In an ideal world, there would be no discrimination and everyone would feel free to be themselves as they are. In the real world, however, things are more complicated than that. People are often treated differently on the basis of their race or ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation or disability.
It is important to understand that one of the unifying principles of humankind is our need and desire to feel accepted, to have a sense of belonging, and to be treated fairly. Keeping this in mind, organisations craft policies around Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) in the workplace to ensure that we are evolving to build a culture in organisations that are more inclusive, equitable and a safe workplace for the employees that give so much to it — something we need now more than ever.
There are several proven benefits to demonstrate the importance of DEI in the workplace, and its advantages not only benefit employees as individuals but the organisation as a whole:
- Diverse teams are more innovative in their thought process and make better decisions that are representative of a diverse range of perspectives.
- Organisations with strong diversity climates have higher productivity and better shareholder returns.
- Diverse companies are more likely to have employees with higher levels of job satisfaction and enhanced levels of trust, and are generally more engaged.
- Inclusion helps employees feel a sense of psychological safety, respect and connection.
- Increased empathy translates to increased team-building and social cohesiveness.
- A diverse and inclusive environment leads to happier employees and hence retains them.
- The presence of DEI as an initiative attempts to redress the implicit biases that are baked into the corporate setup that affect hiring or retaining employees.
- It is a progressive stance that improves employee trust and consequently builds a better reputation for an organisation.
While individuals of course participate in contributing to any work culture, organisations should take charge and accountability for initiating the changes such as DEI required on a systemic level. Organisational psychologists and the principles of change management tell us that it is not simply enough to put a policy on paper for employees to truly grasp the underlying meaning of such an initiative.
Organisations can help shape an employee’s attitude and behaviour in several ways other than what is overtly said. Indeed, DEI being put into practice has a lot to do with understanding the psychology of change and more importantly, how to manage it.
Factors that play a role in affecting an employee’s mindset include but are not limited to the following:
- People tend to resist change and prefer comfort. For an employee to get on board with an initiative, it makes them more likely to align their behaviour to it if they understand the reason that it is being introduced and its benefits. In other words, spreading awareness of the reasoning behind the DEI policies in the workplace makes them more likely to be understood and followed.
- There must be congruence between policy and practice. For instance, strict action should be taken against discriminatory behaviour. If an organisation says it has an open-door policy for airing grievances, there should indeed be concrete access to be allowed to do so.
- Organisations should have consistent role models. As the saying goes, actions are louder than words. Indeed, leading by example is one of the fastest and efficient ways to communicate to employees what it means to behave a certain way and the best way to do so.
People think that diversity work is about changing one’s behaviour according to evolving social norms, but it is actually much more about awareness of the thoughts behind the action. In other words, DEI is about a change in mentality. Diversity, Equity and Inclusion is a paradigm shift that is about sending a message of unity and equity.
Even more importantly, it is about putting it into practice in a real-life concrete way that translates into employees feeling safe and empowered in the workplace, no matter what their background.