6 Strategies to Maximise Workplace Inclusion

In 2023, being an inclusive workplace is a must. If your organisation is still falling behind, it needs to reconsider its culture and eliminate any outdated practices, including a lack of diversity.

A diverse workforce results in happier and healthier employees, more appreciative clients, and managers with greater access to the talent and skill sets needed for their companies to thrive. A Harvard Business Review study found that businesses with a welcoming environment made 10–20 percent more money. Despite these benefits, a lot of organisations have been slow to add diversity to their workforces. This reluctance may be caused by a lack of understanding of what inclusion entails and how it benefits all aspects of your business. 

How can your organisation maximise workplace inclusion?

An employee base that is diverse in terms of age, race, religion, nationality, sexual orientation, gender, and country of origin provides the company with a range of perspectives.

The natural progression after putting a focus on diversity is to create a culture where people of all backgrounds feel included. It is important to stress though that workplace diversity should not just created, but it should also maintained.

Here are 6 ways in which you can maximise workplace inclusion:

1. Make your executive team diverse and inclusive

Establishing and growing trust with a wide range of people in your organisation can be facilitated by a diverse team of leaders. It is possible to strengthen your leadership's relationships with those inside and outside of your organisation by embracing diverse leadership, which brings a wealth of knowledge and unique perspectives.

Additionally, you can make inclusive decisions and more easily navigate challenges thanks to the collective perspectives that enable you to better recognise new opportunities. Overall, diverse leadership enables you to increase retention, draw talent, and foster a positive culture.

2. Embrace neurodiversity

Every brain is unique. Everybody thinks, processes information differently, learns differently, and works differently. The wiring of the brain varies naturally- from person to person, resulting in neurological differences. We can rediscover these differences as strengths by recasting them as an essential and valuable aspect of diversity.

Designing accessible workspaces with care benefits both businesses and employees. People can think, work, and create in the ways that suit them best when they aren't constrained by neurotypical design.

3. Strengthen anti discriminatory policies

In a survey conducted by the Harvard Business Review, 75% of participants said that insufficient policies and language are needed to bring about true change. They held that anti-discriminatory laws and strong leadership commitment were crucial. Furthermore, success requires a customized approach because every organisation is different from the next.

4. Be open about pay and close your gender pay gaps

To talk about your salary with coworkers has long been regarded as improper. The truth is that, in most cases, the organisation gains more from salary secrecy than the employees. The withholding of pay makes it possible to give more money to those who bargain more forcefully, make a formal resignation threat, or have close ties to the boss. When pay is withheld, unconscious bias may also affect salary decisions. Because each employee's salary must be justified when pay is transparent, bias is reduced or eliminated.

5. Remove bias in the evaluation process and promotion opportunities

The hiring process is biased and unfair, according to a large body of research. A large portion of it is unintentional sexism, racism, and ageism. It could hurt your business if you don't stop it.

The following are some tactics for overcoming bias:

●  Rewrite job descriptions to be gender-neutral and to use verbs and descriptors that are evenly distributed among the two genders.
●  So that you don't see "demographic characteristics," create a blind system for reviewing resumes. ".
●  Establishing diversity goals for your organisation will enable you to monitor your progress.

6. Embrace multiculturalism

Multiculturalism encourages the blending of various cultures as well as the exchanging of ideas and viewpoints. The exchange of ideas can result in innovative business solutions and productive working relationships. The two main advantages of multiculturalism that can help the workplace are openness and communication. It promotes open communication among employees, which fosters understanding, teamwork, and collaboration. Above all, multiculturalism exemplifies tolerance, respect, and acceptance, which enhances corporate culture and lessens conflict at work.