How to foster inclusivity in a diverse team
As the economy grows increasingly globalized, your team will comprise people of many ethnicities, beliefs, and nationalities. Capturing and combining ideas and experiences from this diverse collection of individuals is a huge benefit to your organization and a key indicator of its success.
The word "diversity" has been deeply embedded in corporate culture goals and values. While having a diverse workforce is an important accomplishment, it only addresses part of the objective to even greater success.
For diversity to work effectively, we also need to discuss inclusivity.
Inclusion vs. Diversity
We frequently switch up these terms and use them interchangeably. To understand the distinction between diversity and inclusion, let’s define each:
Workplace diversity refers to differences in physical, personal, and social traits such as age, sexuality, nationality, training, education, and life experiences. A diverse workplace employs and promotes people from various backgrounds. All of these aspects contribute to the pool of talent at work. Diverse businesses are often seen as industry leaders, with better retention and income.
Workplace inclusion, however, refers to the processes that businesses put in place to include everyone in the organization and allow diversity to coexist in a collaborative setting. The purpose of inclusion techniques is to make everyone feel welcome and comfortable, allowing them to freely express their ideas and beliefs.
The key to creating an inclusive workplace is ensuring that each person feels that they can contribute, and this is where many businesses falter. To establish a culture that is inclusive, you need sincere commitment from everyone, every day, and throughout all levels of the business. Leaders must also demonstrate a real appreciation for the people behind the insights.
The importance of inclusivity
Companies must unleash the power and potential of all the talent in their diverse teams to succeed. In other words, they must be inclusive. Here are just a few reasons why inclusivity matters:
It makes diversity work
Diverse teams may have different hurdles to overcome than more homogeneous ones, but once they do they have been shown to outperform and out-innovate less diverse teams. Inclusive leadership is the most effective way to ensure that the entire team gets to benefit from their team’s diversity.
Growth
People from various backgrounds coming together will have different ways of working. There will be development if they can put aside their differences and work together effectively. An inclusive society or workplace will expand and never run out of alternatives. Diversity possesses a strength that can only be realized through inclusivity.
Flexibility
Change is inevitable, and it can be managed through adaptability. Inclusivity promotes adaptability. To achieve balance, inclusive cultures allow people to do things differently and demonstrate varied working habits.
Improves decision-making
You can leverage the power of everyone in your business by creating a workplace where everyone feels comfortable being themselves and is supported, respected, and appreciated for both who they are as individuals and their distinctive contributions. According to research, inclusive teams make better decisions 87% of the time. When people believe their opinions are heard at work, 73 percent of employees feel encouraged to lift their game, according to Salesforce.
A more diverse array of ideas
Not everything is done in the same manner everywhere. A business that adopts inclusivity will have access to a wide range of expertise. Colleagues will discuss their thoughts and combine them when they come together to exchange ideas, joining forces to achieve the optimum outcome.
According to Josh Bersin, an industry expert, inclusive businesses are 1.7 times more likely to be market innovators.
Looking for a fun way to practice inclusivity and effective communication in your team?
Consider a hosted session with Loumee.
The five pillars of an inclusive team
Before you can establish team inclusivity, you must first grasp the basics of what an inclusive team looks like. These 5 pillars of an inclusive team can help frame your thinking:
Being appreciated
When an employee feels valued and appreciated for their distinctive voice and personality, they feel more empowered and satisfied.
Belonging
Belonging, or the feeling of being a part of a community that recognizes and values you, is the foundation of an employee's sense of connectedness to their workplace.
Having a voice
Employees are more willing to express their thoughts with others when they believe they have an active and participating role in making or influencing what could be good for the business.
Having a sense of self
Employees feel free to be who they are and are able to connect to the organization's identity. Individual diversity is valued, rather than disregarded.
Psychologically safe
A workplace where individuals know they can speak freely about their ideas, ask questions, raise concerns, and even make mistakes without shame can make inclusion a reality.
Did you know that Loumee has a program to help you take a temperature check on psychological safety in your team?
Find out more here.
Fostering inclusivity in a team
Recognizing that we are all human and that our viewpoints might be different is essential to fostering an inclusive workplace. Below are some tips on how to best foster inclusivity:
Establish a culture of openness and honesty
You'll establish open lines of communication with your team when you develop a culture that values input. This may be achieved by including feedback in your everyday communication and setting up regular times for in-person and/or video calls to hold these discussions. Team members will feel more willing to discuss their ideas if they are given regular opportunities to express themselves
Encourage psychological safety
People will not risk being genuine at work unless they have psychological safety. They may attend meetings, but they will sit silently, believing they are not actually welcome. They will be afraid to actively contribute or offer opposing viewpoints. Employees in a psychologically safe environment will be more willing to take calculated risks in order to innovate or solve problems- they are less fearful of reprimands or that they will be judged or excluded by their colleagues.
Determine a meaningful way to measure achievement
It makes no sense to prioritize diversity and inclusion if you don't have any tools to track your success. Regardless of how you define success, make sure you can monitor it. And once you've determined your success, keep sharing it with your team!
Educate your team on inclusivity concepts
Show your colleagues that inclusivity is important to your company by launching relevant educational projects centered on the topics of diversity and inclusion. This may be a simple, weekly group discussion or as involved as an external course. The crucial thing is to have a continuous conversation about inclusion—learning is a process, and you want to ensure that inclusivity is on everyone's mind.
Recognize your unconscious prejudices
Unconscious prejudice is frequently defined as any bias or preconception made for or against a person or group. Exclusion can be caused by subtle prejudices. Leaders must ensure that all team members have access to required training, personal growth, professional contacts, and so on in order to incorporate all people or groups.
If the term "team" refers to a coherent collection of diverse individuals combining their talents and abilities to accomplish a specific goal, then inclusion is the glue that keeps the group together, brings out the best in it, and secures its success.
Our puzzle, “The Decision” focuses on team discussions about choices and preferences, reflecting, and staying connected that can highlight inclusivity.
References:
https://joshbersin.com/2015/12/why-diversity-and-inclusion-will-be-a-top-priority-for-2016/
