The workplace can be a place of tremendous pain and frustration for people, or it can be a center for fulfillment, meaning, and solace. If you want your business to fall into the latter category, follow these five tips to be intentional about establishing a culture of acceptance.
1. Hire diverse people.
If your entire office is filled with people who look the same, talk the same, and think the same, it’s pretty hard to cultivate a culture of acceptance. You might feel like your team is accepting, but they’re really just accepting of people who are like them. Thus, the first step to creating this type of workplace culture is to hire a more diverse team of people.
Diversity extends beyond gender and skin color. It includes people with different backgrounds, religious beliefs, and political beliefs (left-leaning and right-leaning). This also accounts for people in different stages of life (young and single, married with kids, older and single, etc.).
When you hire diverse people and put them in the same office together, they’re pretty much forced to get to know each other and be accepting. Yes, it creates some challenges, but working through them will make you stronger.
2. Hold sensitivity training sessions
Most people aren’t blatantly racist, misogynistic, or intolerant of religious beliefs. However, we all tend to say things that make others feel uncomfortable from time to time. So as you build out a diverse team, we recommend holding regular sensitivity training sessions for all staff members.
With sensitivity training, your team learns how to address certain topics and issues without being offensive. It creates open dialogue and ensures every person has a platform for speaking up.
3. Take concerns seriously.
One of the trick parts about having a diverse team is that everyone brings unique thoughts, values, and personalities to the table. And the quickest way to destroy your team and become “closed off” is to delegitimize another person’s genuine concern. By taking all concerns seriously, you help people feel safe, respected, and empowered.
Take the COVID pandemic as an example. As we all know, there are some people who are very afraid of the virus, some who are indifferent, and some who don’t believe it’s real. COVID thoughts and feelings can be plotted on a wide-ranging spectrum. In this case, your best option is to default to the individuals with the greatest concern.
Using the COVID example, this looks like having a strict mask policy, installing COVID glass screens in the office, and encouraging proper social distancing. For those who feel restricted by these rules, you can encourage working remotely.
Avoid politicizing ideas or making people feel like they’re being placed in a box for their ideas and beliefs. Instead, listen and show empathy. Whether it’s COVID, gender stereotypes, or something as simple as office dress code, taking concerns seriously will make the workplace a much more inviting place.
4. Foster collaboration.
Collaboration is a vital part of creating an inclusive work environment. There should be open lines of communication and limited barriers between employees at different levels of the company. And it’s for this reason that we recommend a flat structure with positive people.
A positive workplace is one where all the employees are valued, supported and nurtured irrespective of gender, sexual orientation or color. All employees should have equal opportunities to progress and equal access to all the perks and rewards on offer.
By valuing differences and encouraging people to speak up when something is “off base,” you can create a workplace where people engage differences and view them as strengths. Allow and encourage dissenting ideas. Make people feel like they should always say something, rather than bottling it up and waiting until the time is right. Transparency is a good thing.
5. Place employees in teams.
One of the ways you encourage collaboration and help people with diverse backgrounds connect on a more intimate level is by placing them in teams. Teams of three to seven employees are ideal. When groups are this size, there’s a supportive feeling that emerges between the members – even if they don’t always agree.
If you run a business where team-based projects aren’t necessary, create situations where they are. It could be as part of a training exercise or internal initiative. The point is to help people connect over a shared cause. That’s where the real growth occurs.
Adding It All Up
When your workplace is warm, inviting, and supportive, you attract people who embody these same characteristics. Not only does this create a more positive workplace culture, but it also helps your business grow and ensures you’re able to serve customers to the best of your abilities.
Please use this article as a starting point. It won’t always be easy, but it’s the right approach. A long-term commitment to fostering a more accepting culture will yield dividends for years to come.
Source: Goodmenproject
If you want to know more about disability inclusion in your company, read the Why & How’s here.