Champion Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Your Workforce
From the smallest private company to the largest multinational corporation, cultivating a workplace culture that leverages acceptance and growth of all employees is paramount to success. Eighty percent of respondents in a Deloitte study on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DE&I) said that DE&I is an important factor in choosing an employer, and 72% would leave an organization for another organization that has more of the diverse and inclusive aspects they desire.
A growing body of evidence demonstrates the numerous benefits of a diverse workplace. A recent study finding that diverse teams produce 19% more revenue. Employees in diverse workplace settings are also more engaged, which leads to great productivity and satisfaction.
How to Champion Diversity and Inclusion at Work
Below are some ideas on how to generate a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace:
Embrace diversity internally and externally: Celebrate holidays that honor diversity in your workplace or conduct employee volunteer activities in diverse neighborhoods. Other ideas include forming employee resource groups (ERGs) to create internal support networks for diverse employee or setting up mentoring programs to nurture junior staff.
Develop policies that strengthen workplace DE&I: Go beyond what’s required by law to take an active stance on discrimination, harassment, or microaggressions. Moreover, train your employees about how to be more accepting of differences among colleagues.
Seek out diverse job candidates: Post job ads on websites targeting diverse candidates and access organizations related to your industry in diverse communities or academic institutions.
Provide opportunities for diverse employees in managerial and senior level positions: Diversity should exist across all levels of your company, particular at the higher echelons. Research shows that that companies with diverse senior-level teams are more financially successful.
Compensate diverse employees fairly: Conduct an audit to assess employee compensation and adjust salaries accordingly if there are pay discrepancies among your diverse workers.
Track your progress: Devise metrics to determine the demographic makeup of your workforce, guide DE&I programs, monitor workplace satisfaction, or further other programmatic efforts.
Communicate support to your employees and customers: Use your website, social media channels, brochures, newsletters, and other internal and external forms of communication to demonstrate that you’re a champion for diversity and a voice to advocate for DE&I.
Supplier diversity: Establish policies and programs to target diverse suppliers to enhance your value chain.
Board diversity: Design a governance structure that encourages recruiting and retaining diverse members of your board of directors.
