Equality, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) in the workplace isn’t a new concept. Now, employers and employees are realising the importance and significance of EDI more than ever.
Your workplace should be a reflection of the society around you. In fact, a recent study by Glassdoor tells us that a full two-thirds (67%) of both active and passive job-seekers said that a diverse workforce is an important factor when evaluating companies and job offers.
Individuals and companies are now aware that simply to say that you support equality, diversity, and inclusion in the workplace is not enough: EDI is no longer just a box-ticking exercise. EDI must be built into your company’s strategy, ethos, and values, and be put into practice each and every day with measurable outcomes.
Find out more on the best practices to help you achieve EDI in the workplace below:
What Does Equality, Diversity & Inclusion (EDI) in the Workplace Mean?
To begin with, we should look at what EDI actually means. It is defined by the School of Physics and Astronomy as:
“EDI ensures fair treatment and opportunity for all. It aims to eradicate prejudice and discrimination on the basis of an individual or group of individual’s protected characteristics.”
So essentially, in a workplace environment, it means that people should not suffer in any way due to any of their characteristics including their age, gender, disabilities and more.
You can find a full list of protected characteristics in the Equality Act 2010.
What Are Examples of Supporting Equality, Diversity & Inclusion in the Workplace?
Know Your Baseline (Use Your Data)
First things first, it’s important for organisations to understand their starting point.
Organisations too often introduce EDI policies and practices that sometimes prove more disadvantageous than advantageous (unconscious bias training and blind recruitment, for example).
So organisations need to use their data to baseline their current EDI position – and then work from that starting point to design necessary targeted EDI interventions.
Look at your recruitment processes, where are you currently struggling to attract diverse candidates? Do you have gender and ethnicity pay gaps? If so, why? How can these be addressed and rectified – both now and in future recruitment? How are you embracing positive action (as enshrined in the Equality Act 2010) to improve your organisation’s representation of otherwise marginalised groups?
This all needs to be based on your data to ensure that any EDI interventions are both relevant and proactively improving your EDI position. From there, you can then set measurable KPIs and track your progress.
Focus on the Science
Let’s face it, EDI can often feel like a ‘tricky’ subject. Removing the shame and fear often associated with EDI is another great place for you to start.
At Inclusive Consulting, we use neuroscience and behavioural science as the basis for workshops and tailored work.
This takes the dialogue back to a neutral and judgement-free space where it is safe to ask questions and share experiences. Otherwise, that fear can cause resistance that will negatively impact EDI efforts even further.
Reconsider Your Hiring Process
Develop a standardised interview format that can be fairly compared.
When working through CV’s, rather than focusing on details such as what schools and universities candidates attended, look at the wider picture.
Hiring people from the same education and workplace backgrounds can stunt your ability to grow a diverse team of people. Focusing on “cultural fit” can lead to homogeny.
Instead, consider people whose personal values match those of the organisation. Things like Personality and Ability Assessments are a good tool to help determine this.
Limit Your Use of Jargon
Excessive use of business jargon can seriously limit your appeal when hiring and onboarding a new employee.
To help drive diversity, use language that can be understood by everyone. Otherwise, you risk only attracting people from a specific background.
You should also be conscious of avoiding gender-coded terms within your job adverts that could put off female/male applicants. You can even access free gender de-coder tools online to help.
Strong Branding & Values
Make equality, diversity, and inclusion a core value within your business. Then make sure you back it up with your company policy and your brand.
Review your website and other marketing materials to ensure the language used is inclusive for everyone.
Many people don’t realise, but it’s important that your imagery is reviewed as well. Digital Accessibility is the equality of user experience of digital tools and platforms – and is a huge part of EDI.
There are now actually digital tools in-built in software applications (Microsoft are good at this) for the visually and hearing-impaired i.e. subtitles on MS Teams and noise-cancelling settings.
Build a Sense of Belonging
If you have employees that are part of a minority, then team building exercises are a great way to help them feel a sense of belonging.
Regular company team-building exercises or organisational coaching activities ensure that all employees feel they are valued team members.
Support Flexibility in the Workplace
Providing remote or flexible working opportunities is one of the best ways you can build and retain a diverse team of people.
This will help you attract parents, those with other interests, or people with chronic illnesses or disabilities for example.
Consider Your Employee Benefits
Promote employee benefits packages that really matter.
Things like bonuses and monthly pizza days are great, but consider how your employee benefits packages could help your company be inclusive to everyone.
Better maternity and paternity packages for example are a great way to attract and retain diverse employees.
It’s important to also be conscious of other cultures and religions and actively support your employees when they need it. For example, include social events that don’t necessarily focus on going to a pub/bar after work, and think about if your employee benefits package could include remote working and/or flexible working hours during religious periods such as Ramadan.
Provide Equal Opportunities
If your company actively promotes equal opportunities for all employees, then you are much more likely to attract a diverse pool of candidates who can feel confident that they will be treated fairly.
Unfair salaries and/or benefits packages will always result in an unhealthy workplace. It’s crucial that your salary structure and career development opportunities reflect your EDI values
You could look to provide current and future employees with clear information on salaries and career progression for complete transparency.
Make EDI Measurable
As we’ve mentioned previously, it’s so important that you make EDI measurable and really focus on the science.
This will allow you to promote and celebrate your EDI strategy as a company with solid statistics behind it. Metrics also help you to account for the effectiveness of your strategy and to pinpoint areas that still need some work.
You should decide on key metrics that are easily measured, with clear targets on where you aspire to be. For example, diversity could be measured through headcount – and you may decide you want to increase the number of women you employ by 20% over the next year.
Engaging with a Diversity Consultant will help you create a systematic and measurable approach to EDI that is achievable. For more information on this and how the Inclusive Consulting team can help, please contact us.
What Are the Benefits for Your Company?
Creating an equal, diverse, and inclusive company culture can provide you with numerous benefits for your business.
Here are some of the top advantages:
- Increase your talent pool when recruiting: if you’re consciously or subconsciously only looking to hire people based on their age, culture, or gender for example – then you may miss the best candidates. If you’re looking at this when you’re scanning through CV’s, you’ll find that your potential pool of candidates minimises rapidly.
- Broaden your creative thinking: let’s face it, if we were all the same, life would be very boring! Having a diverse team allows your company to benefit from the experiences and working styles of people and supports innovation.
- Help you understand your customers and clients better: having a diverse team of people means they can help your marketing and sales function understand their audience better. If you have multiple target demographics, then the best way to target them is by understanding their drivers and how your business can help them.
- Break down cultural or language barriers: hiring candidates that are able to speak other languages or have experience of living in other countries can help broaden your potential customer base.
- Improve your company’s reputation: As organisations, we all have a collective responsibility to do better. Companies that promote and practise EDI in the workplace are perceived as more socially responsible organisations, which will then help you attract the best talent. Your company’s reputation may also improve via positive employee reviews on websites such as Glassdoor.
Would you like more information on equality, diversity, and inclusion within the workplace? Contact us to find out more about the types of programs our Diversity Consultant, Jo, can offer you.
