Steps to Foster Inclusive Culture and Diverse Perspectives

When we visualise an inclusive workplace, what we have in mind is a culture that welcomes diverse ideas and challenges individual preconception, where employees feel comfortable bringing up issues that might not seem important at first glance

In this blog we’ll explore some steps that organizations leadership can take to create an inclusive work culture that welcomes diverse perspective

Practice What you Preach

The dictum, ‘practice what you preach’ is a good place to start, it is important to build a community of practice. When people feel safe sharing their ideas and opinions in a business environment, they're more likely to feel comfortable bringing up issues. Creating this safe space happens naturally, when everyone in a community of practice, from managers to employees, encourages this approach. Communities of practice are groups that exist to exchange ideas, learn from each other, and help each other grow as professionals. One can build such a community at their workplace by creating a forum for employees to come together and discuss their jobs and careers. Getting to learn about the team members, their backgrounds, experiences and seeking opinions on what they would like to see at work, is essential for building a more inclusive culture.

Feedback Mechanism

Feedback serves as a catalyst to improve performance. Decide on the type and frequency of feedback session. Find the right balance between being non-intrusive and being proactive in creating an inclusive culture. Feedback encourages open communication relaying a message that the organization is curious about employees work experience and is seeking ways to improve. This approach also benefits people who are in roles that don't usually receive feedback and also builds awareness of issues that occur beyond the work environment. 

Flexible Environment

Creating a flexible work environment is another way to create an inclusive workplace that values different perspectives. This stands true now more than it ever did. This can include offering open daily work hours, allowing for flexibility for work from home facility, offering flexible work hours or offering training and development opportunities that allow employees to grow. A flexible work environment helps employees manage their work experience better.

Encourage Employees to be Vocal

Last, but not least, encourage employees to speak up. People need to feel comfortable raising issues with their managers, team members and even other employees. This helps identify issues early which can save both time and energy. If they're not significant, it also helps prevent issues from becoming bigger problems.

Final Remarks

Diversity and inclusion are topics that one might feel uneasy discussing. They might be apprehensive about embracing different viewpoints, which is understandable. However, we need to overcome these fears and make more room for truly valuable perspectives in the workplace. 

A good way to get started is empathy. Get to know the people around better. Be mindful of their backgrounds, experiences and perspectives when discussing any issue or concern. Practice inclusive language and use it in daily work routine. Find ways to bring people together and have in-depth open discussions that promote healthy, respectful debate in the physical space. Encourage feedback to improve workplace practices in the organization. 

Organizations need to understand that to encourage people or to facilitate them, and to integrate diverse perspectives into the workplace and reap the benefits of open dialogue are two entirely different things. Thus, leadership can implement steps, as discussed above, to integrate diverse perspectives in the workplace.

Also See: Fostering Diverse Perspectives-Driving Business Success