Diversity and inclusion in the workplace are given far more importance today than it was a decade or two ago. Fair hiring exercises have been brought into practice to ensure diversity in the workplace, which include cultural diversity, racial diversity, ethnic diversity, and gender diversity. However, there are still many organizations worldwide who are still struggling with racial discrimination. What such companies do not realize is that every different flower brings its own uniqueness and beauty to the bouquet. And, this is why people from all racial identities and racial groups should be accepted, providing them with equal rights and opportunities as the rest.
Wondering how you can incorporate racial diversity within your organization? We know it’s a challenging task, but with the right tactics applied, it should be easier to acknowledge and promote diversity within your workplace.
Make your management the advocates of racial diversity
Top management should be the top advocates of racial diversity as they’re the ones authorized to make decisions that can impact the entire organization. As the boss, it is thus your duty to get in touch with your managers and ask them if they have experienced inequality or inequity, and create opportunities for them to promote diversity. The more these managers ingrain DEI principles, and foster a right culture within the workplace, the more these values can be reinforced.
Speak to your employees about the importance and benefits of racial diversity
Other than your management, you must also take the initiative to speak to your employees about racial diversity, its importance, and benefits. We know it could be awkward, but you need to accept it, acknowledge it, and move ahead. Remove any awkwardness and discomfort by being open to hearing and learning from other people’s opinions, experiences, and ideas about their thoughts and feelings on race-related issues. Once you’re done listening, it’s now time for you to speak. Show your employees how investment in racial diversity can positively impact overall business goals through higher productivity levels, improved engagement, and enhanced creativity. Also, highlight the potential repercussions of not having a racially diverse workforce.
Review your recruitment processes to identify any possible bias
You should be checking your recruitment processes to see how you can hire more racially diverse candidates. Consider looking at any racial diversity in the candidate pool, in the hiring panel, and the candidates hired. Focus on writing bias-free job descriptions by eliminating any derogatory words and phrases associated with race, ethnicity, and immigrants. Use blind resume screening software to eliminate applicant information about name, race, and photo, which can accidently influence hiring decisions. Diversify members of the interviewing team, creating a panel of employees from different races and ethnicities, so that bias is minimized.
Create anti-discrimination policies
When you’re strict on having racial diversity in the workplace, and aren’t looking for any harassments for employees from a unique kind of race, the best way to avoid this is by creating anti-discrimination policies to establish that discrimination and harassment won’t be tolerated in the company. This will set the standards for behaviour in the workplace, by clearly stating any behaviours that should be prohibited. This may include jokes, remarks, and innuendos related to a particular race, or posting and circulating offensive materials against a particular racial group. You can also make it easy for employees to lodge any such associated complaints, and explain how violations will be handled. This way you have a racially diverse workplace, without having to deal frequently with any kind of nonsense.
You must come to understand the importance of employing a racial-diverse workplace, and then explain the same to every employee working for you. And, to have a successful DEI strategy that accepts all racial groups, you can apply the above best practices in creating a workplace that accepts and promotes racial diversity.
For the past decade, WalkWater Talent Advisors has built an enviable trace record across industry sectors, making them the best recruitment companies in India. They consider diversity and inclusiveness to be their key reasons for success, which has helped client companies build a robust pipeline of diverse leaders, who can thus with their varied ideas and working patterns, create a highly productive and successful organization.