‘Thinking independently, together’ this quote by Malcolm Forbes aptly defines diversity and would certainly resonate with various leaders out there.
Diversity has been a topic of debate and discussion for ages. While the organizations have been trying to ensure diversity in their boardrooms, this concept is gradually making its way beyond the boardrooms as well.
The idea behind including diversity and inclusion in the organization is to create a culture of belonging. This allows every employee to be authentic and provides them many opportunities for growth irrespective of their experience and designation. With the pandemic causing disruptions, organizations have been making concerted efforts to cope with the industry dynamics and changing employees’ expectations. Hence, the dire need of the hour is to create an inclusive, accessible, and equitable culture to sail through the turbulent times. Deloitte highlighted this trend in its reports, which states that companies now pay special attention to inclusion even when they are diverse.
DIVERSITY: THE PRIORITY FOR ORGANIZATIONS
Diversity now tops the priority list of organizations. As per Gartner’s reports, the ratio of DEI efforts being a priority for HR leaders was 1.8 times higher in 2020 than in 2019. This trend has indeed picked up pace over the period. Hence, it would be appropriate to say that for organizations, it is imperative to view inclusion, equity, and access as a part of their cultural framework so that everyone can embrace the diversity of viewpoints and share new perspectives. This will enable the organizations to leverage the benefits of diversity as well as will empower employees to be their best version.
Let us have a glimpse at the various ways through which organizations can incorporate diversity and inclusion-
THE ROLE OF LEADERS IN BUILDING A DIVERSE WORKPLACE
To build a diverse workplace, leaders need to answer questions such as why their organization needs diversity, what is it that their organization intends to achieve through the program and how will it be aligned with the company’s growth strategy. The leaders also need to be resolute to achieve and sustain diversity so they can transpire the same vision to the organization at large! Once they have clarity on the reasons, the focus should be on ensuring that organizations have a sustainable and organic approach.
As per Harvard Business Review, most leaders are well aware that inclusion unlocks the potential in a diverse workforce. The leaders can enforce diversity and inclusion in the workplace and drive this change in the organization. They need to embrace inclusion so that the organization and employees could follow suit. However, this would require change management at certain levels. In the absence of the same, achieving the goal of a diverse workforce might not be successful and this could even to retention issues in the end.
RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES FOR FOSTERING DIVERSITY
Negativity in the workplace can be due to discrimination and biases. It can take the form of macroaggressions, unconscious bias as well as systemic discriminatory behavior. This ends up making the employees feel less valued and hampers their productivity as well as performance.
Hence, to ensure there is diversity and that talent is retained, we need to address the macromicroaggressions institutional biases that shape the company culture. Of course, hiring a resource that represents the minority is just the first step toward creating diversity. However, our efforts need to extend beyond recruitment, as this solution alone would not be able to help in achieving our goals. We need to conduct a talent process analysis to catch hold of the loopholes present in the system and work on ways to fix them. Furthermore, we also need to conduct employee touchpoint analysis to understand where these macroaggressions are taking place within the organization and then find solutions to resolve these issues.
What also needs to be understood is that creating internal escalators is necessary to raise diverse talent from within. Empowering individuals and ensuring best practices for sourcing diverse candidates as well as designing subconscious/unconscious bias training during assessments could also be considered essential elements of creating and retaining a diverse workforce.
BENEFITS OF A DIVERSE AND INCLUSIVE WORKPLACE
Building a diverse and inclusive work culture benefits organizations immensely. The concept of diversity brings people from different backgrounds and displays a variety of perspectives. The work culture eventually turns positive and employees remain happy, healthy, and motivated. The workforce feels welcomed and eventually contributes optimally to organizational growth.
A diverse workforce paves the way for fostering creativity since employees with their skillsets help innovate and develop new solutions. This helps organizations deal with crises as well as enjoy an edge in the competitive market. By embracing DEI, leaders can create an equitable and inclusive work culture that is nurturing for everyone. Various scholarly researchers also share that non-homogenous teams pave the way for higher-quality work, better decision-making, greater team satisfaction, and more equality.
These models not only ensure employee satisfaction and positive work culture but also extend financial benefits to the organizations as well. As per a former report by Harvard Business Revenue, diverse companies have a 19% higher innovation revenue rate. Organizations that are diverse and inclusive can improve their performance and boost their productivity. McKinsey points out this trend in its recent study which that ethnically diverse company are 35% more likely to outperform while gender-diverse companies are 15% more likely to do so.
SUMMING UP
What matters is how an organization harnesses the power of diversity, and whether it is flexible enough to rethink its functioning. Incorporating diversity and inclusion benefits organizations at various levels; including financial gains, employee engagement along with retention. However, this vision of incorporating DEI beyond the boardroom can be achieved only when every employee right from the top to bottom level is invested in this thought and makes collaborative efforts. When the organizations, leaders, as well as the workforce will work in tandem, building a diverse and inclusive workplace will not be a far-fetched dream!
The writer is Managing Director & Founder, Athena Executive Search & Consulting.
