10 Ways To Improve Diversity Within Your Organization

As employers, diversity objectives are vital for you today because they enable you to gauge how well your efforts are working. They also promote teamwork, the development of innovative ideas, and creativity. The diversity objectives can be established by examining employee demographics and contrasting them with the industrial sector. You can focus on what requires improvement by defining specific targets, and it will also motivate employees to collaborate on shared objectives.

 A Boston Consulting Group study from 2018 discovered that diversified businesses with “above-average diversity on their executive teams” generate 19% more revenue from innovation. The corporation polled 1,700 company staff members in eight different countries. These businesses ranged in size and in the sector they served, but they all reaped the benefits of having diverse management teams in charge. Achieving diversity within a company and maintaining it can be challenging, so, how can organizations enhance workplace diversity? Let’s look at a few solutions.

See if your current workforce is representative of your community

You’re certainly ahead of the curve if your business is attempting to boost the representation of its employees and foster diversity in the workplace, and it’s good to check if your current workforce reflects your community.

In your organization, take a glance at the leadership positions that diverse groups like women and people of color hold, and contrast that with the representation of those groups in lower-level positions. Uncover how many women and minorities work at your company holding the leadership position by surveying employees. You can use Google Forms to gather this data anonymously. Employers should discuss the data, draw a conclusion and deliver the progress report along with points on how the management plans to tackle any issue that arises.

Having a diverse and inclusive staff is a morale booster for employees. From Josh Bersin’s research, A company’s likelihood of being a market innovator is 1.7 times higher when it is inclusive. It covers racial diversity, sexual orientation, gender diversity, and more. Are there an equal number of males and women? How about individuals with different cultural and religious backgrounds?

In a 2019 publication, exactly 24 of the Fortune 500 company CEOs are women, according to a Boston Consulting Group (BCG) study report, making up just 5% of all CEOs. Only three of the 500 CEOs are black, another three are openly gay, and one self-identifies as a lesbian, according to the same survey.

Assure potential candidates that your company is dedicated to diversity

Assure prospective employees that your business is committed to diversity and improving diversity in the workplace, during the interview process itself. Putting out the company’s commitment to D&I in the first impression helps the potential candidate understand the company’s values. And not just the first interview, highlighting the small elements of D&I initiatives on the company’s website, job postings, and social media pages showcase the organization’s commitment towards improvement and making every employee feel welcome. During the hiring process, it’s simple for hiring managers to see themselves mirrored in the potential candidates, but understanding how to look beyond it matters.

Diversity extends beyond racial or gender differences. A team within your firm that supports what diversity stands for, can help build a welcoming environment for an applicant from an underrepresented community,  who desires to work for a purpose they are passionate about.

Employees should be urged to recommend friends who might enjoy working at their company, irrespective of whether they fall into a specific demographic. Employee referrals for job candidates from varied backgrounds demonstrate that everyone wishes to contribute to the success of your organization.

Make sure that a diverse set of voices are heard in meetings

One of the most common challenges in meetings is ensuring that all voices are heard. It’s easy to get caught up in our thoughts, but we need to make sure everyone has a chance to speak. Managing a diverse team requires the right experience and knowledge, and failure in this regard can adversely affect the team’s performance, and thereby, the company. Therefore, managers must regularly undergo training to manage different teams, especially with increasing workforce diversity. It will be easier and more fulfilling if the managers and team leads understand the people and their personalities. 

Furthermore, leaders must spend some time getting to know each member of the group and form relationships with them. The time and effort people invest in getting to know and building relationships with other group members will enable a higher degree of trust, and more interesting talks, ultimately leading to success for the group. 

Give equal importance to all religions and cultures

The world is home to a wide variety of civilizations, ideologies, and faiths. Supporting religions and cultures is a part of supporting diversity in the workplace. We must learn about these distinctions and make every effort to comprehend them if we want to better understand and learn from one another. We ought to respect one another’s peculiarities as well.

The effectiveness of diversity initiatives depends on the outcome of an inclusive culture, which will increase participation and productivity.

For example: Pay attention to occasions and holidays, such as Christmas- even though some businesses continue to give employees a day off for Christmas, the majority offer floating holidays to respect everyone’s choice of religion. 

Likewise, the business benefits from increased employee retention when workers believe their organization is dedicated to diversity and inclusion.

Design Mentorship and Training Programs to Promote Diversity

Mentorship programs are great ways to provide new employees with support and guidance from experienced staff members. These programs can help employees connect with people with similar interests or backgrounds so they feel comfortable in their new environment. According to the National library of medicine research, mentorship can boost self-assurance and job fulfillment in underrepresented communities( women and minorities).

You can also use mentorship programs as a way of screening potential employees before you hire them. Before hiring, ensure your mentorship program covers multiple aspects of diversity — gender, race, age, sexual orientation, and disability status — so that all employees feel welcome. A few necessary elements of diversity mentoring programs are providing encouragement and support, visibility, boosting talent, and innovation, building a team, creating a sense of belonging, and overall development of the company.

Prioritizing workplace diversity means prioritizing a healthy, safe and equal environment. Creating Training Programs for Employees training programs are another great way to promote diversity within your organization. These programs offer new employees valuable information about how the company operates, promote diversity in the workplace,  and allow them to ask questions about things they don’t understand yet. Training programs can also help alleviate common concerns that may arise when someone joins a new company.

Hire diversity managers

A new class of experts called diversity managers helps businesses foster an inclusive workplace. Their job is to question the existing status quo and motivate staff members from all walks of life to speak up and provide their thoughts. While implementing diversity in the workplace, a diversity manager, who is well-versed in the finer aspects of diversity, can easily guide the managers and employees in a direction designed to achieve the organization’s diversity goals. 

Hiring a diversity manager can lead to better employee engagement. Companies must work harder than ever to create an environment where all employees feel inclined to be authentic in the workplace in today’s competitive business environment. Diversity managers can aid in this by fostering a culture where workers of all backgrounds—including those of color, gender, and sexual orientation—feel respected. Employee productivity and engagement will rise, bringing both hiring managers and employees to a common objective of growing and learning. These metrics aren’t just about promoting a diverse workforce but also about creating a culture of trust and faith in the company.

Market your workplace diversity initiatives

With the increasing importance to diversity in the workplace, releasing diversity statements and reports to the global audience speaks volumes about how the company is moving forward to the future with diverse teams operating in various positions. From leadership positions to entry-level roles, how diverse employees are operating efficiently and effectively in the workplace and bringing profitability, and creating a safe space for other employees to work together. 

Additionally, it is important to talk about the KPIs, statistics, programs, initiatives, diversity, and inclusion training, etc., which are great ways to educate employees on how to avoid unconscious bias and discrimination, and treat others with respect and equality at the workplace.

Partner with Minority Groups and Organizations in your Community

Partnering with minority groups and organizations in your community is a fantastic method to ensure you’re recruiting diverse workers. These groups can assist you in locating excellent applicants from a variety of backgrounds who might not be readily available on job boards or social media platforms. They can help with outreach initiatives by informing their members about employment openings.

These collaborations also allow you to collaborate with people who are enthusiastic about inclusion, and diversity, thereby, boosting workplace representation, and generating a more diverse workforce. If you’re looking for a non-intrusive way to promote diversity, think about collaborating with local organizations that support minority groups. This way you can recruit a diverse workforce easily, and at the same time, build a profitable and meaningful partnership with the community. 

Offer an Inclusive Benefits Package

One of the most important things to consider while integrating diversity in the workplace is to offer employees an inclusive benefits package. Not only do benefits help attract talented candidates, but they can also motivate your current employees to stay with your company. It’s important to understand how to create an inclusive and competitive benefits package that will keep employees happy and productive. 

Offering an inclusive benefits package is one way to attract and retain the best workers. Top talents from minority groups are more likely to be drawn to corporations with inclusive practices because they feel at ease working for a business that has their best interests at heart. Many companies overlook how essential it is to offer an inclusive benefits package when recruiting new employees.

Create an Inclusive Culture and Environment

In an inclusive culture and work environment, employees are more likely to be heard, bring more positive outcomes, and feel more motivated to work. As per Gartner, 75% of inclusive companies exceed their financial target goals. Therefore, at its roots, encouraging diversity in the workplace leads to a happier and financially successful workplace. 

Some key factors to be mindful of when building an inclusive workplace are having open communication, offering empathy, providing open feedback, holding inclusive meetings, and delegating opportunities among the team members.

The most important step in creating an inclusive environment is to consciously practice it every single day and at every level. These steps add up to form a culture of equality, inclusivity, and an all-around excellent work environment. At the same time, we must understand that this is a long-term endeavor. And on occasion, we will create blunders.