It is our goal to help you build a diverse team within your company. In the workplace,
this means a team composed of people from differing ethnicities, genders, religions,
ages, educational backgrounds, skills, and even socioeconomic levels.
Bringing strength and vibrancy with it, diversity is a powerful tool. But without
inclusion, diversity in the workplace is merely statistical data that doesn’t benefit
anyone.
Let's talk about real numbers - provided by Sapling -
Ethnically-diverse leadership teams are 36 percent more likely to be profitable.
68percent of C-level executives are white men; 4 percent are women of color.
Black, Native American, and Latinx women earn 25 percent less than White men.
61percent of workers have witnessed or experienced workplace discrimination.
Inclusion is the how. It is the practice of both acknowledging and welcoming differences in others. The force behind the statistics actually makes everyone feel welcome, included, and as if they have as much opportunity for success as the person in the next cubicle over.
People Insights points out: The data shows it, and your heart knows it, diversity, equity, and inclusion deliver results. This is the model we find useful when thinking about diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.
Here are a few ways you can make sure inclusion is practiced in your company.
Educate from the Top Down
Your managers and leaders in the company are on the front lines. They set the tone, and the example, for the rest of the team. The day-to-day of inclusion starts with them.
Provide mandatory courses and training about inclusion and what it looks like in your company. We all have hidden biases, and often these biases are not ill-intentioned…but they are present. After all, it is human nature to be drawn to the familiar. Teach your leaders to recognize these tendencies and how to ward against them.
Provide the framework to teach those beneath them, too. If people are taught correctly, they are then accountable to practice what they learn.
Create an Inclusion Council
It also helps create a group of people to be on the lookout for the gaps that occur. Their role is to inspire inclusion-oriented thinking and behavior, address wrong actions, and be a safe space for people to share their frustrations.
They create content, act as an in-between for employees and leadership, and promote the company’s diversity to job seekers.
The council members should:
Reflect the diversity of the company
Passionate about bringing people together
Be problem-solvers — not problem-dwellers
Lead inspirationally
Be well respected
Enjoy the Differences!
It’s important to celebrate the things that make us different. Those differences exist for a reason. Our cultures, backgrounds, and experiences are what makes each one of us…us! You can celebrate the diversity in your company by: Holding Diversity Days — where people can bring food dishes that represent their culture or upbringing.
Creating a Cultural Calendar — featuring holidays of the different cultures represented in your team.
Putting together team-building exercises that give the nod to everyone’s differences.
Sending out notes to your employees, letting them know you appreciate them for themselves.
Taking time to recognize individual skills and placing employees where they can make the greatest difference
Creating opportunities for all employees to move upward. D&I go hand in hand…but they are also two different concepts, and diversity without inclusion is a little pointless. Perhaps Andrés Tapia said it best: “Diversity is a mixture. Inclusion is making the mix work.” Talent’s Without Frontiers prioritizes the need for diversity and inclusion in the workplace. From entry-level to executive-level, we believe diversity and inclusion drive innovation. We work with talent and clients to enhance careers while creating multicultural workforces that can grow and sustain innovation in today’s marketplace with a vision for tomorrow.