While hiring is all about finding the right people to fill positions, retaining them is possible only when you make them feel wanted. It is where introducing and fostering inclusivity at the workplace plays a crucial role.
While an inclusive work culture has always been a sought-after thing for long, it has gained even more popularity over the past few years. Employees across the globe are after jobs in companies that promote a rich and all-inclusive culture.
Making your workplace inclusive and immersive is a win-win for employers and employees alike. The reason is that inclusion promotes a sense of belonging among employees and makes them feel valued. It helps people from different walks of life get equal opportunities to contribute to the organization’s success without facing any professional or personal bias.
For employers, it brings in multiple work perspectives that can help teams find a smarter way to get work done. It also helps maintain a talent pool that stays engaged and productive all the time. Besides, it helps build the company’s brand rapport as satisfied employees spread good word-of-mouth about the work culture.
Given the importance of inclusivity, here are a few tips to make it a priority for your organization.
1. Visualize the Workforce
Aligning your workforce with the business strategy is one of the most important objectives of a manager. Visualizing your workforce keeps you focused on the company goals and enables you to plan your actions accordingly. Project resources can be planned more effectively for projects with a better idea of your staff members’ skill level and availability.
One of the best ways to ensure skill-based tasks stay on track is through a resource scheduling tool. It is because it would help you sync employee and work schedules easily. This would give you visibility into the skilled matches assigned and let you adjust existing allocations. You can also predict work influxes that need to be staffed in the future and estimate costs to the company to source prospective hires.
2. Redesign Workplaces
For a workplace to be truly inclusive, it has to accommodate the variety of requirements of your team members. Specially-abled employees would require some changes in your regular office infrastructure.
This would mean installing ramps for wheelchair access as a basic facility. For the visually impaired, you can encourage the usage of screen-reading software, incorporating Braille, and using special paths in common areas. The main tenet behind designing such an inclusive workplace would be to ensure that specially-abled employees have freedom of movement without drawing unwanted attention.
Ensuring that your staff is comfortable in their work environment enables them to remain productive on the clock. Therefore, the general office design also has a vital role in this. Measures like installing ramps, mood lighting, noise-free zones, and break rooms would make your employees function better at work.s function better at work.
3. Offer Flexible Work Options
As a person grows professionally, responsibilities increase inevitably. When more is expected of them, it gets harder to maintain a balance between their personal life and work. In addition, an overloaded timetable can stress out an otherwise competent employee, which in turn impacts their productivity and efficiency in the long run as well.
As a manager, you can diffuse this situation to a large extent by introducing flexible work hours. Working from home allows your staff to log i allows your staff to log in early and catch up on the
tasks for the day, and week. Not only does it help employees manage their time and work responsibilities but also encourages them to collaborate seamlessly
across offices. Start by having a discussion with your employees on work timings that
they would be comfortable with. You can also introduce telecommuting for remote projects and resources.h up on the tasks for the day and week. Not only does it help employees manage their time and work responsibilities, but it also encourages them to collaborate seamlessly across offices. Start by having a discussion with your employees on work timings that they would be comfortable with. You can also introduce telecommuting for remote projects and resources.
4. Regularize Feedback
Feedback is essential for maintaining a healthy and efficient workspace. Feedback sessions should be carried out from time to time so that expectations are set, and projects are completed efficiently and on time. Proper feedback can also help motivate employeesto work better, identify shortcomings, and work to eliminate them. It also gives them a proper sense of direction and helps them know whether their efforts are in the right direction or not.
Besides, taking regular feedback from employees also holds importance. Checking in on your staff for issues can help you to respond proactively. A survey questionnaire is the most basic and simplest ways to understand what your staff thinks of you. You can also opt for a feedback tool of some sort for larger teams. For a truly interactive process and resolving issues, one-to-one feedback sessions are your best bet.
You can set aside a date and time to give and receive feedback. It would be a good practice and also set a great example if you reward honesty with financial and non-financial incentives.
5. Encourage Collaborative Contribution
No one is perfect. Similarly, your resources cannot work in silos and give the best solution for all your projects. Collaboration between team members can help provide better project solutions while building team camaraderie.
This can be an incredibly beneficial activity if you are following the agile method of working, for example, using Kanban boards or Scrum. These new methods usually incorporate collaboration and brainstorming among team members on a regular basis.
Even if your organization does not follow agile methodologies, you can still include collaboration in the way you work. You can encourage people to brainstorm from time to time. You can also put them in teams to complete assigned tasks, helping them build cohesion.Even if your organisation does not follow agile methodologies, you can still include collaboration in the way you work. You can encourage people to brainstorm from time to time. You can also put them in teams to complete assigned tasks, helping them build cohesion.
6. Invest in Cultural Sensitivity Programs
To offer a harmonious environment for your employees, you need to make sure that they are really in tune with each other. Acceptance of differences and appreciation of different cultures and skills can be an important way the employees connect with each other.
There are some practices you can explore at your workplace which can help you bring your employees close to each other. Some of these steps include special training sessions on cultural sensitivity. It will help them lead confidently in a global economy and improve their business communication as well.
Office retreats may also be a good idea in other locations in order to improve your staff’s knowledge of global diversity. If your clients speak in languages other than English, train your employees to pick up certain phrases to improve communication. It will also help your clients build relatability with the staff and your company. . This will also help your clients build relatability with the staff and your company.
7. Rehire Boomerang Talent
Think about this: You spent quite a bit of time training your team and maintaining an effective work model. And then some team members leave. One of them comes back after some time and wants to rejoin your team. What do you do? Would you reject the application or rehire them?
Your staff may leave the company for a number of reasons, such as career goals and better compensation, among others. And if they are choosing to come back and rejoin the company, it might be a good thing for your team.
With the background of working in the company, and the experience gained outside, your employees can add more value to your projects. And that is why employing former staff members is increasingly becoming popular among companies. Such a move also establishes employee goodwill in the long run.
How do you make workplaces more inclusive for your employees? Let us know in the comments below.