Over the past several years, countless companies have begun to implement initiatives to help further diversify their workforce, having seen its positive effects on their profitability and workplace culture. However, there is much more to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) than hiring one or two minority employees and calling it a day. DEI means committing to creating a workplace where everyone can feel included, regardless of their background.
A diverse workforce is more desirable
Recent years have seen a shift toward workplaces embracing diverse gender identities and gender expression. Like race, religion, and sexual orientation, gender identity is a protected characteristic for employees. Yet, given the historically male-dominated nature of workplaces, there can be feelings that a workplace is not inclusive of women and other underrepresented gender identities.
Another form of diversity that is often overlooked in the workplace is generational diversity. A multigenerational workforce is just as crucial as a multicultural workforce as people of different ages have vastly different experiences and perspectives, which can further encourage innovation within an organization.
“For a long time, diversity has been looked at as something businesses merely must achieve, not something they should want and strive to achieve,” explains Adam Parr, director of communications and public affairs at Gerdau. “As a result, workplace diversity often manifested itself as tokenism and ‘diversity hires,’ which — beyond being insulting to the employee — do little to help the business beyond a superficial boost to their image. Now that companies realize the legitimate benefits of diversity in their workplace, we are seeing a shift towards more significant strides.”
One of the main benefits of the evolving remote work ecosystem brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic is that it has enabled even greater workforce diversification. Because companies are no longer limited to hiring candidates who live within a certain radius or who must relocate to come into the office, they can open the door to prospective hires from anywhere in the world. The varied perspectives that these diverse prospects hold presents an opportunity for more creativity and better decision-making.
Eliminating bias in the workplace
Before a business can progress toward a more diverse workplace, leaders must first understand and work toward eliminating unconscious bias. Stereotypes can be so deeply ingrained into our society that it can be difficult to move past them. The first step to overcoming them is recognizing them and learning how to combat them from a systemic perspective.
Along with unconscious biases, there is also the issue of affinity and confirmation bias. As a leader in a company, these biases can be toxic and detrimental to possess. While it’s natural to drift towards people with similar tastes and opinions to you, it’s important for a business leader to actively attempt to suppress this tendency. Filling your company with like-minded individuals will prevent the voicing of contradictory and potentially innovative ideas that could help your business grow.
“This is not an issue that just some companies face — it is tied to the structure of our society,” asserts Parr. “We must make fundamental changes to be more inclusive. The most critical step business leaders must take to improve DEI in the workplace is listening to their employees. Employees know what they need to feel included in their workplace, so leaders should go straight to the source and, more importantly, actually act upon their suggestions.”
Additionally, business leaders must strive to eliminate these biases by increasing transparency in their goals. Vague diversity quotas and initiatives without precise goals no longer pass the bar. Not only do companies need to know precisely what their initiatives entail and how to achieve them, but they need to communicate how this will affect the company overall.
How to establish DEI initiatives
For large companies, having a diversity professional on staff is not just a luxury; it’s a necessity. At one time, DEI initiatives would have been a function of the HR leader’s position. But with DEI having become much more complex and multifaceted in recent years, many companies have started hiring experts whose role is specifically to support diversity initiatives. Some even have an entire department dedicated to it.
With this professional on staff, companies can create an inclusive environment conducive to positive employee mental health. Employers must understand that there are associations between a workplace lacking diversity and mental health issues, as the microaggressions associated with homogenous workplaces can make people feel psychologically unsafe.
Diversity in the workplace is about more than just meeting a quota and having a statistic that looks good for your company. It is about creating a workplace culture where people feel respected, valued, and comfortable. “Diversity isn’t just important because people say it’s important,” explains Parr. “It’s important because it will make your company a better place to work.”
