How to Design a Diverse Workplace Culture That Promotes Integration of Ideas?

Congratulations! You have successfully modified your hiring practices and reached diverse talent pool in your channel. All you have to do now, is to find out the best way to accommodate and support them as employees.

In today’s globalised world, diversity is an inevitability. As individuals from diverse backgrounds join the workforce, it is imperative for a leader to keep them motivated and engaged to work for the organisation.

Leaders should play an active role in setting the tone and improving company awareness towards diversity. While promoting diverse workplace culture remains a challenge for most employers, successful implementation of diversity strategy will give your organisation notable advantages.

One of the most important function of diversity is the integration of ideas. When you make people from diverse backgrounds work together towards one common goal, you will gain wider insights regarding a particular issue. For example, there will be significant differences in decision-making when your team consists of all-men and all-women. However, if you can make all employees collaborate effectively, they can produce better results and decisions that represent both parties.

Not just looking at this from a different point of view, diversity also encourages employees to accept and tolerate each other. No wonder, diversity allows your company to get better understanding of the customer’s diverse needs, create products that suit their tastes, and provide services that meet their preferences.

In order to manage diversity in the workplace efficiently, you should focus on creating an inclusive culture that promotes teamwork and collaboration. While this might take some time to establish, a well-arranged diverse workplace culture, companies should start focusing their efforts. Here are few quick steps for your organisation to create a culture that embraces diversity:

1.       Be creative in your recruitment strategy. If you really want to create a more diverse workplace, you should avoid making job ads gender or race specific. Instead, use neutral phrasings and languages that encourage people to apply.

2.      Learn about the background of new hires before recruiting them. While you might not need to learn their cultural origins, faith, beliefs and personal lives, or other interests outside the workplace. Knowing their background will help you gain better understanding and build trust among employees.

3.       Acknowledge your employees’ faiths and beliefs by allowing them to take days off for religious reasons. Or at least, you can provide flexible schedules so that employees do not compromise on attending their family functions or religious occasions.

4.       Encourage your employees to interact with people from different backgrounds by assigning them to work on the same project.

5.       Organise social events where everyone can meet, share, and learn about each other’s culture. For example, you can arrange a ‘potluck party’ once in a month, where everyone should bring their local signature dishes. Not only is this fun, but this activity will help bring your employees closer to each other.

6.       Be aware of special days and events (even those which are not listed in your geographical calendar), such as International Women's Day, Gay Pride celebrations, as well as International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.

7.       To foster LGBTQ-friendly workplace, you should note that not everyone is heterosexual. Therefore, keep off sensitive issues regarding this issue, to include eliminating offensive jokes and slangs.

8.       Promote transparency and open-door policy for employees to feel welcome, invited, and heard about their issues at work. Open communication is the most effective method of gaining trust and respect to build a diverse workplace culture.

9.       Give everyone equal opportunity and chance to shine based on their unique abilities, regardless of their gender, skin colors, nationalities, ethnicities, faiths, or even political beliefs.

10.   Conduct diversity training to raise employee awareness of the true perks and benefits of diversity within the organisation.

Towards the end, employers should make diversity as part of their brand image and identity. Showcase to the world at large, and competition that your organisation embraces the beauty of diversity by hiring vibrant staff across geographies hailing from different backgrounds. As the world gets more globalised, it is time for organisations to reflect and embrace diversity positively.

Next read: Why Conversing with Employees is Important Before Making a Policy?