The road to diversity and inclusion can often be a long one. It takes time, effort and a strategic approach to build organisations that are able to attract, engage and retain a workforce, that is well supported to benefit from diversity.
It takes a whole business approach to planning, to embed diversity and inclusion and to challenge unfairness and discrimination, and in operational and other business functions. Diversity and inclusion for small businesses is just a relevant as it is for large, corporate entities.
Small Business Diversity and Inclusion
There is much debate and focus on D&I in the workplace. Diversity and inclusion is steadily becoming a means of building productive, highly engaged companies. As such, there is increased conversation and focus on building diversity into the mechanics of people and operational processes.
There is however, some concern that many small and medium sized businesses, lack clarity on the benefits of the business case for diversity.
These businesses are often unaware of the strategic benefits that can be realised from a highly engaged, inclusive workforce environment. Some remain largely in a state of confusion regarding the importance of building diversity into the business.
Lack of Clarity on the Business Case for Diversity
Without understanding of the organisational benefits of D&I, and knowledge of how to implement it within processes and functions, the likelihood of any paradigm shift, seems minimal.
Achieving diversity and inclusion is an action-centred activity. It cannot be achieved through the development of policies alone. It requires leaders and managers to partake in action focused conversations, that lead to the strategic planning of D&I. It requires a strategic investment in diversity, to build confidence and competence around this enabling business area.
The process requires a commitment from leaders and managers to change the status quo, in order to build out learning and engagement with D&I across all areas of business.
Whilst there has been progress towards embedding diversity, and inclusive processes, within large global corporations, there is still work to be done to engage smaller businesses with the concept of D&I.
Many SME's have yet to make serious consideration of embedding D&I, although many have devised a policy or two! This apparent lack of concern regarding diversity and inclusion, may be to due to lack of understanding of the ways in which D&I can significantly improve business outcomes.
Making the concept of D&I approachable to smaller entities, including start ups, and supporting them to take action, is the task of diversity consulting professionals. There are several positive steps that SME’s can take to understand the ‘Why and How’ of D&I.
Diversity and Inclusion– The Why and the How?
Let’s face it…. diversity conversations can be hard for some managers. It’s often seen as a ‘nice thing to have' but many organisations fail to understand the impact it can have on their workforce and operational deliverables.
Whilst this does not mean these managers are against the concept of D&I, it does demonstrate a lack of awareness of the business and workplace benefits of diversity and how it can positively impact all aspect of the business.
This lack of awareness can lead to a sense of apathy, which can result in non action, and a comprehensive reinforcement of the status quo.
By making the subject of diversity approachable and actionable for SME’s, diversity and inclusion can be identified as a necessary business goal.
This can then be understood as within the reach of these smaller businesses, rather than an activity that seems abstract, unnecessary and unobtainable.
The Business Case for Diversity
By understanding the case for diversity, a business can develop a sense of validity for D&I, which can then underpin strategic planning activities. This will result in properly defined actions to develop and support, an inclusive and well balanced workforce.
Simply put, the strategic development of diversity and inclusion leads to more effective, engaged and innovative workplaces. Although this does not occur overnight, it can be achieved by taking small, steady steps, which build into an effective procedural framework that supports D&I across the business.
Through the analysis of specific areas of the business, managers can identify where there is a need to build in more diversity and promote inclusive practices. Understanding the need to audit for diversity will build engagement around diversity and inclusion.
This will start the process that leads to planning and activities that ultimately lead to a more engaged workforce that feels included. It will also show results in operational effectiveness, behavioural and culture change and increased productivity, over time.
Workplace Diversity and Inclusion
Diversity in the workplace is the first step of developing inclusion. An inclusive workplace is built on genuine commitment to redress current imbalances.
This commitment must seek to employ strategic mechanisms to enhance the diversity of staff, at all levels within the business.
It involves supportive practices that serve to make staff teams feel included and involved with the business. This includes enabling staff to contribute effectively within the business because it is open and transparent.
It embodies an element of trust between staff and management and a healthy level of engagement.
This is important. The lack of attention to diversity and inclusion issues, is a major cause of stress within the workplace. It leads to high levels of staff turnover, increased sickness rates due to stress and increased rates of litigation against the business.
Inadequate attention to diversity and inclusion issues are a major cause of workplace stress.
Diversity brings difference into the workplace. It is by no means the end result of being inclusive, but it leads to the formation of a platform, upon which inclusive practices can be built.
By cultivating a diverse workforce, your business will be better placed to gain more positive business results, through enhanced productivity, creativity and innovation.
When all members of a work team feel included, the whole team becomes more engaged and productive.
People from diverse communities and cultures, bring a wide variety of skills and ideas, that help to build innovation into teams, projects and services.
Recruiting for a Diverse Workforce
Building diversity into recruitment processes is crucial to building a workforce that is productive and innovative. Diversity of thought and experience is enhanced, when staff teams are supported to develop and progress within the business.
The diversity of ideas that come from people from different social experience, gender, racial, educational, lifestyle and ability backgrounds, helps to develop creativity.
It results in products and services that better serve customers and clients.
Creating a diverse team will not be achieved overnight. It is a process driven activity that requires strategic planning and activities to engage with a diverse range of potential candidates.
If respondent numbers indicate that your recruitment process is not appealing to a wide range of candidates, it probably indicates that it is structured in such a way that it disproportionately marginalises certain ethnic, social and cultural groups.
By analysing your recruitment process, and making the necessary adjustments, your ability to attract candidates from a wide range of cultures will be enhanced.
It will improve the quality of the candidates that respond to job openings, as well as increase diversity within work teams.
Advertising widely to attract a wide range of candidates from different social and cultural backgrounds, is part of being inclusive.
Attracting and range of candidates, enables business to build a company that is diverse. However, this alone does not necessarily mean that the business has a productive and engaging workplace environment!
Nor does it mean that visible diversity equates to inclusion!
Diversity is not a numbers game and much more has to be done to create an environment that will support diversity within the business, and enable all the business benefits of diversity to flourish.
Merely increasing the numbers of staff who are visually diverse, without underpinning organisational processes with strategies which embody inclusion, is a recipe for failure.
Engaging and Retaining a Diverse Staff Team
Attracting a wide range of diverse candidates to work within a business is a bonus for any employer. However, building inclusion into the processes that support the inclusion, development and retention of staff, is quite another.
A proactive and healthy workplace environment will embed steps to ensure that inclusion is part of developmental and progression processes.
It will focus on how culture and effective cultural communication, can help both the business and the employee, engage better with one another to achieve excellent business outcomes.
Developing processes that truly support inclusion will go some way towards making all staff feel included and supported to become the best that they can be, in an environment that is fair and balanced.
Everyone needs to have a fair chance to succeed.
Social Media, Diversity and Inclusion
In times of social media and internet technology, it is an increasingly easy task to search for information about potential employers.
Employees, quite rightly, seek to find employment, in an environment where they are likely to feel supported and engaged.
A key consideration here is what potential talent is learning about diversity and inclusion within your business.
What does your website say about diversity of your board membership?
Are your senior leaders gender and racial balance of your leadership?
Prospective employees will take into consideration, the diverse make-up of your business, when making a decision on whether or not to apply.
From a prospective employee's point of view, lack of diversity can lead to the assumption that they fill not fit into the business and will feel isolated.
Social media can speak volumes about diversity within your organisation.
Potential candidates are looking for a place to work where they feel they will fit in and feel included.
They are looking for an environment that is fair and equitable, where they feel that they have good chances to excel and realise their developmental aspirations.
Consider, what does your business brand say about you.
Do you actively promote the diversity within your business?
What does your leadership do to promote diversity within the business?
Do you have diversity champions?
Has your business been externally validated and benchmarked for diversity?
Potential candidates are looking for companies where they feel valued and included.
By not engaging with diversity and actively promoting it, a business is at risk of missing out on high-calibre talent.
By not being open and transparent about diversity within the business, there is a potential that a negative impression will be formed of the business.
This is clearly not the impression that a forward thinking business wants potential employees to have of their brand.
These negative assumptions can also apply to potential customers who search for your products and/or read reviews online.
Moving from D&I Theory to Inclusive Practice.
Developing knowledge around diversity and inclusion is a great start, but how can a business use this knowledge to build an effective organisation.
How does leadership translate knowledge of this complex area into actions that promote and embed diversity?
The difficulty of making the shift from understanding the need for diversity and inclusion, to taking active steps to implementing it, is where many businesses struggle.
Taking active steps to embed diversity and promote inclusion must be seen as an investment in the business. It demands the full commitment of the company executives.
Taking active steps to build diversity into business is a positive step in building a business that is modern, caring, productive and inclusive.
Translating diversity knowledge into practice can often pose problems for organisations. The reality is that the diversity agenda, by its very nature, is an extremely complex one.
It requires a level of understanding and commitment to reset the culture of an organisation, to provide a platform to embed diversity and inclusion.
There are a number of approaches that can be implemented to promote and embed D&I across strategic mechanisms and workplace functions.
Developing strategic approaches to diversity and inclusion enables whole organisation effectiveness and increases productivity.
These short diversity tips will enable leaders to better engage with diversity and transition themselves and those they supervise to understand the benefits of a diverse and inclusive business agenda.
1. Review Organisational Culture
Culture change is important to embedding inclusion into the business operational framework. This will require a cultural shift to displace traditional mindsets and values that do not support an inclusive agenda.
Commitment and buy-in for these changes must be gained from management across the corporate stratum. This may include individual support, in the form of, for example, executive diversity coaching.
2. Focus on Effective Messaging
Whilst visible diversity is an important part of the promotion of diversity, it must not be its primary focus. By developing a conscious narrative around organisational diversity, a shared purpose and context diversity and inclusion, can be realised.
Extend the purpose of diversity beyond that of visual diversity to include all protected characteristics. It is important to engage staff further with the benefits of diversity to operational effectiveness. This will include:
Fairness and inclusion
Increasing productivity
Organisational excellence
Customer service
Client and community relationships
3. Prioritise Leadership Training and Coaching
Build out senior leadership understanding and capability around diversity and inclusion. By extending leadership capabilities, they are better able to lead teams that make an impact on the diversity agenda.
Training and seminars are great for equipping leadership with supporting knowledge and practical support for developing processes and procedures.
Training and seminars help to develop organisation wide knowledge to support diversity and inclusive processes.
Diversity Coaching is a very effective way of supporting leadership to engage with both internal, and external, aspects of developing and managing effective diversity practice.
4. Interventions for Middle-Management.
Empowering mid-level management to take action on diversity will increase promotion and exposure to the culture change necessary to promote D&I.
Training and seminar presentations can provide excellent opportunities to engage in reflective learning. This will help to bring middle managers along in the process of resetting organisational culture, to embed diversity and inclusive practice.
5. Address Bias to Support Behavioural Change
Attend to processes and organisational practice. Consider the modification of any organisational systems that require modernisation. Just because something has 'always been done this way' doesn't mean that it is conducive with modern day practice.
Audit policies and procedures to ensure that they are up to date with current legislation and regulations. Ensure that all policies and processes embed inclusion.
6. Develop Systems of Accountability.
Establishing a framework of accountability throughout leadership for diversity will have a major impact on diversity.
By developing an engaged leadership, that is committed to the diversity agenda within corporate goals, and supportive of staff, managers become aware of their accountability both for, and within the process.
7. Support and Celebrate Inclusion
Initiate activities that support staff to recognise best practice in diversity and inclusion. Ensure that good practice in diversity is celebrated and promoted. Employees, clients and customers will benefit from strategic activities that highlight work around diversity.
It will help to embed diversity across the business as well as promote your products and services to potential customers.
Highlighting your progress with the diversity agenda online, will help to leverage competitiveness and promote your business and an employer of choice. It is a great way to develop your business brand.
Diversity and Inclusion is Do-Able
So there you have it! By rethinking organisational culture, the platform upon which effective diversity and inclusive practice is built, any size of business can achieve inclusion.
Celebrating and supporting leadership to embed diversity through inclusion, a visible change and positive movements towards achieving better business outcomes is enhanced.
As with all change processes, proper planning and realistic timelines are important. Organisational culture change is achieved through process and does not happen overnight.
With careful thought and adequate planning and support, diversity and inclusion is achievable within any organisation.
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Kenroi Consulting is a UK based diversity consultancy. We support businesses to enhance diversity and inclusion with tailor-made solutions.
W: www.kenroi.com T: 0203 633 1185 E: info@kenroi.com
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