Building a diverse and inclusive workforce

Diversity, equity, and inclusion are often thought of together, but diversity is only the first step. And it’s not a one-time event, as unconscious bias training usually is. Inclusive behaviours need to be introduced into every aspect of your business. Everything you do needs to support the goal of creating a psychologically safe environment for everyone.

Inclusion always starts at the top. Your leaders need to embrace and demonstrate inclusivity for it to trickle down to the rest of your employees. Train them to be more intentional about recognising, evaluating, and celebrating differences among all employees.

For inclusivity to truly permeate your entire organisation, you need to build it into all your systems and processes. Inclusion should be reflected in your values, your competency model, and your performance evaluations. Hold your people accountable for demonstrating inclusive behaviours. Make sure inclusion is always top of mind.

Turn all of your employees into allies: people who advocate and champion diversity, equity, and inclusion into the organisation. With an allyship approach, everyone has a role to play to address the broader issue of inclusion for all diverse employees. It’s a way for everyone to work toward understanding each other better to make a real culture change.

Your development process should be fair and objective for everyone. Make sure every tool you’re using takes inclusion into account. And remember that true inclusion goes beyond race and ethnicity. Consider physical and mental ability, sexual orientation, and gender identity as well. Every one of your employees should feel they and their skills are being evaluated and developed in a way that’s fair.