With our current labour market, which includes four generations in the workplace and an increased reliance on migrant workers, diversity in the workplace is greater than ever. Not only are the work teams more diverse, but with a global market, so are our clients. The challenge for employers is to create an inclusive environment that draws on the strengths of their people and meets the needs of the customer base.
What differences do you have in your workplace? Are you maximizing the differences to leverage success for your staff and your organization?
We hear a lot of talk about diversity, generally meaning differences, which can actually be any difference that you can conceive: height, weight, eye colour, right handed vs. left handed, gender, physical ability, age, ethnicity, and on a deeper level: parental status, sexual orientation, veteran status, work style, etc.
The challenge for employers is to move from diversity to inclusion in the workplace, removing the barriers to full participation in order to achieve business outcomes. It involves managing the differences within the workforce to create an environment where all people can fully engage in the workplace, thus using their differences in order to meet business needs, while creating an atmosphere of mutual respect and appreciation that supports staff to collaborate effectively.
Inclusiveness keeps staff involved and engaged
In this labour market, managing diversity simply makes good business sense. Let’s look at how diversity can impact the workplace. What happens in your organization when a staff member or several staff members do not feel valued? Decreased communication, decreased self-esteem, decreased involvement, decreased morale, lowered productivity and increased absenteeism are a few indicators that diversity is not being managed well in your workplace. People who feel respected for their talents and differences, and recognized for their strengths, will be more engaged in their work, more likely to accept a challenge and want to contribute to the team, experience increased morale, and increase productivity. When people are given the opportunity to use their talents to benefit the workplace, morale is increased and a mutual respect among team members is fostered.
How can recognizing the differences within your organization improve overall morale in your workplace? When team members recognize the value in each others’ differences and learn how the different talents can be combined to benefit the outcome of a project or service, they are more likely to respect one another, work more cohesively and improve productivity in the workplace, which, for the employer, pays off in improved service and production. Let’s face it, if your staff are happy, they are more productive, they stay with your organization, and they treat your clients better. If your clients are treated well, they let others know about the outstanding service they have received.
External diversity
Internal diversity is one factor that impacts your organization, but it is also important to consider external diversity. Not only are our employees more diverse, but so are our clients. Capitalizing on the diversity of your workforce can give you the edge on the market. How are the differences among your employees similar to the demographic that you serve? Are there talents within your organization that you can tap into in order to better meet the diverse needs of your market? Do you need to add to the diversity of your work team in order to better access and serve the diverse market you want to reach?
Managing diversity and working toward inclusion takes a certain skill set. Some of these skills include: cultural awareness and understanding, generational awareness and understanding, cross cultural communication, teamwork, and conflict resolution. If you are looking at creating an inclusive workplace, combining these skills will give you the necessary tools to create a work environment that is respectful and inclusive, as well as giving you the edge on responding effectively to the opportunities and challenges that diversity brings to your organization.
Where to begin
So you want to develop a diversity/inclusion strategy in your organization, but you don’t know where to start. First, identify your goals, determine what you would like to achieve in the next three to five years, and link this to your people strategy. What level of diversity do you currently have in place? What are you missing? How can you leverage your people as a competitive advantage? Do you want to expand your market, and, if so, what is it you need to add when you are looking to hire?
Creating an inclusive climate will be different for each business/organization and depends on the blend of diversity you currently have within your team and where your strengths and weaknesses are now. Talking to your staff is important. What is their perception of the work environment? Quite often, it may be different than you think. Your internal temperature will give you the best guide for moving forward. Look at what other organizations are doing that is successful; adopting ideas from others’ best practices can be helpful in developing your own strategy for inclusion, keeping in mind that tailoring it to your workplace needs will be required to keep it relevant to your desired outcomes. Include your people in the development of your inclusion initiatives and inform your new people about the inclusion policy you have in place and the initiatives you have to support it. Reward your people for participating in workplace inclusion practices.
Some strategies for inclusive workplaces can take the form of mentoring, diversity committees, and shared accountability and responsibility processes. Choosing the right system for your people can go along way toward ensuring your inclusion initiatives are effective.
Keeping your inclusion practices relevant and updated is also important. Building measurements into evaluations can be a useful tool for giving value to your inclusion initiatives and measuring your inclusion participation with your staff. Also, measuring the impact of your inclusion practices will help you stay focused, go beyond managing diversity, and help you take a more strategic approach to inclusion. Choosing the right combination of metrics to measure your success rates and identify areas of focus will be sure to give you a leg up when it comes to managing diversity strategically and effectively.
Kathline Holmes, president of Gailforce Resources, is a Certified Human Resources Professional with strategic human resources management training from Cornell University. She serves on the BC Human Resources Management Association Advisory Council for the Southern Interior Region, has contributed articles for HEART Business Journal for Women, acts as an HR Expert for Business to Business, and volunteers as a mentor for the Women’s Enterprise Centre. Contact her at Kathy@gailforceresources.com.
