How to Build an Inclusive Workplace

Photo by Christina @ wocintechchat.com on Unsplash

You’ve focused your efforts on having a diverse team and now you have a great one. But the process doesn’t stop there. The last thing you want to do is drive your team away because they don’t feel valued, appreciated or included. How do you keep your team engaged, included, valued and happy so that they stay and do their best?

An inclusive workplace is very important to the success of an organization. It results in employees feeling valued and respected. People are more willing to do their best work when they feel appreciated and accepted. They stick around longer meaning that employee turnover is lower. Aside from a happier, more positive work environment, having an inclusive culture also results in more innovation, better decision making, increased employee engagement, faster and better problem-solving, improved hiring results and increased profits.

Building an inclusive culture involves reviewing your current situation to determine the areas that need to be addressed and creating policies and procedures that create real, lasting change. There are four keys to a successful inclusion strategy.

1. Leadership involvement. There should be diversity at all levels of management and they should be actively and consistently practicing, mentoring and reiterating your inclusion strategy. One of the leaders should lead or sponsor your diversity and inclusion program as well as a company diversity counsel.
2. Education and training. Each and every employee should have a clear understanding of the meaning and importance of an inclusion strategy. Trainings and workshops should be held regularly to introduce new information and serve as a reminder for older information.
3. Policies and procedures. Your company’s mission and values should align with a diverse and inclusive culture. You should issue a thoughtful diversity, equity and inclusion statement and have clear anti-discrimination policies in place. Specific policies should address inclusion in areas such as decision making.
4. Retention and development. It is important to offer development programs, especially for underrepresented groups. This can be done by creating diversity-focused mentoring programs or employee networking and resource groups. Tracking promotions can ensure that people are being included in development plans.

The goal of an inclusion strategy is to have happy employees who perform their best because they are valued, respected and appreciated, regardless of their backgrounds, belief systems, socio-economic statuses, races, ages, ethnicities, physical and mental abilities, genders, sexual orientations, and other ideologies.

Diversity, equity and inclusion work together to create a successful, fair, positive workplace. Have a sound inclusion strategy in place is just one of the pieces of a successful initiative.