What is an inclusive workplace?

It’s helpful to distinguish between an inclusive workplace and a diverse workplace. While a diverse workplace is needed in order to create an inclusive workplace, by itself it doesn’t necessarily solve issues like personal bias or other barriers for employees from minority or disadvantaged backgrounds.

Some employers disagree on what an inclusive workplace looks like and the steps required to reach this goal. As there is no one set definition, it may be up to you as the employer to decide what it involves for your business. You might have a diversity, equality and inclusion panel to help you make this decision with well-researched advice.

At the end of the day, an inclusive workplace involves making sure that all of your employees have the same opportunities as their peers and have the ability to progress (particularly if there are usually career development opportunities available to most employees in that role). 

Who benefits from an inclusive workplace?

An inclusive workplace can benefit both employees and employers alike. However, there are many different routes to creating an inclusive workplace, and you might find that the process of doing so involves some trial and error. Below, we’ll explore some strategies you could use for building a workplace that champions everyone.

A merit-based workplace

Creating a merit-based workplace – one that involves supporting and developing an employee’s skills – can have benefits for both employers and employees alike. With this approach, you might analyse an employee’s performance on the basis of their professional skills, as well as their soft skills. A merit-based workplace can be a good means to making sure that you’re assessing someone’s abilities first and foremost, rather than letting personal biases influence judgements you make about a particular employee.

One disadvantage you might find with a solely merit-based workplace, however, is that it does not involve taking your employee’s background into consideration – even in cases where their background might be important. You might still want to consider your employee’s background if you want to get a better understanding of why they face certain barriers to career progression in your business. This could be a lack of training due to having fewer opportunities in school or college, or not having the finances to invest in training later on in their life.

Providing workplace accommodations 

Employees with disabilities face unique challenges in the workplace, but that does not mean that it is impossible to provide them with the right kinds of accommodations. Many employees have a learning disability, which could be related to reading, writing, mathematics, or staying focused. By finding out more about their disability and how you can help, you can make your workplace more inclusive by providing assistive technology tools. Some examples of assistive technology include the following:

• Text-to-speech readers for dyslexic employees
• Bigger font sizes for visually impaired employees
• Specific organisational tools and project management systems
• Assistive listening
• Adjusting seating and desk areas so that they’re more easily accessible to disabled employees

Before you provide workplace accommodations, it can be useful to discuss which accommodations would best suit your employees. This can be done on a case-by-case basis. You might find that employees are able to excel and progress once they have the right additional support.

Hiring for culture add rather than culture fit

While many businesses look for candidates that fit in with their pre-existing work culture, this can often adversely affect the hiring of candidates from a diverse range of backgrounds. Hiring for culture fit can pose a problem to diversity and inclusion schemes, therefore, as it means you’re only likely attracting employees who think similarly to everyone else in your business. 

Hiring for culture add means you’re more likely to gain a range of perspectives on your business, like solutions or suggestions relating to marketing. Candidates from a diverse range of experiences and backgrounds might have better insight into how your product or service benefits their own demographic market, which you’re not tapping into yet.

Culture add is about finding employees who effectively add something more to your culture, rather than necessarily fitting in with everyone in your team. This might lead to some heated discussions, but at the end of the day, hiring for culture add could lead to increased ideas generation.

Creating employee safe spaces

While you’ll probably want your entire workplace to feel safe to all of your employees, employee safe spaces are designated places where employees can feel relaxed and safe either alone or with each other during breaks. Some employee safe spaces could include the following:

• Unisex toilets
• Accessible toilets for disabled employees
• Break rooms designed to accommodate disabled employees
• Creating a canteen with food options catering to different dietary requirements, such as allergies

It is a good idea to discuss what a safe space looks like to all of your employees. You might find that some employees could use certain accommodations that are very specific to their condition or any other personal requirements.

Celebrating different religious holidays

Holding celebrations for different religious holidays is another good way to become more inclusive to your employees. You might already celebrate some Christian holidays at work like Easter or Christmas, but by acknowledging and celebrating holidays like Islam’s Ramadan or Judaism’s Yom Kippur, you can make your employees feel more included. It also becomes a new opportunity for your employees to share stories with each other, as well as learn more about each other’s backgrounds. This can be a positive experience that brings people together in the long term.

Creating an inclusive workplace is more than just creating a diversity hire plan. It involves retaining your current employees by making them feel welcomed and inspired to come into the office each day. While the definition of inclusion is not exact, it involves looking beyond personal biases towards evaluating employees based on their potential and merit.