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How to increase diversity in the workplace

How to increase diversity in the workplace

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6 min read

Has your company gotten to a point where everything just happens by itself and the meetings just fly by because everybody is in agreement with each other and thinks exactly the same way? Actually the harmonious collaboration can be a result of many identical points of views. Increased diversity on the workplace has a positive influence on both well-being and innovation. But how do you increase diversity and create a diverse and inclusive workplace while making sure that every employee feel seen and heard?

What are the benefits and challenges by diversity in the workplace?

When employees from different backgrounds and perspectives collaborate, the company's innovation ability and well-being increases. By evaluating ideas and processes often and, at the same time, challenge each other the company will continue developing in a positive trajectory. When there is a diverse culture established, has a positive influence on inclusion which is a key factor to increase employees' engagement.

The challenge by leading a diverse group is to make everybody work towards a shared goal. The more diversy the workspace is, the harder it is to nuture and fulfill each employee's need. Moreover, we should invest more in leadership, especially in regards to clarity and flexibility. To increase the heterogeneity a company should understand why they only appeal to a homogenous group. There will always be different reasonings and to identify them, it is highly encouraged to look at the mirror. Remember that pointing fingers does not benefit anybody, but instead carefully identify and work on the areas in which you can improve on the company's strategic work to increase diversity

The company's reputation is important

Before you begin to change the company's composition of the workforce, you should first decide what kind of employer you want to be. If your company for some reason is not able to make a complete evaluation of your reputation, you can map the problem by obtaining objective opinions from different people outside the company.

Maybe you are, unbeknownst, being perceived as another company than what you actually are. Maybe you are only known by students or employees within a specific area. Even a couple of conversations with non-internal coworkers can be eye-opening.

Recycling or innovative in job ads?

Job ads are an important part of the establishment of your company's brand and is therefor an important help to removing homogenity. Recruiting the right people is time-consuming and requires a lot of effort. Despite this, the procedure often continues with this cycle:

  • The message from the earlier open position is copied
  • The title has been updated
  • There has been changes to the required position

Does it sound relatable?

If there is not enough time spent on defining the role description, the recruitment process will suffer as a result. Always start from the beginning, when you set time off to define a recruitment profile.

When your colleague "Emma" retires, it is natural to start looking for Emma 2.0. Try to explore the role without considering the former co-worker. Instead, consider the following questions when you are defining your profile:

  • What are the considerable competences for this position?
  • What ressources do we have in sufficient quantities?
  • What kind of competences do we not currently have in our company?

Are hidden prejudices a barrier for diversity?

We all have hidden prejudices - both good and bad. For example a shy person can be perceived as arrogant, while an extrovert can be perceived as being "too much". There are at least as many opinions but most important is to recognize and acknowledge your own. You may not be able to change them immediately but you should be able to objectively evaluate every application. To involve a colleague in interviews and having open and thorough dialogues with the applicant, is a good way to work with hidden prejudices.

Hidden prejudices is often a sensitive and important subject which should be discussed daily. The recruitment responsible should have proper training in handling these prejudices

Also read: Hidden prejudices and how to handle them

At Academic Work we work with an evidence-based recruitment process. Here we focus our recruitment responsible solely based on what signifies a high work performance, and not what our gut feeling tells us to look at. Read more about our recruitment process here.