How to ensure true inclusion in company culture

Making the positive change necessary to avoid performative diversity can seem murky. Clarify your team’s steps forward by considering a few options taken by leaders in any industry.

1. Conduct a company culture audit

Auditing isn’t only for financial purposes. Company leaders can also conduct one to understand their current work culture. Gather information regarding the employee demographics in each department, hiring procedures and existing diversity policies — or the lack thereof. You could hire an external diversity consultancy team to organize this effort, but it primarily requires internal data. If the leaders committed to improving your company culture are part of the data collection and review process, you’ll still identify key areas to improve.

2. Get different perspectives without implicit bias

Inclusivity is achievable with the right hiring practices. First, recruiters should work together to obtain new perspectives. Tools can assist with this while filling open jobs. Encourage people from all backgrounds to apply, then use a software program that creates aliases for details like gender and race to eliminate implicit bias while reviewing those applications.

You could also schedule unconscious bias training for all recruiters and make it a recurring employment requirement. They’ll learn about things like ensuring they’re not strictly hiring people who look like them, which doesn’t always stem from a conscious prejudice.

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Working together to eliminate biases, update hiring procedures and grow as a team gives everyone an opportunity to collaborate. Experts found that 75% of employees believe collaboration is essential in the workplace. While they do this daily through written and verbal communication, honing their cultural competency and emotional intelligence for workplace diversity improvements fosters better listening skills. Those with different perspectives and voices will feel more heard because collaboration could become your company’s strong suit.

3. Update your company’s health insurance options

People work jobs to feel fulfilled, but they also need to pay their bills and visit the doctor. Health insurance is a significant driver for many employed people. Unfortunately, it’s an inclusion opportunity some company leaders forget to update.

As of 2024, only 37% of health insurance plans covered fertility medications. The coverage for in vitro fertilization and egg freezing was even less. People might also not get the employer-provided health care they need if they’re domestic partners rather than legally married spouses. Reflecting on your current workforce and getting their input on how your health plans meet their needs can guide your team to more inclusive plan options.

4. Ask for recurring feedback

Making company-wide changes without addressing your team’s current needs will make your efforts seem performative. People may think that those in leadership want the company to look good but don’t care to consider what their workforce is experiencing.

Schedule opportunities to get recurring feedback from employees at every level of each department. You might hear that a recently hired team member would feel more comfortable in the office if there was a separate fridge for Kosher food. A new group of employees might want their religious holidays to count as automatic PTO, like federal or Christian holidays. If your organization recently hired a Muslim employee but didn’t create a private space for their daily prayers, that’s something you can fix right away.

Workplace leaders often create a feedback platform for both anonymous and named responses when they want more input from team members. People may know they can always talk to their managers in person, but some may only feel comfortable submitting complaints in an online form. Either way, you’ll get the input you need to understand where your company culture stands and how it can get better.

Improve diversity with reflection and change

Enhancing the workplace with more inclusion takes time. As people see their employer making everyone feel seen and valued through actions, the company will become a leader in avoiding performative diversity. Getting feedback, making personalized changes to the office and updating ongoing hiring practices are only a few ways to start modernizing any workforce.