Promoting diversity and equality in the workplace is key to business success.
Diversity and equality in the workplace are more of a business imperative than a feel-good solution to decades of race, gender, age, religious and sexual orientation discrimination. Having a culture that respects and includes people from different backgrounds helps organizations create better products, make inroads into new markets, and work with larger groups of customers. Promoting these principles at work means adopting a "diversity in all practices" approach. That is, diversity must be considered at every level and in each policy, from the management approach, to hiring and promoting, to business development.
Diversity is Good for Business
Equality and a culture of diversity in the workplace create multiple business opportunities. By making your workforce mirror the diverse demographics of your organization's customers, your organization will better understand your audience, build credibility with your audience, produce products that are in tune with customers' needs and increase the odds of making a sale. In other words, offering opportunity to people of different backgrounds and promoting an environment in which they can thrive and contribute gives your organization a leg up over the competition.
Promote Equality of Opportunity
Equality of opportunity means that qualified people, no matter their background, have the same chances of landing a job with you, scoring a promotion, and contributing ideas that are acted upon. Promote equality by challenging the biases of hiring managers and executive management and examining hiring and promotion practices to ensure that minorities have as much opportunity as non-minorities. In addition, your organization should have strong policies that ensure employees treat each other fairly. You should have zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment, equal pay for equal work, and reasonable accommodations for those who have disabilities or caregiving responsibilities.
Promote Diversity
Companies can harness diversity initiatives for their effect on the bottom line. Best practices include creating learning settings that support spreading the diversity gospel through brown bags, workshops and trainings. Many organizations also establish diversity talent pools, which bring people together from different backgrounds and different parts of the organization to solve problems, create or improve products, and conduct brainstorming. Other companies make good use of diversity initiatives by using members of a diverse workforce as ambassadors, as they branch out into new markets, especially when expanding overseas.
Grievances
Although workplace diversity and equality initiatives have been around for decades, they aren't always immediately accepted. Managers can expect some tension and conflict as they work to instill diversity and equality values. To avoid alienating minority workers and to allow non-minority workers room to express frustrations, companies need to include diversity and harassment grievance processes. Best practices call for designating more than one person to take complaints; this becomes especially relevant if a worker's manager is part of the problem. In addition, ensure that all your managers and supervisors are trained in your diversity and equality policies. You should promptly investigate any harassment complaints, keep records, and take strong action against the most egregious cases of harassment.
Don't Confuse Diversity with Quotas
Diversity and equality aren't numbers games. Your company won't immediately get any benefit from diversity if you simply hire enough black people, women or people with disabilities. You must adopt a culture and practice of inclusion, and you need to ensure the day-to-day practices of your organization don't drive away good talent. Inclusion means actively engaging all employees to the fullest extent possible, allowing them to be nurtured and mentored; encouraging them to learn from others; and growing their skill sets by providing training and exposure to other parts of the organization.
Tags: your organization, diversity equality, different backgrounds, Best practices, diversity initiatives