Diversity and inclusion initiatives succeed when you have together with the efforts between leaders, executives, and frontline employees.
Nowadays you can find Companies with employees from diverse backgrounds ready to developed innovative solutions. A disruptive employee that they don’t succumb to groupthink, but foster out-of-the-box ideas.
Teniendo esto en cuenta, ¿cómo crean las organizaciones una cultura centrada en la diversidad y la inclusión?
THROUGH COLLABORATION
The responsability can’t fall in one individual or department because will not work. For this reason, is crucial that senior executives, frontline employees, and leavers built together high-performing, diverse and inclusive cultures by working together since the beginning. The principle is simple, companies using the collaboration should follow 3 steps:
1st Step: Giving special relevant to Diversity and Inclusion in the hiring process.
On this step, the HR Deparment has a pulse of organizational makeup and culture. They have their hands-on diversity and inclusion surveys and assesments of the organizational structure. With this data they design a plan having in mind the results and the needs of the organization. In the hiring process, the recruiting team jumps into action knowing the goals that the organization is trying to achieve.
P&G’s global workforce is an amalgamation of people from over 145 nationalities. Upholding strong values of diversity within its own organization and driving action outside allows the company to win the hearts of consumers worldwide. Here you have a short firlm focused on “the talk” that many black Americans have with their kids about racial bias in order to protect, prepare and encourage them.
“We know that the more we integrate and build citizenship into how we do business, the bigger the impact we can have on the people we serve, the communities where we live and work, and the broader world that surrounds us.”
David S. Taylor, P&G’s presidente y CEO
2nd Step: Helping to create a Sense of Belonging
In the workplace, a core component of diversity and inclusion in the sense of belonging. The employees look for a workplace where they feel valued, especially when their ideas are different from their peers.
Employees who have this sense of belonging at work are more productive and committed to achieving their key goals.
According to a study reported by Forbes en 2017, 76 percent of millennial employees are more likely to stay with a company if they feel recognized and appreciated. They’re not looking for a simple pat on the back, but genuine feeling of belonging and porpuse that comes from helping fulfill their company’s mission.
The one-year mark is statistically the most important time to check in with employees and make sure they aren’t thinking of heading elsewhere.
‘‘We are less when we don’t include everyone’’
Stuart Milk
I found a great example in Zappos, they have 5 ways to celebrate work anniversaries. There is no need to expend a lot of money the most important thing is that the gift or gesture is personal, meaningful and reinforces the sense of community.
- Handmade gifts, find something incredibly specific and show that he took the time to find a unique and thoughtful gift.
- Growth opportunities, the promise of new projects may be the turning point between leaving or staying.
- Potluck gathering, where you poll for the favorite baked goods or homemade treats. The party will not only be more unique, but the team will feel part of celebrating their colleague and will wait for their own celebration.
- Decorate your desk, in case you are sure that your colleague will not mind public attention, stay after work and make your desk the focus of the celebration.
- Collaborative lunch, meeting outside your office eliminates the pressure of the review process and allows the conversation to submerge where you would like to expand and grow.
There are 5 ways to celebrate from Zappos what would like to have to celebrate your work anniversary?
It is the role of HR to work for employee engagement. How can they do it effectively? By training, incentivizing and promoting personal and team accountability. Through feedback and recognition leaders create experiences that validate employees’ efforts rather than brushing them aside.
3rd Step: Supporting a Diverse and Inclusive Culture
Having a diverse team is always great, however, maintaining a spirit of inclusivity can be a challenge. At this point, the role of the leaders and senior executives becomes key showing the value of diversity and promoting a respectful environment for all to express their thoughts, feelings, and ideas.
One ideal example is Continental one of the biggest auto manufacturing company. They have identified diversity needs in their organization and set up a plan in order to increase the proportion of women in management positions to 25% by 2025. In order to achieve this goal, they have created a Global Diversity Network, an umbrella organization to foster women’s career development. Within the program, women are provided with networking opportunities across all of the countries within which Continental operates.
In 2018, Forbes dubbed them one of the “best employers for women” a testament to the organization’s commitment to inclusivity.
Conclusions
Our society is in a place to demand companies to make all necessary efforts to increase diversity and inclusion since this will create the wave effect required to rapidly reach for a high-performance organization.
Meanwhile, leaders like P&G, Zappos and Continental need to show the way, congrats.
Share other examples of diversity and inclusion or other trends in the comments to spark new ideas on others and like/share if you enjoyed this article.