You might think that you’ve done enough by focusing on diversity initiatives in your workplaces. You’ve worked on more diverse hiring practices, you’ve conducted training, and now you have a perfect workplace, right?
Wrong. Diversity and inclusion are two separate topics that often get pushed together to mean one thing. Diversity is a representation of people of all different nationalities, races, sexualities, etc. Inclusion talks about active measures being taken by you and your business to ensure those people have a seat at the table.
If you’ve never thought about inclusion before, it can be quite a difficult subject to approach. You might realize things about your business from the ground up that are specifically exclusionary to people, unlike your business founders.
That’s why we’re here today to tell you about why inclusion is vital to your business and to get you on track to make your workplace as inclusive as possible. Not only is it the right thing to do ethically, but it’s bound to make your workplace better than ever.
What Do I Have To Do?
Making your business focused on inclusion isn’t as easy as a single training session or a diversity statement while recruiting new employees. Making sure you’re an inclusive company takes quite a bit of work, but it is worth it and doable.
First, you will need to ensure your leadership works on reducing their unconscious biases. You can implement multiple routine training sessions to ensure your leadership thinks before speaking and acting and makes conscious moves to battle their unconscious biases.
Second, you will want to ensure your meeting culture encourages discussion and those different viewpoints aren’t frequently shut down. Encourage your employees to speak, regardless if you initially disagree. By doing so, you’re fostering ideas that their voices actually matter to you.
Why Should I Do It?
You, as a business leader, need to consider your bottom line. Ensuring that you’re doing everything possible to make returns on investments your priority, and making your employees feel valued might seem like it isn’t on the top of that list.
However, there are a multitude of benefits you’ll receive by focusing on inclusion. Let’s go through a few of those reasons together.
You’ll Attract The Best
Having an inclusive workplace is one of the best ways to attract professionals to your business. If your company makes no strides to include all employees, no matter how good the salary and benefits are, you’ll find your employees won’t have a desire to stay.
Plus, your employees are more likely to stay if they’re happy. Research is finding that your employees will be far more satisfied when they know that they are included at the very root of your company’s heart.
You’ll See Better Work Performance
Not only are your employees going to work harder when they know their voice matters, but you’re also going to be the one to reap the benefits as a business leader.
Incorporating ideas from people unlike you means you’re going to be hearing ideas you would have never thought of before. This increased creativity would only be possible if your company is making efforts to include as many different voices as possible while making decisions.
Your employees, happy to know they’re essential in your company’s progress, will be more comfortable because they can see their voice making a real change somewhere. Your employees will be less likely to quit if they know their voice truly means something to the company. They’re not present to just check off a box on a diversity statement.
You’ll Make More Money
Arguably, what matters most is that you’re more likely to see an increase in profit if you focus on inclusivity efforts. Not only are you going to cut down on absenteeism & turnover, but you’re also going to see more innovative and creative ideas. These directly translate into profit.
Your customers are smart. If they see you including people of color, women, sexual minorities, and other disenfranchised people in your business hierarchy, they’re more likely to want to support your business. One study even suggests you’ll be twice as likely to hit financial goals if you put the bit of money required into inclusion efforts in your business.
How Can I Get Started?
At BenchBuilders we can help you get started on training you and your employees to acknowledge internal biases and help you make more conscious decisions on whose voices are genuinely being included in your business meetings.
We offer a free consultation so what are you waiting for? Get in touch with us today, and we can help you get on the right track to success.
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