The benefits of Workplace Diversity.

Mature and diverse companies are now working across many borders, cultures, languages and inter-generationally. By default, this demands a more inclusive approach, which has many residual benefits. Building a diverse organisation offers greater access to talent pools, helps employees feel safe, boost morale, loyalty and work ethic. There is also an increasing requirement to show policy driven equality and demonstrate social impact when entering major bids and tenders.

The law and regulation in most economies is now recognising the benefits and mandating inclusiveness and open recognition of people’s differences. It is critical for all business managers to recognise, understand and act on all forms of prejudice. This means within themselves, the work environment and towards all their stakeholders, including customers and job seekers.

Stereotype v bias v prejudice

A stereotype is an often oversimplified image where one generally thinks that most or all members of a group are the same. A bias is much more subtle and is often a programmed preference that can often inhibit impartial decisions. A prejudice, whether conscious or unconscious, is an overt set of behaviours or actions that will actively restrict, exclude or punish an individual or group.

A deeper dive into some of the main prejudices.

Ableism: Most cultures have mature and well defined law and regulation for the provision of those with physical impairments. Modern buildings and transportation must be suitable for both able bodies and disabled individuals.

When it comes to accessibility in the workplace, it is more than just about the work site itself. An organisation at its core, should embrace the value of those from different backgrounds and life experiences.

Ageism: In many countries, there are laws protecting employees over a certain age from discrimination, particularly in the hiring process, compensation and termination situations. There is also plenty of best practice available through professional associations.

In our course on The Generation Gap at Work, we explore how as older staff are forced to delay their retirement as millennials enter the workforce. This means organisation needs to understand the diverse talent and manage the challenges of a diverse workforce and differing career paths.

Sexism. It is largely the female working population that has been on the wrong end of sexism. This ranges from the more overt harassment to the more systemic problems of wage disparity, maternity policy and glass ceiling. More and more mature economies are removing these barriers but there is much still to do.

As well as more overt examples, it’s important to understand and guard against indirect discrimination. This is where a policy or rule put in place, applies to everyone in the same way, but has a worse effect on some, putting them at a disadvantage. A policy must apply to everyone in the same way.

How to build an inclusive Workplace Diversity program.

Conduct a diversity audit to understand where an organisation is and wants to be. Undertake a document review and internal focus groups and surveys. Typical outputs are new policy documents, correct tone of voice and language, awareness training campaigns.

Develop and implement policy across the organisation ensuring you cover these areas.

Define what discrimination is in the context of your organisation. Include language about prohibited conduct, complaint procedures, intolerance of retaliation, responsibilities of managers, and corrective action the company will take upon violation.

Define harassment. Clearly state it is prohibited, describe the complaint procedure, explain that retaliation is prohibited, lay out managers’ responsibilities. Explain what process the organization will follow for investigation and corrective action.

Educate managers and staff about what constitutes discrimination. Look at preventative behaviours, training on how spot and remedial approaches followed by subsequent procedures if there is a breach.

Sensitivity training. Employees report being better able to make decisions. This is because they are aware of their biases and how these might play into decision making; this awareness allows them to make different choices.

In conclusion, implementing an inclusive environment and authentic approach to workplace diversity will add many benefits to your organisation, both now and in the future. If you want to know more, we have two courses below you can sign up for to give you greater insights.

This is one of our executive briefings taken from our series of professional online business short courses from ELL. We have over 150 courses online with over 1,000 hours of e-learning covering a wide range of topics across leadership, management and personal & professional development created by industry experts and learning professionals.

The workplace has been fundamentally changing over recent years, moving towards being more open, accepting and understanding of the differences in its staff and how diversity adds value. Leading global businesses embrace this while governments force those who slow or refusing to change with the times. We have several courses, including Workplace Diversity Diversity and Inclusion, and the Generation Gap at Work both of which can be studied immediately.

By the end of these courses, you’ll be able to:

• Have a comprehensive for how diversity adds value to an organisation
• Recognise how to support and work with diverse constituencies
• Break down barriers that come with stereotypes
• Identify areas of concern and how to deal with issues
• Deal practically with cases of discrimination

In each of our business courses, you get access to around six hours of e-learning that you can watch, listen and read. There are usually 100 questions and at the end of the course you will receive a certificate of completion that you can use against any personal or professional development requirements. As well as the course, you also receive a FREE e-book that you can read on your Kindle or other e-reader. You also get a FREE audiobook of the course so you can listen to the whole course uninterrupted on your device.