Thanks to social justice movements and the pandemic, global companies are trying to improve their new policies and find new ways to enhance diversity in their workplace.
With tomorrow (21st May) marking World Day of Cultural Diversity, HRreview has gathered expert tips on how to diversify your workforce.
Emily Miner, Director, LRN Corporation:
“Culture is more than ping-pong tables and flexible work schedules. Culture is shaped by a multitude of factors, including creating a sense of belonging and respect for all employees, such as through intentional DE&I initiatives, the ease at which employees feel empowered to speak up and contribute, how your firm manifests its purpose and values in a multi-stakeholder context, and how your leaders role model and reinforce these ideas.
“According to a recent Tallo survey, 87 percent of Gen Z employees say DE&I strategies are very important to them. But how are those strategies really playing out across your organization? While there are many ways to collect data, the best is to simply ask your people. How can your organization promote cultural diversity and dialogue?
“Listen and learn from your team. Ask everyone—from senior leaders to middle management to individual contributors—questions about how they experience your company’s culture. Doing so helps identify gaps that need immediate attention in access to people, tools, resources, and training. Gathering and analysing data illustrates objective insights and can let you know where and how to intervene.”
Ty Francis, MBE, Chief Advisory Officer, LRN Corporation:
“Organisations creating an inclusive, diverse culture have an increasingly competitive advantage when attracting and retaining top talent, according to McKinsey. This aligns with our findings at LRN that organisations with the most ethical cultures outperform their peers by up to 40 percent across key business metrics like employee retention, customer satisfaction, innovation, and growth. They keep and engage top talent because they put their values first.”
Susan Divers, JD, Director of Thought Leadership for LRN:
“Looking to promote more cultural diversity in your organisation? Start with your values. The most crucial factor we have identified in our work is that a values-based approach sustains ethical culture. Values transform culture and impact behaviour; rules merely set the minimum standards. Inspiring your workforce to embrace respect for others is substantially more powerful than 5lb rule books.
“Building an ethical culture offers a kind of framework to look at developing and promoting further dialogue on respect and diversity. Tracking cultural progress over time is particularly important to make ESG, DEI, organizational justice, trust, and other pillars of ethical culture stronger. But, above all, look at your values and start with that.”
Amelia Brand is the Editor for HRreview, and host of the HR in Review podcast series. With a Master’s degree in Legal and Political Theory, her particular interests within HR include employment law, DE&I, and wellbeing within the workplace. Prior to working with HRreview, Amelia was Sub-Editor of a magazine, and Editor of the Environmental Justice Project at University College London, writing and overseeing articles into UCL’s weekly newsletter. Her previous academic work has focused on philosophy, politics and law, with a special focus on how artificial intelligence will feature in the future.
