Promoting Diversity in the Workplace - Promote Diversity In The Workforce by Involving Your HR Department

 

Promoting diversity and inclusivity in your workplace is definitely one of the wisest ways to foster a global, flexible, open-mind business culture. Whether you are a small, local start-up or Are part of a large global corporation, the advantages of diversity in the workplace far outweigh the disadvantages. For starters, promoting diversity in the workplace fosters peace in the work place. It creates a more comfortable, positive, and safe working atmosphere. It encourages your employees to reach across differences of race, religion, culture, and sex to offer their talents and skills to build your company's success. Diversity in the workplace also increases productivity.

A recent study by Brandeis University demonstrated that companies that promote diversity experience higher levels of productivity and profit. The study further goes on to state that this effect is even more pronounced in the global marketplace. Although there is a growing cultural acceptance of differences, our research clearly shows that promoting diversity in the workplace leads to overall higher profits and a stronger bottom line. Our economic model is simple: the more profit there is at the end of the day, the more expansion there will be in the future. Expansion is necessary to sustain the growth of any business. It all works from top to bottom.

A diverse workforce allows you to tap into the talent and potential you would not normally have. When your employee base is comprised of a diverse population, they bring with them knowledge, perspectives, and experiences that are invaluable. This knowledge and experience, when used effectively, can lead to increased productivity and profits. Inaction on the part of the employer is detrimental to the success of any venture.

Diversity in the workforce is necessary for your company to be successful. Your clients and customers will be the most satisfied when they realize you value and appreciate their individuality. When you make your hiring decisions based on a person's abilities, values, and perspective, you will build a work place that is emotionally, linguistically, and culturally harmonious. Promoting diversity in the corporate workplace fosters a strong sense of pride and accomplishment. When your company shows pride in its employees, both current and past, it makes better business sense.

Diversity in your workforce is good for morale and success. When you have an employee population that is made up of diverse individuals, they tend to feel a sense of belonging and pride. They feel that they can contribute something meaningful to the company. Diversity also makes your company more accessible to new, potential clients and customers. When you provide opportunities for your employees to be successful, you give them a reason to stay with you.

How do you know what steps to take to promote inclusion? Some companies use HR and inclusion consultants to help them develop comprehensive inclusion and diversity policies. These policies should include things like anti-discrimination policies, guidelines for hiring, training and development, policies for addressing harassment, appropriate communication and response procedures, policies regarding workplace violence and sexual harassment, and other issues specific to your company. HR can also be involved by providing professional development for your employees. Other steps your HR department can take is to track employment statistics and trends, develop training and development plans, conduct company-wide sensitivity training, provide positive reinforcement for good behaviors, and make changes in your company's image and recruitment practices to attract and retain talent. An HR representative can also coordinate and integrate diversity initiatives into your overall organization management plan.

One drawback of implementing an inclusion policy is that it will not cover all aspects of your diversity issues. It will only address issues that affect your employees, such as harassment or other types of discrimination. This means that not every action you take affects everyone in your workplace. There are steps you can take to make sure that the policies you implement effectively protect your employees as well as the interests of your company.

Your first step should be to develop a formal policy that prohibits discrimination based on any basis that could potentially result in a negative impact on a person's ability to do work or a person's potential enjoyment of employment. Next, you need to take steps to ensure that all company policies reflect these anti-discrimination rules and that there are strict guidelines for enforcing these anti-discrimination rules when they are not enforced. Finally, you need to train your employees in how to report instances of any discriminatory behavior, including how to go about handling complaints internally and how to deal with potential complaints from customers or other employees. You can't just rely on your employees to notice when there is or isn't a problem.