As we bridge out of June, it remains a perfect time to remember: for the dearth of skilled labour, there is a depth of diverse skilled workers on the market, all waiting on an “Employer of Choice” to accept them as they are while encouraging their hard work. What does diversity bring? A good wide pool of fresh talent, higher employee engagement, improved innovation, increased business performance, and a stronger sense of loyalty or commitment. Nonetheless diversity lags, especially at top levels.

There remains unconscious bias toward hiring those who present themselves similarly to us: similar apparel or decorum, similar backgrounds or demographics, locations or interests. And sometimes those are the only applicants who seem to come forward, which doesn’t present much choice!

Of course, not all workers need to look or sound the same to accomplish the necessary workload (or an adapted, accommodated one) for the job—nor need workers seem outwardly similar to excel on the job!  What’s most important in cases of diversity, and indeed in every case, is recognising shared humanity: to be comfortable and at ease with differences enough to simply see people as people, and as potential employees.

As the Equal Pay Law reminded us, gender shouldn’t factor into employment expectations or pay, so why should gender ambiguity upset the status-quo when the status-quo ought to be Hard Workers, whatever their appearances or background? Primarily, employees want equal opportunities to arrive at work without fear of personal or professional judgment for who they are or what they’re worth for it, only for their dedication and skill on the job.

Does your workplace reflect a strong diversity of people? Diversity covers a huge span: race, colour, religious creed, national origin, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, genetic information, age, handicap, medical conditions and more—conveniently all the things one’s not meant to ask or implicate during the application and interviewing processes, as that would be considered grounds for discrimination. This isn’t to keep such diverse people from being hired—the very opposite—but how does an employer widen the net while hiring? How does a great diversity of fish come find you?

For the moment, given we’ve just bridged out of June, we may use the example of Pride and LGBTQ+ applicants as a diverse minority to attract and accept. Keep in mind that the core basics of these tricks may be adapted to many other diverse groups as each centres around understanding a group’s needs, listening, offering support and solidarity, organisational education, and small changes that make big differences. The truth behind diversity is that everyone’s different, but often in similar—and learnable—ways, all of which are worth taking the extra time to learn.

Diverse workers want to see three things of diversity and inclusion initiatives: leadership commitment (a clear sense of change, concrete goals, prioritised by diverse employees), a tailored approach (to the company and its culture, top-down and bottom-up, involving impacted employees in the design/assessment of programmes); and metrics for measuring progress over time with key performance indicators for improving initiatives and holding leadership accountable.  Everything from corporate-level training for promotion and pay to managerial guidance and incorporating a diversity of people into leadership positions.
                            

Here are a few tips to start off!

First, policy: have a clear diversity policy or statement which may be easily shared and kept somewhere visible. This works toward a deeper sense of inclusion and community beyond what an Equal Opportunity Statement in an employee handbook (also necessary!) can offer. We’ve gathered two favourite diversity statements from top known companies, but to write your own give “Diversity Policy” a Google-search and see what suits your fancy, or consult us for assistance!

Below we have one short and simple Diversity Statement  from Schneider Electric, and another that’s more specific from Stanley Black and Decker¹:

“At Schneider Electric, diversity is an integral part of our history, culture, and identity. Inclusion is the way we treat and perceive all differences. We want to create an inclusive culture where all forms of diversity are seen as real value for the company.”

( Schneider Electric. )

“To be engaged, you must feel included and valued. We strive to build and nurture a culture where inclusiveness is a reflex, not an initiative. Where there is a deep sense of pride, passion and belonging that transcends any role, business unit, language or country and is unified in our shared commitment to excellence, innovation and social responsibility. We know through experience that different ideas, perspectives and backgrounds create a stronger and more creative work environment that delivers better results. To support an inclusive environment where employees feel empowered to share their experiences and ideas, we’ve encouraged the creation of a variety of Employee Resource Groups, including groups for Women, Veterans, LGTBQ (Pride & Allies), African Ancestry, Developing Professionals and more.” [emphasis added]

( Stanley Black and Decker. )

Second, training: a diversity policy means nothing if it doesn’t represent a warm and welcoming work community. Training programmes offer a new understanding of prejudice and how to be a good advocate for mediating difficulties and cultivating inclusive spaces. An example would be Stonewall’s Allies programme, but check what’s available in your area (or consult with us for finding unconscious bias training near you). These should be available to employees along the whole chain, from recruitment teams to executives, so all employees feel comfortable discussing or reporting any instances of unconscious bias. It can teach employees to speak up for each other in ways that lighten others’ burdens of advocacy and leave people feeling safer in their work environment. (This is particularly true when prejudice, bias, and discrimination can often be subtle or shadowed, and it’s easy for people to be unaware of their own biases and how their words or actions may be interpreted by others. Training can both diminish occurrences of this and teach better strategies to deal with accidents!)

According to the Harvard Business Review, “The top-ranked interventions included robust, well-crafted, and consistently followed antidiscrimination policies; effective training to mitigate biases and increase cultural competency; and removing bias from evaluation and promotion decisions. These should be priorities for any organization that wants to improve diversity.”²

Third, widen the culture: one quick way to do this for inclusivity is being mindful of language and pronouns. Learn an individual’s preferred pronoun (he/she/they/others) that makes them feel seen and understood—put them on nametages, plagues, or in email signatures for those with outspoken preference (and in the case of slip-ups, best to simply apologise and continue trying hard for next time, as learning curves are natural!) Make sure all software and systems aren’t using prior names, old pronouns, or gendered titles; wherever possible, avoid gendered language by replacing more inclusive words (“people” for “man/woman” or “they” for “he or she” – see the references for further language advice). A more invested measure would be the offering of a gender-neutral bathroom facility—and yes, family/disability bathrooms can count! Providing a bathroom with a changing station is a brilliant accommodation that can be easily adapted for pregnant people, families, and gender-nonconforming or nonbinary people (not man or woman) for safely using the toilet, which can otherwise be a stressful endeavour. It may well shorten the bathroom queue!

Fourth, listen and learn from diverse populations: each individual has a different set of life experiences, difficulties, and parts to their identity. In the case of LGBTQ+ applicants and employees, the big things to understand are that sexuality (romantic/sexual/emotional attraction to others) and gender (one’s internal sense of gender) are different, and that neither have to be related to sex (the sex assigned by doctors at birth or the gender someone may assume someone is by first “reading” of them)—and that most importantly, they only have to talk about these things if they wish to, as everyone has the right to privacy! Every individual faces individualistic issues; the most important thing is to keep listening: to invite, seek out, and pay attention to feedback, welcome suggestions, and don’t presume or assume to already understand a situation or know it better. Open channels of communication are an imperative for an open, welcoming, and accepting workplace.

And finally, fifth, support the community: turn “talking the walk” into “walking the talk” (or “put the money where your mouth is”) by acting positively for the community via things like campaigns or charity-giving, using inclusive language, adapting marketing/written material, supporting local events with donations or volunteer work, sponsoring events, supporting foundations, taking part in charity events, having a stand at Pride, or overall actions of goodwill for the community. Sometimes this leads to things like stickers and swag—these nonverbal shows of support can be a powerful tool for communicating acceptance and inclusion. This is the way to link up the company with the LGBTQ+ community the right way. Donating money without attending to inclusive policies and a culture of acceptance would come across poorly.

What does inclusion look like? People of different identities feeling and being valued, welcomed, and worthwhile within their work setting. (In other words: having diversity is like being invited to the party; inclusion is knowing you’re part of what’s being celebrated, and in ways that feel good.)

An investigation across 14 countries revealed that three-quarters of underrepresented groups of employees (women, racial and ethnic minorities, LGBTQ+ employees) don’t feel a personal benefit from the diversity and inclusion programmes at their companies. Half spoke of the bias they see as part of their daily work experience; half reported they don’t think their companies have the ability to ensure major decisions are made free from bias. This is our opportunity to change that.

Diversity does bring inevitable change and a widening of culture. Change can be scary, and it can feel challenging—embrace the challenge, and challenge the assumptions that maintain homogenous work cultures. Reject binary thinking without rejecting binary individuals (men and women) while allowing for a diverse workforce of people who may not look or sound the same, but who can work together as a team that understands each other and can work toward achieving excellence together.

Keep learning, keep listening, keep looking up best practices for a welcoming and accepting workplace that supports a diversity of workers, and those workers will support you too.

If you have further questions, feel free to email us here at The HR Engineers—we’re happy to answer, and to share what works!

References and Resources:

1. 10 Examples of the Best Diversity Statements.
2. Survey: What Diversity and Inclusion Policies Do Employees Actually Want? By Matt Krentz, February 5 2019, Harvard Business Review.
3. Gender-Inclusive Language {a handout} posted by the Writing Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.