Diversity and inclusion are very broad concepts that cover so many aspects of who we are, what we do, how we do it and why. Discussing HR’s impact on diversity and inclusion in the workplace can be a conversation on anything from recruitment, performance, training, development, strategy or growth.
The most immediate concern for businesses is to ensure that they are operating under a legally compliant framework. Having the right policies and procedures in place ensuring that both the employer and employees are educated and protected with regarding to diversity is critical.
The next step is to review and implement strategies to ensure the employee population within the business represents varied cultural, academic and professional backgrounds. Also to ensure that there is a natural balance of gender, age and race represented.
Diversity and inclusion filter down from the ‘top’; it’s about having a senior management team who believes in it and acts on it; leading by example! Building a diverse team is a great starting point to delivering on your diversity goals. Ensuring that you approach your recruitment with diversity in mind can seem challenging. However, there are three simple steps to take:
1) Write a clear job description covering all aspects of the role
2) Ensure that you post the role in the appropriate places to attract diverse talent
3) Make sure your selection processes increase rather than decrease talent variance.
Turning your diversity process into an inclusion strategy takes a little more effort. For an employee to feel included in their workplace they need to have the confidence that they will have equal opportunities during their entire employee lifecycle: from the jobs advertised, the employer brand, fair treatment in the hiring process, how they are managed, trained, developed evaluated and promoted. Then on to how they are governed, structured and protected under the letters of the law.
Gaining your employees trust and confidence is achieved through developing these inclusive strategies, openly communicating with your employees, welcoming feedback, acting on that feedback and most importantly delivering on your promises.
The difference between a business with a diversity policy and a truly inclusive business is that you can hear the diverse voices at every point of engagement, through its bottom-line performance, its people and its plans for future success.
Real diversity around your table enables capability and creativity of the kind that is hard to imagine.
Speak to one of the ViewHR team to discover how we can help support your management team to create a more diverse and inclusive culture in your business.
