The days of diversity and inclusion being something an afterthought are long gone. With an increasingly aware workforce, it’s crucial to create Diversity Inclusion strategies so everyone in the organization feels equally valued.
It is also worth noting that diversity and inclusion are not only social issues anymore. It has a positive impact on businesses’ bottom line as well. For example, diverse leadership and management have been shown to improve company revenue by up to 19%.
Another report indicates that diverse companies enjoy 2.3 times higher cash flow per employee than those that don’t. It’s easy for a PEO/EOR Service Provider to manage such diversified culture for any organization.
But how do you make your organization more diverse and inclusive? We would love to hear from you. Please share your comments at the bottom of the article.
Before that let’s see the five best diversity inclusion strategies for 2023!
Develop Inclusive Leadership
Diversity and inclusion begin with leadership. Therefore, it’s important to emphasize the role of leadership in creating a culture that values diversity and inclusion, and everyone at your company should be aware of this.
You might also develop a custom strategy for leaders, so they know how to promote diversity and inclusion within their teams and teach them how it affects their business. You can even consider defining key performance indicators for D&I.
For instance, give each management team member or department head formal accountability for achieving two sets of D&I results. Diversity should focus on representation (such as hiring, promotion, etc.), while inclusion results will be based on day-to-day experience (like employee engagement, equity, and psychological safety outcomes).
Conduct an Assessment
The next step after defining diversity and inclusion KPIs is conducting an assessment. The most effective assessment method compares your data across several key areas. For example,
- Do you have a diverse workforce?
- Do all employees feel like they belong in the workplace?
- Are people from different backgrounds treated fairly?
What this data tells you will inform how you create change, so it’s important not only that you collect it but also that you understand how to interpret it.
Once the assessment has been completed and analyzed, leaders should use its results for two purposes: setting new goals for diversity and inclusion efforts; and determining what changes need to be made within the organization to meet these goals over time
Create Inclusive and Welcoming Spaces
The next step is to create a culture that fosters and makes employees feel like they belong to something greater than themselves. You can do this by ensuring
- There are equal opportunities for everyone regardless of race or gender
- People with disabilities or mental health issues are given equal employment opportunities as other qualified candidates
- Everyone has access to training and development opportunities
Additionally, make your office a comfortable and welcoming space for everyone by creating a culture that fosters respect. This can be done in many ways:
- Ensuring you have an equal ratio of men and women in your workplace
- Using inclusive language in meetings
- Making everyone aware of the cultures in your company
- Encouraging everyone to share their favorite holiday traditions and celebrate them together
By creating this environment, you can make employees feel more inclined to trust each other and become part of the team.
Educate and Involve Everyone
Every diversity inclusion strategy should include education and training. As a rule of thumb, you should include everyone (irrespective of their position) when educating them on diversity and inclusion.
Here are some tips to help you get started
- Start with a short presentation where you explain why this is important to your organization. This will help set the tone and let everyone know what they should expect.
- Emphasize that there won’t be any judgment during these conversations, so everyone should feel comfortable sharing their experiences, ideas, concerns, questions, etc., without fear of being singled out or chastised.
- Provide employees with a platform where they can discuss their own experiences or those of others. For example, you can create an email group specifically for this purpose or start a dedicated channel in your instant messaging platform.
- Encourage leaders to lead by example. When managers or executives see the importance of D&I at the top levels of the organization, they’re more likely to implement initiatives like intergroup conversations into their daily lives.
Hire Diverse Candidates
This one is self-explanatory, but sometimes we get so caught up in our ideas that we forget to recognize the value of understanding other perspectives.
However, when you hire diverse candidates, they have the opportunity to bring new ideas and insights into your company that may not have been there otherwise. It’s also a great way to challenge your existing beliefs and create a more inclusive workplace environment!
Nevertheless, when hiring people who are different from you and each other, it’s also essential to ensure they have a range of skills. This will ensure that everyone feels like an integral part of the team and can contribute their talents without feeling overlooked or underutilized.
Diversity isn't a goal but a valuable part of a company's culture!
If you want to prioritize diversity and inclusion for your company, it needs to be part of the culture. You can’t just check the boxes and expect things to change magically.
Implement the above strategies to make diversity and inclusion a part of your organization. It will lead to increased productivity, efficiency, and employee well-being. However, you’ll need to analyze the strategies’ effectiveness and optimize them over time to see the best results!
If you think it’s tough to implement such strategies by your HR department do reach us at for expert advice.
