Creating an inclusive workplace culture through diversity

If you want to create an inclusive workplace, hire a diverse set of people.  

A third of our life, arguably, is spent at work. The famous words of writer, Annie Dillard, “how we spend our days, is how we spend our life” perhaps resonate with those wanting to make that fine balance between #life and #work. Our workplace therefore becomes our immediate environment and shapes much of how our personalities evolve.    

As I write this, I am reminded of the many journeys on a bus or a train on my way to work, looking at people and wondering what they did and who they were? Just by observing their body language, you can tell what they possibly did, how overworked they were, how stressed they were or even, how much they are looking forward to being in their workplace that day!    

Organisational culture 

An organisation’s culture is driven by its shared understanding of its ethos and its people and there can never be enough conversation on the importance of building a diverse and inclusive workplace environment. An organisation is made up of people with differing competencies, temperaments, educational, linguistic, socio-cultural and regional contexts. To leverage this diversity, organisations increasingly commit themselves to building an inclusive, cohesive, open, respectful and equitable work environment for all their employees.        

Diversity facilitates inclusion   

And vice versa! Hiring a diverse workforce is perhaps step one. The world’s vision of what diversity looks like has evolved over the years and it no longer remains within the narrow definition of gender; though females still remain the largest minority in workforce!    

Workplace readiness is a process that entails adjustments to accommodate the varying needs of the people in the workforce. Often timings ought to be adjusted to the cultural and environmental conditions of a location.

Understanding the productivity challenge in your location and context is an important step for reasonable adjustments to build inclusive workplaces. This of course means that the leadership ought to fully commit to enabling an inclusive work environment. Stating clearly in the company policy demonstrates leadership commitment to inclusion. Openness to adapt to the evolving needs will be met by seeking inputs on what is needed to make employees comfortable in their workplace. Offering flexible and hybrid working arrangements, sensitising senior and mid level managers so the ‘tone from the top’ reaches everyone across the organisation, offering the requisite training and education to all, and communicating and celebrating success, no matter how big or small it is to create robust, are all good examples of positive change.  

Respect begins with listening  

Policies are only as effective as the behaviour of every person in your environment. Companies are increasingly adopting a ‘listening culture’ where feedback is sought to understand what is and isn’t working. Informal engagement among staff should be encouraged and there should be representatives driving this social interaction among staff.    

As part of my role, I am a wellbeing champion at work. A big part of this involves listening to people - their diverse view points, feelings and experiences. Every conversation is unique but the one thing they all have in common is mutual respect. They’ve also taught me how little I know about the diversity around us, in our daily lives. The more I learn, the less I know!  

Inclusive celebrations at workplace

Organising events seems like a simple task but when you commit to the objectives of inclusion, equitability and diversity, you must talk to all the stakeholders, get them to agree to a common minimum denominator that will work for all, take into account sensitivities and then prepare the plan for each activity.    

Take for example the month of March - spring time here in India. It also is a month of various festivals and religious observations – Holi, the festival of colour is celebrated by Hindus in most of North, West and Central India; Ramadan is observed for an entire month with day long fasting without water by Muslims; Lent leading into Good Friday and finally concluding into the celebration of Easter by Christians; and also the festivals of spring and lunar new year are marked during this period. To organise a  celebration in the office for one, could mean the others will feel excluded! 

My team came to me with the proposal of celebrating in office and with this challenge of wanting to be inclusive. I sent them back and encouraged them to talk to as diverse a group of people as they could. What emerged was a joint celebration of diversity, highlighting the many hues of this culturally rich month, educating us on the various festivals and observations!  

Safe Spaces 

Imagine going to work and, spending the whole day feeling unhappy, scared and unheard. Then coming home to an environment that is equally challenging and demanding, with nobody to talk to or share with. Or picture someone in a new city, a new country in their first or new job, not sure of how to navigate or settle in and then go to a workplace where nobody talks to nobody!    

It is all this and more that is addressed by simply building safe spaces for conversation and social interaction in workplaces. Considering how much time is spent there, it is important that there are mechanisms to help you navigate your life, your goals, your aspirations, your passion, nurture your talent and beliefs in a safe environment where there is encouragement, inspiration and support rather than judgement and discouragement.    

Change is slow but most rewarding 

Ever heard of the Chinese bamboo story? Unlike most trees that sprout and grow year on year, the Chinese bamboo appears to show no visible sign of its growth in the first 4-5 years of its life. For someone nurturing this tree, it may be highly discouraging to see nothing happen despite efforts to fertilise, water and care for it. However, almost magically, the bamboo tree, in its fifth year dramatically shoots and can grow to upto 90 feet in a matter of 4-6 weeks! Many powerful lessons are drawn from this story by the wisdom of the Chinese bamboo story; one of my favourite is the value of patience, perseverance and faith in your efforts to nurture growth. 

Most change makers, they understand the value of keeping going and making an earnest effort to build small examples of success, even though for long periods of time, nothing seems to happen or move. Often change is not visible to those experiencing it but it is to those watching from afar.    

Compassion, empathy, respect and trust are values that work like nature, slow often invisible but profound and impactful. If you dream of an inclusive workplace, be a champion of these values and you will see how what was once, a toxic workplace, becomes a productive, engaged and happy environment with a shared vision for growth!    

#InspireInclusion #MottMacLife #MottMacSouthAsia #Diversity