A diverse workforce brings diverse viewpoints and perspectives that are often overlooked in less diverse environments. Among other things, these elements can help develop great new products and new ways to cater to customers. Making diversity a priority is important, but so is creating a culture where people from all backgrounds feel included. Inclusivity is the key to maintaining (not just creating) workplace diversity.
Here are a few things that can indicate a true workplace of inclusion.
The makeup of a company’s executive team is a huge signifier. The top management of a company speaks volumes about its culture. It is essential to have a diverse top management team. This includes gender diversity, ethnic diversity, sexual orientation, and more. Are men and women equally represented? What about people from various cultural and religious backgrounds?
It’s also not just in the numbers and representations, but also in understanding, recognizing, and curbing biases and prejudices that contradict the culture. Does the executive team model the corporate culture, or does the team consists of individuals with palpable biases? It will be difficult infusing this model into the workforce if leaders aren’t setting an example.
Approximately half of all discrimination and harassment complaints lead to some type of retaliation. And workers who complain about harassment are more likely to end up facing career challenges or experiencing worse mental and physical health compared to similar workers who were harassed but did not complain about it.
Employee Assistance Plans new dispute resolution systems can play a critical role in not only reducing retaliation but also providing fuel for organizational change. EAPs, for example, are frequently run by vendors outside the organization and offer free and confidential advice to employees, often over the phone. Yet, EAPs are not used very often to handle discrimination and harassment issues. By expanding their scope to provide valuable support and guidance to employees on strategies and tactics to deploy around harassment and discrimination, EAPs can serve as an important resource for employees.
Companies need to go beyond their usual tactics and consider actively recruiting and building a presence in diverse spaces. At Wavely, our woman-led, people-focused, diverse team is constantly exploring new ways of thinking and operating to engage human talent with opportunities to shine. Our diversity will help create an exceptional team for your company because we celebrate the value of unique perspectives.
When employees who differ in a lot of ways from their colleagues feel that their presence in an organization is valued and respected, they flourish, and the company, in turn, benefits from their unique ideas and skills.
Let’s find it for you! With Wavely, you can chat with your future employer directly. So you have the opportunity to talk numbers before you get the job.