5 Tips for Equity and Inclusivity in Your Organisation

Equity and inclusivity are the driving factors to a positive working environment for employees. After all, the success of your business relies heavily on the talent recruited in the company and their attitude toward your values and corporate culture can impact their willingness and/or effectiveness in helping your company thrive.

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The Importance of Equity & Inclusion in the Workplace

Implementing good practices toward equity and inclusion in the workplace can make a world of difference with the wellbeing of your employees. As a result, when employees’ needs are being met, their motivation levels can skyrocket and further fuel productivity in the office. Let’s review some of our top tips for encouraging equity and inclusion in your organisation.  

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1. Make it Easy for Your Employees to Participate in Employee Resource Groups

In a Wall Street Journal article, Rosanna Durruthy discussed leveraging employee resource groups (ERGs) as an opportunity to grow and develop talent as well as help managers learn from these groups in a safe space. ERGs are voluntary, employee-led groups whose aim is to support other employees.  

Not only will you be able to encourage healthy communication amongst employees, but this can also lead to more effective brainstorming sessions where employees are given the opportunity to connect and improve one another's ideas.  

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2. ‍Equity in Access to Development & Opportunities

Once an employee is hired, you should ensure that they get an equal footing in receiving developmental opportunities such as training and courses. It is important to ensure there is a fair system in place so that each employee can be given the same chance to acquire a promotion in their respective departments without discrimination.

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3. Equity in Support & Mentorship

Having mentors or someone to look up to, is crucial in one’s working life, especially minority employees. Mentoring can be helpful in retaining top minority talent. However, this is not often the case, for example the IT industry’s workforce is strongly dominated by males, making it hard for women to seek support and guidance from an appropriate mentor. This is why it is important to carefully consider the needs of each employee or cultural group and the best ways for them to receive the support they need.

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4. Mix Up Your Teams

The only way to have inclusivity is to have diversity. For starters, it should go without saying that hiring processes should be non-discriminatory to race, religion, gender and color. According to Jacob Morgan, author of “The Employee Experience Advantage”, a key part of diversity is understanding and learning from different voices, experiences and values. By encouraging this, employees can also benefit from cultural awareness and enrich their own perspectives, not to mention creating a community in the workplace – making the office a place they look forward to spending their day in.

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5. Track Progress Over Extended Periods of Time

Implementing equity and inclusion does not happen overnight. It takes time to find the right practices that work and prove effective, especially as the company is facing challenges and keeping up with a heavy workload. To identify these methods, it is crucial to measure progress to reach long-term goals. A good place to start is by amending company policies to cater to the company’s evolving values, if accompanied by supporting workshops or activities, the rest will fall in place! A cultural change can take time to show results, but remember to be patient and amend where necessary.

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Sprout With Us!

When in doubt, reach out to Sprout! We want you to spend your time focusing on what you do best, while we take care of the rest! That’s why we offer budget-friendly corporate services, such as incorporation services, corporate secretarial services, accounting services and the list goes on! Feel free to contact us and find out how we can help you, we’ll respond within 24 hours.