The American government has been preaching the importance of an inclusive work culture since the 1960s.
That is when they passed the anti-discrimination and equal employment opportunity legislation laws.
These laws allowed employers to revamp their company culture and treat every employee equally.
However, the pandemic gave rise to various challenges related to productivity and flexibility.
This issue happened due to the organization’s inability to promote diversity and inclusion in a remote setting.
Furthermore, Glassdoor studies have shown that 2 out of 3 job seekers look for companies with a diverse workforce.
As a business owner, you must incorporate diversity and inclusion policies for your remote them to boost productivity. This blog will guide you about inclusion and diversity in a remote workplace.
The Importance Of Inclusiveness At A Remote Workplace
Creating a positive culture for your remote team might be challenging.
Before the pandemic, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategies were at the forefront.
In some companies, 50% of employees have left their jobs because of issues with inclusion and diversity.
Enterprises face a significant setback in their DEI efforts due to a remote workspace.
Business owners have to gain a better understanding of the remote working environment to implement inclusiveness.
Companies like ADP, Stryker, and Sodexo started to embrace DEI policies and incorporate them into their business practice.
They have also witnessed a rise in employee engagement and productivity for their hybrid workspace.
Experienced entrepreneurs know that promoting diversity at the corporate level is ethical, moral, and a necessity.
With it, you can have a competitive advantage in the remote environment to attract more talent.
Moreover, various educational institutes have started teaching about DEI’s importance in remote workplaces.
With their help, aspirants know that diversity leaders should take bold steps. They should have a systematic approach to strengthen inclusion after taking up courses.
These institutes take inspiration from companies like Apple and Salesforce as they have successfully incorporated an inclusive environment.
Remote employees might feel disconnected and isolated from the team, impacting overall performance.
However, promoting inclusiveness leads to higher productivity, lowered expenses, and flexibility.
Tips To Create An Inclusive Workspace For Your Remote Employees
A famous research analyst, Josh Bersin, suggests that companies with an inclusive environment have unique benefits.
Examples include gaining 2.3 times the cash flow and 1.7 times the innovation.
Moreover, a report by McKinsey suggests that 87% of workers would prepare to work remotely, and their biggest motivation was flexibility.
To meet these demands, you must mold your company in the best way possible. Hence, you can look at these tips to get started:
1.) Create a Solid Policy
Create a policy that outlines the meaning of a DEI workplace.
It should contain your organizational commitment to creating an inclusive environment and ways to tackle discrimination.
This way, you can express the values clearly and make inclusion necessary.
For example, you can put everyone’s picture on your About Us page, promoting diversity and inclusion.
2.) Let Them Voice Out Opinions
Studies have shown employee engagement has fallen since the pandemic, and employees do not feel heard.
Include every team member in important company meetings and allow them to voice opinions. Doing so will encourage your remote employees, and they will feel heard.
However, try not to force someone to speak up. Instead, they should feel comfortable while speaking.
For example, you can ask questions and request the employees to speak their minds.
3.) Practice What You Preach
Show empathy, encourage participation, and focus on creating a structured team-building exercise. These will make your employees feel included and engaged.
Moreover, reports suggest that empathy in the workplace helps foster emotional intelligence and leads to effective communication.
Focus on implementing flexible work hours for everyone. You can have a Wall of Fame denoting every employee’s best accomplishments.
4.) Praise Every Employee
Usually, entrepreneurs tend to appreciate employees who are performing well. It might negatively impact other employees.
Hence, you can habitually praise or recognize all employees and not just those who are high performers.
Doing so will improve their self-confidence and inspire everyone to do much better.
Every employee should feel valued and included, irrespective of their unique abilities. You can create appreciation cookies every month to make them feel valued.
5.) Fun Interactions
In a remote environment, no employee coffee breaks or water cooler talks exist.
Therefore, you can create non-work chat or employee resource groups in your communication tool.
They can share memes, talk about food, and discuss extracurricular interests. Perhaps, every month, you can host online meetings and play fun games like Pictionary.
To Sum Up
You must transform your company’s remote environment to have a diverse and inclusive workforce.
As an entrepreneur, you cannot focus on an individual’s cultural background or discuss their sexual orientation.
Yes, the change starts with you, so practice what you preach. Did you know gender diversity is a positive way to showcase your company’s inclusiveness? Some say that creating an inclusive culture is complicated with a remote workforce.
However, with some determination and initiative, you can overcome these business challenges.
The first thing in your inclusion strategy would be to create a policy and teach your employees about it.
Additionally, you can provide them with platforms to voice out opinions.
It is essential to give workplace flexibility to everyone. Remember, employees come from different backgrounds, so ensure that you are praising them for their hard work.
An inclusive workplace will make your employees motivated, happy, and productive.
