable, and unjudged. This can help the employees in being more honest with the managers.

5. Include D&I in Performance Conversations

Not connecting D&I directly to individual goals can be difficult at times. In this situation, you can still touch upon hiring managers’ efforts, progress, and the expectations you have for them in performance conversations. This creates a sense of responsibility for every member of an organization to act with intention and awareness.

6. Partnering with Nonprofit and Community Organizations

A variety of nonprofits offer tutoring and volunteer opportunities where your employees can share their skills. Keep in mind, too, that a local nonprofit might be in dire need of space in the evenings, of which your office may have plenty. Furthermore, it is important to create branches and programs within your company to give back to the community. For example, Reebok’s BOKS program gives to young children in underprivileged regions and Goldman Sach’s 10,000 Small Businesses Plan provides loans to young entrepreneurs. You won’t know until you reach out.

7. Start Talking About Your Practices

Diversity attracts diversity, as so much of the talent pool is seeking a safe, inclusive place where they can do their best work. Ask your current employees from underrepresented groups to write about their experience at your company so prospective candidates have an authentic perspective. 

8. Organizing Weekly Team Bonding Activities

Employee bonding can be crucial to promote inclusivity. Group activities and challenges can help in creating better rapport amongst employees. It can encourage an uplifting and comforting atmosphere, where employees know that they have each other’s backs and that their managers will support them through circumstances.

9. Reflecting Individual Needs

In addition to holiday parties, many offices celebrate minor holidays or events like birthdays. Making sure the bathrooms have enough hygiene products for the female workers, providing a mother’s room, parental leave policies, etc can be small steps towards putting forward employee needs.

10. Giving Underrepresented Employees a Voice

At times, underrepresented employees who don’t open up very much or are introverts can find it difficult to speak up and thus remind unheard. Top management should make sure that they inculcate activities and methods through which their voice and opinions can be heard.

11. Eliminating Biases in the Evaluation Process

Many times hiring process becomes unfair due to unconscious racism, sexism, ageism or other factors. While hiring, promoting, and evaluating jobs managers need to de-bias their practices and procedures.  Setting diversity goals as an organization, following blind-screening, rewriting gender-neutral job descriptions are a few ways for combating biases.

12. Welcoming a Multigenerational Workforce

Millennials make up the vast majority of the workforce. Having a workforce that recognizes and accommodates multiple generations is essential in building a diverse and inclusive workforce. And while millennials are generally known for being tech-savvy, bear in mind this generation encompasses ages 22 to 38. The older millennials might not have the same proficiency with tech tools as their younger counterparts.

13. Strengthening Anti-discrimination Policies

According to research, superficial policies and language are insufficient to truly institute real change. Leadership commitment and strengthening anti-discriminatory policies are also critical. And since every organization is different, a tailored approach makes sense for success.

14. Celebrating Employee Differences

If you have diverse people in your workforce make them feel loved, strong, and belonged. Celebrate their small successes and big ideas. This environment will make them feel heard and like they belong, allowing them to better contribute and participate in furthering the company’s goals.

15. Review the Visuals of your Careers Page 

What demographics are represented in your photos? In your leadership bios? Candidates can interpret a non-diverse careers page as a sign of a non-inclusive workplace.

Like these, there are many other ways to bring in diversity & inclusion. Start small. Talk to your employees, understand their needs, and frame your strategies accordingly. 

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