Make Sure Your Organization Practices Inclusion Before Preaching Diversity
Companies that aren’t structurally and culturally inclusive can be harmful to the mental wellbeing of employees who have been hired as part of a diversity program. It often happens that these organizations end up in a zero-sum situation: as they increase their number of diverse employees, many in the original cohort leave.
The problem can be laid to companies not doing the real work of making inclusion a priority. In these situations, negative behavior – from microaggressions to full-on harassment – can frequently arise.
When this does occur, the diverse employee’s complaints are typically not taken seriously. In the aggregate, incidents like these can lead to a workplace that is toxic to diverse employees.
Promoting a culture of inclusion will help diverse candidates feel like they belong, that their ideas are valued, and that their contributions are welcome.
As a policy, increasing inclusion in the workplace will help create a culture of psychological safety. This in turn increases engagement and pays dividends in a more collaborative and innovative workforce.