How to be inclusive in the workplace
In an inclusive workplace, employees feel valued, respected and supported.
That means every employee, regardless of their ethnicity, sexual orientation, age, gender, faith or physical ability feels comfortable to participate authentically at work.
Let’s explore the importance of an inclusive workplace and how to navigate unconscious bias.
Why is an inclusive workplace important?
An inclusive workplace matters because it has both community and business benefits.
Community benefits
Promoting diversity
Inclusive workplaces embrace employees’ differences. By creating an inclusive workplace culture, companies can attract talented professionals from diverse backgrounds, which can lead to better decision-making, creativity, and innovation - more on this later.
Employee wellbeing
When an organisation has a supportive and inclusive environment, employees are less likely to experience stress and burnout. And who wouldn’t want happier employees?
Business benefits
Employee engagement
Studies show that when employees work at inclusive companies, they are more likely to be engaged in their work. While diversity practices alone don’t automatically engender engagement, a more inclusive working environment does foster a more engaged workforce. Higher employee engagement levels lead to increased job satisfaction and better employee retention.
Performance
Inclusive workplaces have been shown to be more productive and higher-performing than their non-inclusive counterparts. When businesses have a diverse range of perspectives to draw upon, they are more innovative, better at problem-solving, more productive and ultimately, more successful. This is one of the biggest business cases for improving inclusion in the workplace.
Meets legal requirements
Providing equal opportunities to every employee regardless of their background is a legal requirement for many companies. Inclusive workplaces can help organisations to meet legal and ethical standards, and reduce the risk of reputational damage.
How to be inclusive in the workplace
Want to improve inclusion at your organisation? There are several steps you can take to foster a more inclusive environment.
- Learn about unconscious bias
There are two types of bias: conscious and unconscious (sometimes known as explicit and implicit).
A conscious bias is a prejudice that we know we hold.
An unconscious bias is a prejudice that we don’t realise we carry with us.
If leaders hold an unconscious bias against a particular group of people, it can impact their judgement when it comes to hiring, promotion and more. This can lead to a toxic work environment.
Luckily, it’s possible to spot and address unconscious biases at work - learn how.
- Use data
Data analysis can help you to identify patterns in hiring, promotion or performance evaluations. Data can provide an objective and non-emotional view of your business’ performance when it comes to inclusion, and where improvement is needed.
- Improve leadership diversity
Businesses with diverse leadership have been found to be more profitable than their non-diverse counterparts. Having a diverse leadership team in place can help to improve inclusion at your organisation as a whole.
- Build a more diverse candidate pool
When working with a recruitment company like Eden Scott, you can specify that you’re interested in hearing from candidates from all different backgrounds, genders and sexual orientations. This may encourage a more diverse range of candidates to apply.
Collecting candidate information can be anonymised - the recruitment company doesn't necessarily need to know this information about specific candidates, just that some members within their candidate pool do have these characteristics. This makes it more likely that you will receive a more diverse candidate shortlist.
- Emphasise your non-discrimination policy
It is illegal to discriminate against anyone because of things like their gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation or religious beliefs. However, you can provide further safeguards for your team members by expressly defining behaviours or actions towards all employees that are unacceptable to the company.
- Create a safe reporting system
Establish a clear and confidential reporting system designed to handle harassment and discrimination complaints. This should include having multiple people that it's possible to report to. Consider having a designated hotline or email address. Make sure everyone is aware of the complaints handling policy. Show that you take all complaints seriously and explain the steps you take to investigate concerns.
Final thoughts
Creating an inclusive workplace isn’t always easy. It involves effort from every member of the organisation. But with time, your efforts will result in a more inclusive and, ultimately, better-performing team.
Guide: LGBTQ+ inclusion in the workplace
Want to create a more inclusive environment for LGBTQ+ employees? Check out this free guide.
