We’re in a time of great social change, and with that comes brand responsibility. More businesses are stressing the importance of inclusion in their public-facing materials, particularly in their online job listings. Employers are beginning to realize that inclusion is essential for employee retention and loyalty, and the key to business success. Companies thrive from new and unique ideas that help the company grow. We can’t grow without change, and we can’t change without hearing new voices. Here’s how your team can listen and nurture inclusion in your workplace.
Educate Your Team
The best way to nurture inclusion is through education. Host annual inclusion (or sometimes referred to as sensitivity) training in the form of workshops or seminars, to help educate your team. It should be mandatory for the executive team to be a part of these. Change starts at the top and if leadership makes an effort to learn and improve, the rest of the team will follow. We encourage upper management to participate and share with their team what they’ve learned, so the team below them absorbs more information. The start to change is learning, truly learning.
Adjust Your HR Policies & Procedures
All policies should have updated verbiage for inclusivity, such as Parental Leave or Family Leave instead of exclusively Maternity Leave, to include all sexes, genders, and nonbinary who are starting or growing their families. Natural bias should also be eliminated from the evaluation process, to help all employees advance in their careers on equal footing. Consciously or unconsciously, there could be bias in your HR policies and your team may not feel comfortable pointing it out. It’s best to hire a consultant to review your policies with your HR department and make edits to ensure employees and prospects feel included.
Celebrate Everyone’s Differences
All differences should be represented and celebrated among the team, such as multigenerational, cultural, and LGBTQ. By ignoring our differences, we’re ignoring what makes a team whole and strong. The best part of a team, as opposed to an individual, is the collection of different ideas that come from our different backgrounds and experiences. We should celebrate our differences on the inside, as well as the outside, which form our unique skills and interests that we bring to our team. Our backgrounds have given each of us a different skillset that can foster a strong company culture and growth.
Encourage Open Communication
It has been historically discouraged to talk about religious, cultural, economic, or any other differences among the team to avoid “offending” anyone. However, this policy has had the opposite effect. It has silenced LGBTQ and non-white employees, discouraging communication among team members. Just as our differences should be celebrated, they should also be communicated to supervisors. We each have our own needs based on our age, cultural upbringing, and religious or economic backgrounds. Due to those different needs, skills, and experiences, management should make the effort to personalize one-on-ones and annual reviews. Open communication encourages inclusion and puts forth change.
Inclusion is key to employee retention. It instills a sense of security and belonging to your team. When an employee feels like they belong, they stay and refer others to join the team as well. For more advice on building a better team, keep following our blog and subscribe to our YouTube channel to keep following our podcast.
Related Articles:
Inclusion: Understanding Inclusion at the Workplace and Why It’s Important
Viewpoint: Creating LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the workplace every month
Expand: The ABCs of LGBTQ inclusion in the workplace
