To gain a competitive advantage in today’s global talent market, companies cultivating diverse work environments must understand and manage what constitutes diversity.
Despite the lengthy process, whether you are in the initial stages of implementing diversity or updating your company’s already existing program, appropriately managing diversity is integral to your diverse organization’s success. It is also crucial that your leadership team to understand that their behaviors, beliefs, and backgrounds can influence their decision-making within your diverse environment.
Managing diversity comes with its unique set of challenges, but these can be mitigated by promoting a culture of acceptance, honest and open communication, and crafting effective conflict management strategies tailored to address issues that may arise.
So, how can your company start effectively managing diversity at your workplace?
Here are our recommendations to get you started:
- Construct Inclusive Practices and Rules’
- Stay Abreast of Diversity Laws
- Facilitate Diversity Training
Construct Inclusive Practices and Rules
When managing a diverse team, your organization should ensure that communication is effective. Verifying that all company policies, procedures, rules, and essential documents are designed to overcome language and cultural barriers is vital. Create a standard set of rules for all employees irrespective of background and culture, thus ensuring that every individual is treated equally, there is no discrimination, and the standardized criteria are inclusive.
Additionally, the onus is on leaders and managers to ensure that all employees from the start understand the organization’s rules, written and unwritten. Therefore, these key personnel should encourage and accept feedback from the team and amend policies and practices where perceived barriers exist for specific groups within the workplace.
Stay Abreast of Diversity Laws
To manage diversity, your company must keep abreast of shifting employer-related laws, especially those relating to diversity. It is necessary for organizations to frequently review internal policies and verify that they reflect up-to-date rules and regulations. If your company has a global presence, tracking changes in laws and regulations across countries is vital as these vary.
Facilitate Diversity Training
Diversity does not always come naturally. Despite the growing number of people aware of its importance, many may have unconscious biases and prejudices. Thus, training is essential to achieve and maintain diversity. These may include awareness training where employees understand the importance and benefits of diversity and sensitivity training, aiming to reduce bias and increase others’ inclusion in the workplace.
Diversity training can be challenging, especially when employees feel your company is forcing diversity on them, and some may even feel brainwashed. But it is vital to help your team understand and respect religions, races, ethnicities, and cultures different from theirs. It is also essential in assisting your team to know where they currently stand as it relates to diversity and how they can improve.
Final Thoughts
Despite its complexity, diversity is considered the way forward for organizations. It is an ongoing task and will require the commitment, cooperation, and support of every organization member. These practices for managing workplace diversity will help make the job easier. However, with the combined efforts of the entire team, your company can reap the benefits which come with diversity.
Stay tuned to our next blog to learn more about managing generational diversity at your workplace!
Let us help!
If you are ready to take the next step towards managing a diverse workforce, our ITS Global expert team will help you with your recruitment needs.