3 strategies for promoting diversity and inclusion in the workplace

In light of the recent advocacy for systemic change, the conversation around racism has grown more intense. In addition to the various issues embedded in our penal system, many other aspects of life are now being inspected for racist tendencies. One vital aspect of daily life that is to be explored is the workplace. Being that the workplace is where most American’s spend the bulk of their weekly time, there is much to be examined about workplace diversity and inclusivity.

Despite the fact that honest conversations around racism, diversity, and inclusivity are oftentimes difficult to have, it is vital for industry leaders to spearhead these discussions, especially during a time of intense movements advocating for truth and justice. In efforts to push for change and build a workforce of diverse minds, industry leaders must recognize the benefits of inclusion and use it as a driving force during future talent recruitment.

Benefits of an inclusive culture

Employing talent from various ethnic backgrounds, gender identities, ages, sexual orientations, cultures and religions can bring plenty of benefits to an organization. A study from the Boston Consulting Group found that companies with a diverse team made 19% higher revenues compared to companies who didn’t prioritize workplace diversity. Despite the obvious financial gain, a diverse organization also invites a variety of new perspectives, improves employee engagement and attracts a wider range of skill sets. With the use of the detailed advantages below, industry leaders can discern how vital diversity and inclusivity is to the success of a business.

Invites new perspectives

It should come as no surprise that hiring fresh talent can bring about positive change to workplace production. However, employing individuals from diverse backgrounds can also help in inviting new perspectives and knowledge of diverse markets.

By recruiting individuals with special talents and contrasting lived experiences, you open your organization up to untapped knowledge regarding aspects of the business that perhaps haven’t been explored. For example, a candidate could possess a deep understanding of different markets that your organization can appeal to, knowledge of unique angles to market your business from or even know of fortuitous business avenues that haven’t yet been examined.

Improves employee engagement

Oftentimes, it is not enough to simply hire new talent with fresh perspectives and hope for the best. As a business owner, it is also important to actively pursue and create a collaborative atmosphere where employees feel valued and important.

Fostering an accepting workplace filled with diverse faces can allow employees to not only better engage with each other, but also with management. Providing a diverse workforce with encouragement to harness new ideas, expand their minds and bring about amazing innovations will permit them to better engage with the company as a whole, which can invite new and potentially successful business avenues.

Related: The long, hard road to improving diversity in the benefits industry

When employees’ ideas are prioritized and respected, they will feel more essential to your business, producing an involved, productive and collaborative workspace where new thoughts and ideas can consistently be shared and acted upon.

Attracts a wider range of skill sets

In the quest to remain competitive in the business world, it is important to build a dynamic team that possesses varying skill sets. During the talent acquisition process, you can remove that barrier of seeking out only one type of candidate and instead broaden your horizons to employ the best candidate possible, regardless of their background. Your organization has the capability to target individuals who are the best fit for the job, specialize in particular aspects of the business, or who could potentially bring something new and dynamic to the table.

As history can tell you, the world has had a track record of exclusively employing people of a particular race and gender. As many of those hiring practices are still alive today, unknowingly or otherwise, it is important to actively seek out the talents of people from various backgrounds. From a business standpoint, when organizations narrow down their talent search by only seeking out candidates of certain races, genders and ages, they are limiting the skill sets and perspectives that they could instead be gaining.

Also: Changing our course: A call to create an industry of inclusion and diversity

By searching for candidates with special skill sets who may not look like you or share the same lived experiences, you are diversifying your talent pool and broadening your talent options. The possibilities for exceptional talent don’t have to be narrowed down based on race, culture, religion, gender identity, age and/or sexual orientation. Industry leaders have the opportunity to find individuals who are simply the best fit for the job, regardless of how they identify.

Strategies to promote workplace diversity

As organizations shift to prioritizing diversity, here are a few strategies that can be implemented in order to create an inclusive culture.

Acknowledge your current state

In order to harness these strategic business advantages, it is pertinent for organizations to assess their organization as it currently stands. Analyze your workplace and see what percentage of employees belong to diverse backgrounds. This internal assessment will allow organizations to identify discrepancies in hiring practices and perhaps reveal some discriminatory biases in respect to the recruitment and hiring of BIPOC.

Ask honest questions

To open the minds of other individuals and allow them the opportunity to look internally, host seminars or meetings that discuss the negative impacts of racism in the workplace. Alongside these seminars, leave room for staff to ask honest questions and allow fellow employees and staff to engage with each other and discuss those questions. This creates an open, judgment-free atmosphere where people can gather to gain a broader understanding of each other and unpack racist tendencies.

In addition to pondering internal questions, these steps can be carried over to hiring practices as well. Whenever you’re hiring, promoting, firing or dismissing a candidate completely, ask yourself whether or not that individual’s social identity is playing a role in your decision. Likewise, ask yourself: “If this individual’s social identity was different, would I be acting differently?”

Dictating what the future of the business world will look like through the lens of biases and racist tendencies is no way to spearhead goals. Rather, creating a welcoming, diverse workplace atmosphere will allow for growth to take place and for businesses to prosper into the future.

Monroe Gang is the CEO of Atlantic Partners Corp, a full service recruiting and consulting agency for mid-size to Fortune 500 companies.