How companies can improve diversity and inclusivity
- December 19, 2022
How to improve diversity in the workplace
Workplace diversity is an important asset for companies wanting to achieve a successful, fair, and thriving work culture. A diverse workplace is about accepting and valuing differences from employees of all backgrounds. But, what can you do to achieve it for your business? Here are some top tips to help improve diversity in the workplace.
Review your company's composition and culture
On your roadmap to achieving better workplace diversity, one of the first things you need to do is review your company’s racial, ethnic and gender makeup and compare that to the local community. The community can give you a target for the diverse demographics you should be aiming to achieve.
It’s important to also review your workplace culture and make sure your company is appealing for diverse candidates. In order to make your business a desirable place to work, you’ll want to make sure your culture has a sense of inclusion and can accommodate people with different cultures, lifestyles and traditions.
Evaluate the diversity of your senior teams
Another important step to achieving workplace diversity is to review your senior teams. It’s vital to demonstrate diversity at all levels in order to show that your company is serious about being more inclusive. A diverse senior team will help to attract diverse candidates.
Set diversity goals and objectives
Setting goals to help you diversify your workforce will ensure you are on track to achieve your diversity objectives. As previously mentioned, you can set benchmarks for your diversity goals based on your existing workforce in comparison to diversity levels within the local community. As an example, you might notice that 55% of your local community are people who identify as women but only 38% of your company's employees are people who identify as women. Based on this, your goal could then be to increase the percentage to 45% by the end of the year.
Update your workplace policies to be more inclusive
Have you reviewed your workplace policies recently? Do they encourage an inclusive work environment?
Here is a list of policies you might want to consider updating:
- Dress code: If you currently have strict rules on office dress code around hairstyles, tattoos, or piercings for example, you may be excluding some candidates. Consider implementing a more relaxed policy to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable at work.
- Holidays: An inclusive holiday policy allows employees to take time off for religious and cultural holidays.
- Parental leave: You may want to consider reviewing your parental leave policies. Offering enhanced maternity and paternity leave is important if you want to appeal to all candidates.
- Work schedule: Offering flexible working options, such as part-time hours, remote working, and tailored start/finish times, are a great way to appeal to diverse employees.
Educate your current employers with diversity training
Never assume that your employees and senior teams understand the importance of workplace diversity, or that managers know how to hire a diverse team. Offering training for your existing employees is a great way to ensure everyone is aligned on the company values, and ensure they know how to play a role in the business achieving its diversity goals.
Tailor your recruitment process to reach diverse candidates
When thinking about your recruitment process, you’ll want to make sure you have a fair system in place for interviewing candidates. Implementing a structured hiring practice will help ensure every candidate is being treated equally, allowing for a fairer recruitment process. As well as that, there are ways you can reach more diverse candidates such as using job boards for specific segments. Sharing your job ads across a wider range of channels, will help them be seen by a wider group of people.
Continually review and improve internal processes
It’s not enough to simply roll out your workplace diversity plans and be done with it. A company that truly values inclusivity and diversity will continually review internal policies and processes to ensure they’re still inline with diversity goals. Make sure to check in with your employees too. They may be able to provide you with feedback, so you can ensure overall job satisfaction and equality in the workplace.
If you need more guidance on fairer recruitment processes, get in contact with the team today.