Strategies To Improve Inclusion In The Workplace

Creating a more inclusive and supportive work environment enhances teamwork and delivers more effective products and services. It can also increase productivity and encourage different ways of thinking to encourage improved decision making. Organisations that genuinely appreciate and support Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) in the workplace have higher engagement and retention rates. Both individuals and the business benefit.

Here are a few ways that diversity and inclusion can be encouraged and embedded in the workplace.

Organisational level – strategic

Create organisational goals to become an employer of choice for one or more under-represented groups e.g. people from culturally diverse backgrounds, mature-aged workers and younger workers, women, people with disabilities.

Recognise and respect the organisation’s responsibilities and obligations under federal and state/territory Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and anti-discrimination laws to make reasonable allowances for diversity.

Conduct a D&I audit – consider all HR policies and procedures through a D&I lens and make necessary changes.

In the workplace

• Provide reasonable adjustments and greater accessibility overall for people with disabilities and all employees.
• Encourage senior management to get directly involved in D&I – buy-in from the executive team is critical if D&I efforts are to succeed. For example, encourage senior managers to get involved by speaking at D&I training events, sharing information with employees, putting D&I on the agenda in company-wide meetings.
• Review the marketing visuals and language that the company uses – Are they reflective of the diversity of the general population? Do they sufficiently reflect the customer base? Do they reflect the range of employees that make up the workforce? Look at the marketing collateral through a D&I lens, both internal and external.
• Ensure events are planned to accommodate diverse needs, including disability/ies, religious and cultural events and language needs.

Workplace meetings

• Reinvent office meetings to ensure a wider range of voices are heard – distribute meeting agendas and share discussion points prior to meetings, make sure everyone gets an opportunity to speak at the meeting, give all attendees an opportunity to chair, try to make sure those speaking at meetings are not interrupted when speaking, and look at who is/is not invited to attend meetings.
• Ensure meetings and events are planned to accommodate diverse needs, including disability/ies, religious and cultural events and language needs.
• In all staff meetings ask people to ‘tell their story If they feel comfortable doing so – a persons’ journey and struggles can show diverse needs in the workplace.

Workplace activities

• Establish an employee network/committee which promotes and encourages D&I.
• Appoint D&I workplace champions to role model and promote diversity and inclusion.
• Facilitate information sharing sessions amongst all employees to enhance corporate knowledge of diversity and inclusion and to build relationships across the organisation.
• In consultation with employees, recognise and (if appropriate) celebrate holidays and events for under-represented groups, e.g., NAIDOC Week and Pride Week.
• Provide employees with an opportunity to complete an Implicit Association Test to help them recognise their own inherent biases. Creating awareness that we all have biases is often a good first step to challenging these biases and consciously working towards minimising and removing them.
• Create a D&I channel in the organisation’s digital communication tool. This can be used to promote D&I initiatives and events, provide resources and information, interesting articles.
• Create D&I collateral for employees (e.g., posters, knowledge cards) showing the ways that all employees can contribute to creating a workplace that is more inclusive.
• Have an ‘international food day’ where people bring a dish to share for lunch that highlights their culture – this is a great, informal way to start conversations about the different cultures represented in the workforce.
• Think about the D&I related technology that can be used to emphasise D&I. Have a look at Textio which can help write more inclusive job descriptions and job advertisements, and Allie a Slack bot specifically for messaging around D&I at work.
• Invite D&I guest speakers to speak to employees at company events. Ensure organisational events and conferences are representative and inclusive.

Training and development

• Create mentoring and sponsorship programs to develop leadership capability in under-represented employee groups.
• Recognise and value the abilities of all employees regardless of age; provide education programs for managers on cross-generational management of employees.
• Promote development opportunities with D&I in mind, with an emphasis on improving opportunities for under-represented groups.

Recruitment and HR planning

• Create and/or change recruitment and selection practices that value all candidates regardless of age, nationality, ethnicity, gender identity, disability, e.g., blind recruitment practices.
• Explicitly state the organisation’s commitment to building a diverse and inclusive culture within the organisation’s job advertisements and job descriptions – a simple sentence can send a strong message to job applicants.
• Audit all job descriptions to ensure they contain gender-neutral language.
• Introduce D&I early in the employment lifecycle – include it as part of the organisation’s onboarding program.
• Analyse promotion and placement announcements – are there differences in language and the attributes highlighted when promoting people of different genders, backgrounds and so forth.
• Enable phased retirement for employees to arrange a plan which provides them with work opportunities that are not necessarily full-time whilst remaining in the workforce, e.g., parttime work, casual work, job sharing, mentoring, taking on a training role, or working from home.
• Establish a ‘keep-in-touch’ program for employees on parental or other extended leave types.

Career planning, renumeration and benefits

• Implement initiatives designed to help employees balance work and personal responsibilities, e.g., flexible work arrangements, remote working/working from home options.
• Establish a culture of flexible work arrangements for all – adopt a ‘flex first’ approach.
• Promote a culture of ‘yes’ by encouraging leaders to ask, ‘how to make something work’ rather than ‘why can’t I make this work.’
• Measure and monitor the progress of increasing the number of women in roles at all levels in the organisation, particularly senior roles. Report this data to senior leadership and the Board.
• Measure and monitor pay equity and address any pay disparity.
• Shine a D&I light on the compensation negotiation process – studies show that men negotiate more often than women. Consider mentoring programs on how to negotiate worth in the workplace.
• Make D&I part of employee performance conversations, especially HR personnel (e.g., hiring personnel) to ensure there is clarity on the organisation’s expectations around D&I in human resource management practices. Help leaders understand how to have inclusive performance conversations.
• Listen to employees and try to invest in the things they care about; conduct a D&I survey or run focus groups with employees across the entire organisation

Note: Organisations have responsibilities and obligations under the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and anti-discrimination laws to make reasonable allowances for staff with religious or cultural responsibilities, such as prayer or attending special events

*Image: Diversity in Tech