09th December 2024
From Diversity to True Inclusion: Creating a Workplace Where Everyone Thrives
While diversity in hiring is important, creating an inclusive workplace is equally critical. Inclusivity requires proactive measures like reviewing policies, fostering psychological safety, and investing in cultural competence training. By building an environment where employees feel respected and supported, organizations enable individuals to bring their best selves without fear of discrimination.
This article was written by Steph Edusei and published in People Management.
Leaders often focus heavily on diversifying their workforce. They deploy resources into recruitment, striving to bring in a mix of ethnicities, genders, sexual orientations and disabilities. While this is an essential step, often a crucial aspect is missed: the environment these new employees will enter.
It’s not uncommon for people to be hired to increase diversity within the organisation only to find themselves in an extremely hostile environment. I’ve seen people brought in and celebrated for their diversity, only to feel (sometimes after a relatively short time) that they have to move on, or risk being dismissed for one of the potential skills they bring: an ability to recognise inequality and advocate for change.
So how do you create a welcoming and supportive environment, in which individuals don’t feel isolated and unwelcome?
Review your policies
Look at your policies, including dress codes, to ensure they are inclusive. For example, make sure protective hairstyles for Black employees are accepted and respected. Policies should reflect the different family relationships in some minority communities, including extended families, or found families, which are often associated with LGBTQ+ communities.
Make proactive changes
Implement changes before you hire so employees don’t perceive things as being adapted to suit the new person. For example, if you can, install gender-neutral restrooms or provide sanitary products in ALL bathrooms. Create a quiet, reflective space for all faiths and personal reflection. These actions among others demonstrate a commitment to inclusion and prevent new hires from being singled out.
When minorities point out discrimination, they often face denial and gaslighting or are accused of being aggressive… or, worse, ‘not a team player’. Constantly fighting these battles alone can be exhausting. A colleague once told me: “Sometimes people like to say it’s about race, but it’s actually about performance.” That can be true. But sometimes, performance issues happen because there’s an issue about race, prejudice or intolerance of some form. Things like that should at least be considered a possibility. Would the situation be handled differently if everyone involved was white, male, heterosexual, cis-gendered and so on? These are the kinds of questions we need to ask.
What can you do to prevent this from happening?
Invest in cultural competence and anti-racist training
Unconscious bias training is a start, but it shouldn’t be the end. Businesses need to invest in cultural competence and anti-racist training. Everyone should understand what discrimination looks like and how to combat it. The burden of pointing out discrimination shouldn’t fall solely on those affected by it.
To continue reading this article in full click here: Yes, you’re diverse – but are you inclusive?
