One
of the greatest challenges diversity employers face today is getting
the right talents their companies need, while managing their
workforce diversity. It's a delicate balancing of attracting &
hiring the best talents --- on the basis of their skillsets,
knowledge/educational attainment, & experience, and without
regard to their race/ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, among
other characteristics – and retaining them.
What
also makes diversity challenging is creating the right environment
where a strong sense of inclusion is experienced. As one diversity &
inclusion expert stated that “every organization has diversity, but
the challenge is getting inclusion right.”
Diversity,
according to one dictionary definition, is “the state of
having people who are different races or who have different cultures
in a group...” (Merriam-Webster).
Now
one apt, academic definition states that "Diversity" means
more than just acknowledging and/or tolerating difference. Diversity
is a set of conscious practices that involve:
- Understanding and appreciating interdependence of humanity, cultures, and the natural environment.
- Practicing mutual respect for qualities and experiences that are different from our own.
- Understanding that diversity includes not only ways of being but also ways of knowing;
- Recognizing that personal, cultural and institutionalized discrimination creates and sustains privileges for some while creating and sustaining disadvantages for others;
- Building alliances across differences so that we can work together to eradicate all forms of discrimination.
Inclusion,
on the other hand, is the engine that drives diversity programs to
fruition and success.
Inclusion
involves creating an environment or climate of acceptance,
recognition of the differences in characteristics, opinions,
perspectives, ideas, and experiences.
Diversity and inclusion still matter even
in the new millenium; in fact, more so.
A population research by the Pew
Research Center (PRC) earlier this year showed that the US
demographic make-up is more racially and ethnically diverse than in
the past, and is projected to get more diverse in the decades to
come.
By
2055, the U.S. will not have a single racial or ethnic majority. Much
of this change has been (and will be) driven by immigration.[...]
More Americans say immigrants strengthen the country than say they
burden it, and most say the U.S.’s increasing ethnic diversity
makes it a better place to live.
Part
of that PRC report also showed that as
more women have entered the workforce, the share of women in top
leadership jobs has risen, but they still make up a small share of
the nation’s political and business leaders relative to men.
As
is also stressed in a Forbes article,
the customer base is rapidly changing, which means changing tastes
and preferences. These same groups of people who are your new
customers need to be represented in your firm.
Therefore,
companies need to be in step with these demographic shifts, as it is
good for their businesses, for the country's economy, and fortifies
the US dominance in the global market.
Companies
with more diverse workforces performs better financially, according
to a McKinsey analysis (2015)
involving 366 public companies across a range of industries in
Canada, Latin America, the United Kingdom, and the United States –
whose financial performance as well as the composition of top
management and board were taken into account. Among the findings of
the research were:
*Gender-diversed
companies are 15% more likely to outperform companies in the bottom
quartile for gender diversity;
*Racially
and ethnically-diversed companies are 35% more likely to outperform
those in the lower quartile for racial and ethnicity diversity.
But
to make diversity truly thriving, not just by the numbers, an
inclusive work culture is crucial. An inclusive work culture is
wherein each employee feels included, that he or she belongs, it is
okay to express one's viewpoint or ideas without fear of being
ridiculed or dismissed, and that one's contribution is appreciated
and recognized.
Building
an Inclusive Work Culture
Certainly
nobody wants to feel isolated or unwelcome at work. Most employees
need to feel a sense of importance and of being accepted by peers and
bosses, which are a great motivation for giving their utmost to their
work.
The
Golden Rule is a good guiding principle in creating an inclusive work
environment.
One
effective way to practise the Golden Rule is:
*
Treating others with empathy. In today's workplace, empathy is
found to be fundamental to forging closer relationships and better
job performance.
A study undertaken by the Center for Creative Leaderships (CCL)
showed – among other findings - that empathy is
positively related to job performance. Managers who show more empathy
toward direct reports are viewed as better performers in their job by
their bosses.
Noted
international motivational speaker, executive life coach,
author, CEO DeLores Pressley once wrote that empathetic executives
and managers realize that the bottom line of any business is only
reached through and with people.
Indeed.
And where there's empathy, there's trust. And where there's trust,
there's greater cooperation and productivity.
Here
are some more concrete ways to foster inclusion within the
organization:
*
Learning about others' cultural backgrounds, lives and interests.
This paves the way for better understanding of and respect for others
as individuals, of who they are and where they come from. This can be
facilitated through cultural awareness training, augmented with
community outreach programs. Cultural awareness helps avoid misguided
notions due to ignorance, biases and prejudices.
*
Keeping communication lines open. Make
everyone feel safe to discuss important issues especially those that
relate to discrimination, for example, without fear of recrimination.
An open door policy is
necessary if trust is to be built between a company's leaders and its
employees.
*
Hosting team-building and social activities, including
cultural events builds
camaraderie and good relationships, as
well as showing importance to the employees' respective cultures.
This boosts employee morale, improves work performance, and creates
good vibes in the workplace, making
it a comfortable place to come to each working day. Happy employees
lead to better customer service and happy customers.
*
Inclusion of employees in decision-making and planning of
company events makes employees
feel valued for their thoughts and contributions, thus inspiring them
to give their best.
*
Being clear and firm about the company's policies on diversity and
inclusion – reviewed and
updated to be responsive to its present needs - to
ensure everyone cooperates in promoting an inclusive work culture. It
is important that sanctions against any form of discrimination be
followed consistently to show the company's zero tolerance for such
unwanted behavior.
A
company may have the numbers to show of its diverse workforce, but its strong supportive, inclusive work environment is the soil from which
diversity will truly thrive well.
