As a business owner, you’re likely constantly thinking about ways to improve your business. Well, look no further; diversity and inclusion in the workplace have been proven to improve company culture which, in-turn, boosts employee productivity.
By supporting those with have mental health problems, autism, cerebral palsy, blindness, deafness and more, you’re opening doors for so many people. Not only that, but you’re addressing the societal issues BAME individuals, women, and LGBT+ people face daily.
With this in mind, what are some ways to improve your inclusive measures throughout your business? It all starts with inclusive leadership. So, for 10 ways to do just that, this article can help.
- Hire Employees Inclusively
We can’t talk about inclusivity within the workplace without first addressing the importance of hiring staff based upon experience and attitude over anything else. You might be surprised to learn that workplaces within the UK are still failing in this regard. A report by Druthers search demonstrates this very well, showing that:
- The employment rate for ethnic minorities is only 62.8 percent compared to that of white workers, which is 75.6 percent.
- All BAME (Black, Asian and minority ethnic) groups are more likely to be overqualified than white ethnic groups, however white employees are more likely to be promoted than all other groups.
- Only 16 percent of autistic adults in the UK are in full-time paid employment, and only 32 percent are in paid work.
This just goes to show that we have a long way to go before we are supporting people of all ethnicities within the UK workforce. Obviously, a lot of this does come down to economic stability, but workforces should encourage BAME individuals to apply within job adverts.
- Implement Multilingual Signage
Although there may not be any blind or deaf individuals working alongside you, multilingual signage will go a long way to boosting inclusivity within your workplace. Not only will this support clients visiting your office who may have these needs, it may also encourage blind and deaf people to apply for jobs with you.
This could even become a selling point within your job adverts. You could shout about your multilingual signage, encouraging those with disabilities to apply. This not only opens doors for you as a business, it also opens many doors for those who may have otherwise been left on the wayside.
- Settle the Pay Gap
Even in today’s society, women are still categorically paid less than men. This is because men are often offered higher level roles than women. What’s more, women are also still expected to prioritise family over career in many social circles.
In order to tackle this systemic problem, company owners must involve every qualified person in all aspects of the business. Essentially, if someone has the qualifications, regardless of their ethnicity, age, or gender, they should be included.
- Provide Flexible Working
One way to do this could be to provide flexible working for all employees. This gives parents who have children the opportunity to work when they have the time. It will also help to support those with disabilities who might not otherwise be able to commit to a 9-to-5 job contractually.
Especially now, with remote working becoming the new norm, it’s become glaringly obvious that we can work anywhere and still do our job properly. The same goes for doing a job at any time of day; the usual nine till five might not work for everyone.
Flexible working provides people with opportunity to exercise their full potential whilst also taking care of their other responsibilities. This should help to address the pay gap issues we still face.
- Make Sure the Infrastructure Supports All Abilities
Supporting those of all abilities simply can’t be done without the correct infrastructure to do so. This includes making sure your workplace caters for people who use wheelchairs or crutches. Some of the main ways to do this include:
- Making sure all desks are spaced apart for wheelchair access
- Ensuring there are elevators available for use
- Ensuring there are ramps for any doorframes
- Adding buttons next to doors for automatic opening is also useful
- Making sure the floors are grippy enough for those using crutches, for example people with cerebral palsy
- Open a Discourse About Unconscious Bias
Recent events in terms of BLM have brought to light the unconscious bias within our workplaces. Unconscious bias relates to the ways in which we approach certain people based upon the way they look. For example, you might see an overweight person and assume they’re lazy, or you may assume an older individual isn’t cut out for a social media job due to their age.
As a leader and manager, it’s important that you educate people on how these potential bias’ may be ingrained within them. The truth is, they may not even realise they hold these preconceptions. By implementing education training around this topic, you can open people’s eyes to this problem so they can rectify it.
- Treat Mental Health as You Would Physical Health
Despite stigma surrounding mental health dissipating in recent years, it is still not treated with the same courtesy as physical health. In order to create a positive and supportive culture surrounding mental health, it starts from the top down. Business owners need to start treating mental health problems with the same regard they would any other illness.
This should help to create a positive work culture which will have many benefits across the board. Ultimately, a supportive and well-being-oriented culture will no doubt boost loyalty of workers, and productivity levels. If you treat employees well, they will do the same for your business.
- Have Support Available
Supporting colleagues with any issue they may have at home or within their lives is sure to help your staff and company flourish. There are many ways that you can support your team, but one of the best ways to do so is to provide an outlet for this.
This could come in the shape of a well-being team; a group of kind and compassionate people within the workforce who people can go to if they have any concerns. The group should ensure all conversations remain anonymous, providing a trusted outlet for people to express their emotions.
- Train Staff on Inclusivity
It’s all well and good implementing inclusive goals throughout any business, but none of this can be properly integrated without the training to carry it out. Because of this, you need to implement a training strategy which aims at educating staff – both current and new – on the measures you have in place to boost inclusivity.
Not only can these training sessions be useful to help inclusivity become part of the company culture, you can even ask employees opinions on more ways to help. This way, you can ensure employees feel listened to and supported.
Again, the benefits of implementing this training and exposure as part of the company’s regulations simply can’t be overstated. Loyalty and productivity will no doubt flourish along the way.
- Create Opportunities for a Discourse to Open Up
It’s important to open up discourses where you can about all of the above issues to ensure your staff feel they have the right to express their views. If someone wants to talk about the way they’ve been treated within the workplace, they should be allowed to put forward this opinion without fear of repercussions.
This could come in the form of a wellbeing team (as we’ve seen above), an anonymous email forum, or monthly staff meetings. Whatever works for you as a company, you should think about implementing something to provide this discourse.
Ready to Become more Inclusive Within Your Workplace?
As you can see, there are many ways you can promote inclusivity within your workplace. These are just 10 ideas, but feel free to involve all employees with this initiative to best support employees, clients and visitors within your workspace.
We really hope you’ve learnt something new from this article, so you can open your workspace up to people of multiple abilities, genders, ages, ethnicities, and sexualities. Good luck with your inclusive goals!
