Making Work Place More Inclusive

Workplace diversity is a term used for creating an inclusive work environment. 

Companies with workplace diversity employ individuals with a variety of different characteristics, such as age, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, religion, political views, cultural background, etc. 

In an inclusive workplace culture, all these individual differences among employees are accepted and all employees are treated on an equal basis.  

Leading an inclusive office is about more than hiring individuals with diverse backgrounds, cultures, and lifestyles.

Although that is a great starting point, inclusion requires a little bit more effort from team leaders,  why not make "Creating a more inclusive workplace" one of your business resolutions?

In today's article, we'll give you some guidance on how you can achieve that goal, so keep reading to enhance your leadership skills even further!

Diversity vs Inclusion: Is There a Difference?

Before we get into how you can create an inclusive workplace, it's important to fully grasp the definition of inclusion.

Many times, inclusion is seen as a synonym of diversity and the two concepts are used interchangeably, but that's not exactly correct.

Both diversity and inclusion are very much needed in order to create a positive work environment. But they vary in the sense that while diversity refers to the differences and similarities between people, inclusion focuses on embracing and celebrating said differences.

A diverse workplace would be an office with employees from different countries, sexual orientations, religions, and such. An inclusive workplace would be an office that acknowledges all of those differences and makes sure that everyone feels accepted and valued for who they are.

A workplace that's both diverse and inclusive is nothing less than the recipe for success and the following statistics prove it!

Why Is Inclusion in the Workplace So Important?

The answer to this question can vary.

For one, as human beings, we should always support each other. Whether we're speaking about employees, individuals in authoritative positions, your business partners... open-mindedness can only lead to forward-looking connections.

But that's not all.

Inclusion and diversity are also advantageous business-wise:

· Companies that are more diverse than average had 19% higher innovation revenues in 2018.

· In that same year, 43% of companies with diverse boards achieved higher profits.

· Companies that are ethnically diverse are 35% more likely to achieve above-average financial returns.

· Diverse teams are 87% better at decision-making.

Convinced about the power of inclusion? Keep reading and learn how you can transform your office into an inclusive workplace.

1. Connect with Your Employees

First things first, if you want your workplace to be inclusive, you need to lead by example.

2. Be Open-Minded

Being open-minded is just as important as connecting with your team.

3. Support and Celebrate Your Employees' Differences

By now, you know to connect with your employees with an open mind, so what's the next step? Easy: it's commemorating!

Being heard is great, but being celebrated is even better.

* Create a shared calendar                                    

*   Have a prayer room in the office

    *   Train your team on cultural diversity

4. Rethink Your Meetings

Inclusion is meetings is all about making sure that everyone feels like they can speak up and contribute to whatever's being discussed.

*  Create a plan for the meeting before-hand and send it to the participants
*  Praise your employees

* Be aware of your communication style

5. Create Resource Groups

It's possible that some of your employees aren't yet comfortable with whatever differences they have compared to the rest of the team.

6. Make Sure Everyone's Safe

As mentioned before, not everyone is a fan of diversity and inclusion.

7. Speak Up About Inclusion

Finally, be vocal about the importance of inclusion in your office. A few easy ways you can do this are:

*  Including inclusion as a core value in your onboarding material

* Including inclusion as a core value on your website

* Celebrating diversity on social media

CONCLUSION

Making an effort to make your team members feel heard and understood is halfway to creating an inclusive workplace.

Once they realize the effort you're making towards celebrating and valuing each and every single one of them, they'll be even more willing to give it their all at work.

And those statistics that we mentioned earlier? Well, you might just start noticing them as you analyze your business progress and results.

Plus, your employee retention will be like never before: after all, who would want to leave a company that has included as one of its core values?

REFERENCES

Swisshelm, M K

WorkLogidHR

Modern Solutions, Smarter HR

Anja Zojceska | Culture & People | Workplace Diversity | December 22, 2018