Diversity and Inclusion are big buzz words right now because they are an identified gap in the workplace. While there are many attempts to provide lip service in increasing diversity and inclusion, it's time to start the conversation about implementing meaningful change on this topic. While it's most obvious to think about diversity as the differences in race, religion, gender, age, disability, sexual orientation, or education, this concept goes even deeper than demographic factors. Everyone is unique. Each one of us has different preferences, experiences, ideas and aspirations. Inclusion refers to involving and empowering diverse people. It's about forming a sense of belonging. When an environment is inclusive, it practices respect for a variety of talents, beliefs, backgrounds, and the lifestyles of everyone.

In recent times, we have seen more companies making efforts to educate their teams, create diverse task forces, and implement new policies that have been lacking for too long. While there’s still far to go, this has been the start towards understanding and accomplishing inclusion and diversity at work, in policies, and in government. At the same time though, some of these initiatives fail to make meaningful change for an increasingly diverse workforce, instead preferring actions that make for good PR. As more companies than ever are prioritizing conversations around diversity inclusion, how can companies genuinely invest in these initiatives with meaningful outcomes? How can leaders take a proactive approach in ensuring they are creating diverse and inclusive workplaces? How does diversity and inclusion impact the bottom line? More importantly, how can you have a direct impact on diversity inclusion, regardless of where you sit in your company or organization?

7 Ways to Actively Implement Change

1. Start the conversations. Open communication gives people the opportunity to start these difficult conversations around diversity and inclusion, and the workplace culture must promote this. Individuals have the opportunity to ask questions and potentially “say the wrong thing”, so that they can improve their understanding and awareness. This can empower the recipient of the dialogue to correct them if the message doesn’t land well. Workplace culture must support people being courageous, making mistakes, correcting one another, and showing humility while doing so. 

2. Account for Unconscious Biases. As a leader there may be things that you, or people in your team are doing unknowingly to limit your ability to attract or even hire diverse talent. Consider your standards and prerequisites for employment. Are your requirements providing equal opportunity for qualified applicants? Does the messaging of your application deter certain people from applying? Policies and processes can be modified to account for this. 

3. Recruit Actively, not passively. Women, for example, are less likely to apply unless they are 100% confident that they are qualified for the job. If you’re able to get a handful of women into the final stage or hiring, they are very likely to get hired into the final job. As a leader, you can’t leave these things to chance, so you must recruit with the intention of diversifying your workforce. 

4. Diverse Mentorship. Pair diverse hires with mentors to build support for their sense of inclusion in the company. This process does not need to be over complicated, and the mentor doesn’t have to match their description or situation perfectly. A mentor simply has to be someone who knows the politics of the company, can navigate the principles and systems, and can provide a safe environment for conversations. Having two mentors further diversifies these conversations and creates that sense of inclusion. 

5. Celebrate differences. Exclusively recognizing what people share in common has the opposite effect to supporting diversity and making people feel included. Remember, when an environment is inclusive, it practices respect for a variety of talents, backgrounds and lifestyles. Take respect one step farther and celebrate diversity. 

6. Autonomy in learning about Diversity. Have opt-in and opt-out options for employee participation in training exercise and conversations. Forcing employees to attend a learning session which they are not comfortable with can do more harm than good. When inviting your team to these meetings, include an agenda, topics covered, and any trigger warnings so that they can be selective about attending.

7. Clarify terminology. Work to develop a global understanding of the terminology used within your workplace. Ensure that there is no ambiguity, and that everyone is in agreement of which vocabulary can and can’t be used in the workplace. 

Change has to happen, and it must involve all parts of the company. What we do every day, where we invest our resources, how we think through the hiring process, and how we support our employees, all contributes to enhancing our workplaces. 

Still have questions? Listen to Episode 11 of The Science of Work Podcast to learn more about Diversity and Inclusion. How should workplace culture and inclusion differ between small businesses and large organizations. What is cluster hiring? Find the answers to these questions.