Does your team align and believe in your D&I initiatives

Every organization has its unique diversity and inclusion initiatives. These initiatives are in place to create an all-inclusive working environment and foster a sense of belonging. It’s ideal to test the initiatives to know whether they’re working and encouraging inclusion and equity at the workplace. But, does your team align and believe in your diversity and inclusion initiatives? If your assessment indicates that your initiatives are wanting, here’s what you can do to improve.

Make D&I Part of Your Core Business Strategy

Diversity and inclusion are not just about hiring a diverse workforce. That might get you on track, but you need to integrate D&I throughout all your organization’s strategies for you to realize the most benefits. Some measures you can use to enhance diversity across the entire organization include offering all-gender bathrooms, providing nursing lounges and a baby care station, and enforcing gender neutrality. Above all else, ensure that there’s diversity in gender, race, or orientation across all employment levels in your organization.

Involve High-Level Executives in D&I Initiatives

In many organization setups, management and decision-making take a top-down approach. By involving high-level executives, your organization will handle diversity and inclusion with the seriousness it deserves. That way, everyone is aware of the need to accept and value each team member, improving D&I adoption and success rate in the process. Each executive leader can take up a diversity and inclusion aspect related to their business role and embed it in their daily practices and routines. There’ll be a trickle effect that sees the staffing team align and believe in the diversity and inclusion initiatives your company adopts.

Improve Your Harassment and Discrimination Complaint System

Harassment and discrimination incidences are very common at workplaces. Often, the people with a higher position discriminate against the juniors. That may make it challenging to report and file complaints since there’s the possibility of retaliation. Worse could happen if an employee loses their job and gets stuck on their career path. And that’s why it’s wise to assess your organization’s internal complaint system and improve it to protect every staff member. You can also adopt an employee assistance program that offers an avenue to channel grievances and harassment. It’s also vital to take appropriate action against any person who discriminates or harasses any employee. That will act as an encouragement to persons facing such atrocities at work and a warning to the culprits.

Be Accommodative of Different Cultural and Religious Practices

It’s one of the best ways and practices you can adopt at the workplace to foster diversity and inclusion. Within your workforce, you’ll have people of different religious beliefs and cultural practices. It would help to honor the different religious, cultural, and social holidays and celebrations occurring throughout the year. Give the employees time off work to celebrate with their families and honor their traditions. You could also provide facilities such as separate fridges for Halal or Kosher meals. Another way to appreciate various religious and cultural practices is by organizing meal plans in the office kitchen, including pantries for vegan, Keto, or gluten-free diets. That shows that your organization respects and honors diversity and is willing to provide everyone an accommodative workspace.

Adopt the “Culture Add” Rather Than the “Culture Fit”

In many instances, employees have to conform and adapt to the organization’s norms and cultures. That can be frustrating, and it will usually affect performance. For instance, does your organization have a strict policy where employees can only speak one language? That’s one incident that the “culture fit” effect comes in. Contrastingly, a “culture add” approach includes encouraging employees to communicate in their language of choice when they deem it appropriate. Such an organization is aware of diversity and freely embraces employees from different backgrounds.

Assess the Satisfaction Level of Your Employees

Satisfied employees will often bring about business growth. That’s because the workforce is the fuel that drives any organization. Knowing the satisfaction rate of your employees is a good indicator of whether they believe and appreciate the diversity and inclusion initiatives in place. Here, employee satisfaction means that your organization met the staff’s expectations. Note that it’s not just about the salary but recognition, career development, and appreciation. One way of assessing employee satisfaction is by employing a survey that generates an employee satisfaction index. Findings from such assessments can give insight into whether your team believes in the D&I initiatives in place. You can also link employee satisfaction with factors such as their gender, age, race, religious affiliation, or physical disability. Later, adjust your current strategies and optimize them for future incorporation.

D&I measures can help your organization improve productivity and place it high on the global benchmark on diversity and inclusion. As long as your organization’s diverse workforce feels valued, it performs better. That ultimately translates to the efficiency and profitability of your organization or business. It’s no wonder many businesses are not only integrating D&I initiatives but also working towards ensuring that every staff member believes in the cause.