Resources

by Brian Cavataio 05/26/2021

---

A diverse workplace is a talented workplace. When you have diverse hiring practices, your company will employ the best talent in your industry. That diverse talent pool will boost productivity, engagement, and retention levels and increase your company’s reputation. It can even make your business more profitable. In fact, companies in the top 25 percent regarding diversity in the workplace are 33 percent more likely to eclipse less diverse companies financially.

The question is, then, how do you develop a plan to increase diversity in the workplace? While it might sound extremely challenging, you can improve diversity by following these tips.

Create Inclusive Policies

Before you can improve diversity in the workplace, you must create inclusive workplace policies. Diverse workplace policies include giving employees time to observe religious or culturally significant holidays. You can also set aside private areas for mothers to pump breastmilk and religious employees to pray. These are just some examples of how your workplace policies can make your company more welcoming to people from all backgrounds.

Celebrate Differences

Some managers and executives mistakenly think they should ignore cultural and ethnic differences. They might say that they don’t see color, and everyone is the same. In reality, people are different, and that should be recognized and celebrated. When you recognize and celebrate people’s differences, you make the workplace more welcoming and accommodating for everyone.

Please make a note of the different holidays your employees celebrate and ask them about their plans. At the same time, avoid scheduling meetings when these celebrations take place. Also, be mindful of the different dietary restrictions your employees have. These small acts of kindness will make your employees feel included and respected. It will also help educate other employees about different cultures.

Recognize and Resist Bias

You cannot have diversity in the workplace if your leadership team is biased. Many people don’t realize that they are biased. Still, when it comes time to nominate someone for a promotion, they choose candidates who most resemble them. This makes it impossible to achieve diversity. Have anti-bias training that helps management recognize their own biases and work against them to nominate the best candidates for promotion. Once your leaders learn to identify and fight against bias, your management team will become much more diverse. When your management team is diverse, you will have access to more ideas and viewpoints, which will propel your company to the next level.

Start a Sponsorship Program

Your company likely has a mentorship program. Mentors act as advisors, providing advice to their mentees. While that’s beneficial, mentor programs have helped white men much more than women and minorities. If you’re interested in creating a diverse workforce, it’s time to start a sponsorship program.

Sponsors act as advocates for their protegees. Sponsors select someone in the organization who they think has potential. Then, they work alongside them, helping them move up the workplace ladder. They shield their protegees when they take risks and give them access to their networks. Sponsors also contact hiring managers when positions open and explain why their protegees would be a good fit. By starting a sponsorship program that helps women and ethnic minorities, you can propel them into leadership positions.

Gather Information Through Exit Interviews

Exit interviews are helpful when attempting to improve diversity in the workplace. When women and minority employees leave your company, conduct exit interviews to find out why. Some employees will leave for reasons outside of your control, such as moving to another state or changing careers after earning a new degree. However, other times, it will be for reasons that you can control. When that’s the case, take the opportunity to fix the problem.

Improve Your Recruitment Methods

You must also improve your recruitment methods if you’re going to increase diversity in the workplace. Your job postings must be accessible to people of all backgrounds. Use language that attracts a diverse workforce while avoiding language that speaks directly to a specific gender or background. Blind hiring techniques can also help you hire a more diverse workforce. When recruiters and hiring managers don’t see demographic or personal information, they are left to hire based on merit.

Get Help Diversifying Your Staff

A recruitment firm can help you diversify your staff. Reach out to recruiters, so they can help you hire with diversity in mind.

Your Business Deserves Top Talent

Whether you’re looking to hire for a job immediately, or you want to reinforce your hiring process now so that when openings do pop up, you can be confident that they’ll get filled fast, these 10 tips are just about all you need to know. And if nothing seems to be working, refer to number 6 and reach out to a professional recruitment agency like BWC Executive Group.

Call today at 913-225-9058 or e-mail info@bwcexecutivegroup.com, and connect with an expert recruiter to learn how you can speed up your hiring process and get your business running smoothly.