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Diversity in the Workplace

Fri, 21 Oct 2022
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With people spending much of their time at work, it’s vital that they feel safe, respected, and valued as an employee. Making sure that your workplace is inclusive and diverse has numerous benefits, such as having a wider talent pool, a positive culture and mutual respect.

 

Equality:

Equality in the workplace means equal job opportunities and fairness for employees and job applicants across a person’s sex, age, disability, or race.

In addition to nurturing happy, productive, and loyal employees through excellent diversity and inclusion practices, how you act in this area as a business will be relevant to your compliance with the Equality Act 2010.

 

Diversity:

Diversity is the wide range of people in your workforce and valuing each of their differences. For example, this might mean people of different ages, religions, ethnicities, people with disabilities, and people from the LGBTQ+ community.

 

Inclusion:

Inclusion is an overarching ethos covering diversity, equality, and many other aspects of our working lives. Inclusive cultures enable our colleagues to do things differently, working in ways that suit them, and hybrid/flex work patterns to ensure their life-work balance is healthy.

There is clearly a big change happening amongst organisations with a clear inclusive workplace model being put in place. But it doesn’t stop there, inclusivity is ongoing and is about consistent learning and improvement.

 

Input a Workplace Policy

First things first, your company should have a workplace Equal Opportunity Policy covering the following: equality, diversity, and inclusion. This policy should cover the following:

  • that the business supports and treats everyone fairly
  • what kind of behaviour is expected of the employer and employees
  • discrimination and the law, and what is not acceptable
  • where to find the procedures for resolving any problems, and key HR contacts

Once put in place, the promotion of diversity and inclusion will see the following benefits in the workplace:

  • Employee loyalty and retention is strong when they have been understood
  • A notable decrease in absences
  • Teamwork and collaboration will prosper in a diverse environment

 

Why You Need to Diversify Your Hiring Process

“Diversifying the hiring process is great for both businesses and professionals from marginalised and under-represented groups. Whether it’s anonymizing CVs or having a diverse interview panel, companies are at their best socially and commercially when they’re able to attract and retain talent from diverse backgrounds. Also, knowing that you’re playing a part in ensuring a fair and equitable process for all feels rewarding. It’s a win-win at the end of the day” Daniel Asaya, HR consultant

By embracing diversity and inclusion within your organisation, it will build your business’s knowledge on a variety of aspects including cultures, faiths, disabilities, sexual orientation, and gender to name a few. It will also enable employees to feel respected and part of a diverse, modern business.