3 Ways Leaders Can Better Create a Culture of Diversity and Inclusion

A study by the Peterson Institute for International Economics found a positive correlation between the presence of women in leadership positions and firm performance. Companies with at least 30 per cent women in leadership positions had net profit margins that were 6 percentage points higher than companies with no women in leadership roles.

According to the 2020 McKinsey & Company report ‘Diversity Wins’, businesses with diverse executive teams are more likely to outperform their peers on profitability.

As business leaders and owners, you want to incorporate the ‘whole’ of the person into your business. You want people to bring the best of the cultures that they’ve worked in— whether it’s come from their families or it’s come from the businesses that they’ve worked for. Diversity and inclusion can impact your business by allowing you to see the bigger picture and address market trends before they emerge, lead to more creativity and innovation and reveal hidden opportunities and uncover blind spots. Let’s take a look at 3 actions you can take to promote greater inclusivity at work:

1. Provide diversity training to all people in the business. This training can focus on:

• building awareness, understanding and empathy towards different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives. 
• unconscious biases; 
• concepts of inclusion and equity and how they relate to creating a fair and welcoming workplace for all people; 
• ensuring your managers and all your people are aware of anti- discrimination laws and regulations to ensure compliance; 
• recognising and respecting different gender identities and expressions and understanding the challenges faced by transgender and non-binary people, promoting inclusivity for people of all sexual orientations; 
• addressing stereotypes or biases related to LGBTQ+ people; understanding the experiences and needs of people with disabilities; 
• emphasising respect for diverse religious beliefs and practices in the workplace; 
• recognising the unique perspectives and characteristics of different generations; and 
• teaching people how to respond when they witness discrimination or harassment, which helps to promote a supportive work environment.

2. Embrace cultural celebrations and practices as part of your business culture. 

(i) Encourage people to share their traditions, customs and holidays, and provide opportunities for cross-cultural learning and appreciation.   

(ii) Educate people about the significance of various cultural celebrations and practices. Provide information about the history, traditions and customs associated with these events; 

(iii) Acknowledge the cultural diversity within your business and express respect for different backgrounds; develop and implement inclusive policies that support cultural diversity including flexible scheduling to accommodate cultural holidays or dress code policies that respect cultural needs; 

(iv) Reflect cultural diversity in your marketing materials and product offerings; recognise and celebrate cultural holidays and observances within the business like cultural foods and traditions; 

(v) Ask for feedback from people to assess if the cultural celebrations and practices are effective; 

(vi) Set measurable diversity and inclusion goals related to cultural diversity; 

(vii) Foster effective communication in a diverse workplace by implementing training programs focused on language and promote diversity in leadership positions by actively seeking out and supporting candidates from underrepresented groups.

Read more on Diversity: Why Allyship is Key To Gender Balance

3.      Promote diversity in leadership positions by defining specific, measurable and time-bound diversity goals for leadership positions and make these goals a part of your business’s strategic plan; involve diverse hiring panels in leadership selection processes as perspectives can help reduce bias and promote diversity; establish mentorship and sponsorship programs that connect high-potential diverse people with senior leaders who can guide their career growth and celebrate the achievements and contributions of diverse leaders within the business, setting them as role models.

Creating a culture of diversity and inclusion has major benefits.  Companies need to view this not as a ‘nice to have’ but a ‘must have’.  To get buy in, HR professionals need to frame diversity and inclusion into how it affects business performance. When you can link it into the bottom line which includes data on engagement and retention, it is easier to convert the non-believers who believe it is intangible into believers who can see the data. Presenting data and converting it into knowledge can shift the dial on diversity, equity and inclusion.