Human resources leadership has a major influence in promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts and making them an everyday reality, rather than simply a core value. Being a catalyst for such positive change can be gratifying, but it requires intentional and consistent effort to cultivate leaders and professionals throughout the organization.
Learn more about how HR leaders can build and maintain a positive and inclusive workplace:
Develop Strong Official Policies
The foundation of an authentic workplace culture rests on the fundamental procedures established for the organization. Develop strong official policies related to discrimination, harassment, accommodations, reporting procedures, and any other expected employee behavior your company wants clarified in writing. This will demonstrate that your organization is committed to ensuring everyone has the right to work in an environment where they are treated with respect.
Communicate the Importance to All Employees – Especially Managers
A workplace culture is the day-to-day shared values and accepted behavior that influences how employees treat one another. Communicate the importance to all employees – especially managers – in keeping positivity and inclusivity top of mind in everything they do in the workplace, from casual interactions to serving as guidance for making decisions. Offer ongoing training for employees at all levels related to diversity to increase their awareness and sensitivity to differences amongst their peers and/or subordinates so they have the information they need.
Incorporate Inclusivity Throughout the Recruitment Process
Diversity initiatives are often not successful because those responsible for hiring are not filling their positions with candidates from a wide range of backgrounds. Incorporate inclusivity throughout the recruitment process. This includes crafting job descriptions to use neutral language and highlighting your commitment to a positive workplace culture and standardizing the evaluation process to prevent unconscious bias that inadvertently leads hiring managers to select those who are most similar to themselves.
Ensure Equity of Benefits and Resources
A critical factor in creating a genuine workplace culture is how employees are compensated and shown their value by the company. Ensure equity of benefits and resources for employees across backgrounds by auditing your current offerings to assess whether they are useful to all employees, such as being flexible in offering paid holidays across religions, verifying that health benefits are helpful to those with disabilities, or providing facilities to all gender identities.
Attract Top Talent
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