Every company needs to start somewhere when it comes to building a strategic focus on diversity, equity, and inclusion. We recommend the below tips as a way to begin your company's journey towards a more inclusive and diversity workplace:
- Establish a DEI Task Force: Appoint a team of employees to spearhead DEI initiatives within the organization. The team can help to identify areas for improvement and provide recommendations on how to foster a more equitable workplace.
- Conduct an Audit: Conduct an audit of current workplace practices, policies, and culture to identify areas that need improvement. This could include reviewing hiring practices, performance evaluations, compensation, and promotion trends.
- Establish Goals: Set specific goals for the organization and consistently your track progress towards achieving them. This could include increasing the number of historically underrepresented groups in leadership positions or improving the retention rate of employees from diverse backgrounds.
- Implement or Expand Bias Training: Provide training on unconscious bias to all employees to help them recognize and address their biases. By providing consistent training, your organization can create a more inclusive workplace culture and reduce the impact of implicit bias on decision-making.
- Ensure Equitable Hiring Practices: Develop and implement equitable hiring practices that eliminate bias and increase diversity. This could include using blind resumes, reworking job descriptions to eliminate bias, and establishing clear criteria for hiring.
- Foster Inclusive Communication: Encourage inclusive communication practices that value diverse perspectives and experiences. This could include establishing guidelines for inclusive language, and creating safe spaces for employees to share their experiences.
- Promote Employee Resource Groups: Employee resource groups (ERGs) can provide a supportive community for employees from diverse backgrounds. Encourage the creation and promotion of ERGs to foster a sense of belonging and promote diversity and inclusion within the workplace.
- Increase Diversity in Leadership: Ensure that there is representation from diverse groups in leadership positions. This could involve developing a leadership pipeline that supports the development of employees from underrepresented backgrounds or implementing a mentorship program.
- Celebrate Diversity: Celebrate diversity by recognizing and promoting the contributions of employees from diverse backgrounds. This could include celebrating cultural holidays, hosting diversity events, and creating opportunities for employees to share their cultural heritage with others in the workplace.
Looking to do more to support diversity, equity, and inclusion within your workplace? The Workplace Diversity Project is here to help! Reach out to us and we can begin working together to build a plan that is tailored to your specific organization.
