What do you do if your workplace lacks diversity and inclusion?

Addressing a lack of diversity in the workplace involves several steps. Start by advocating for diversity initiatives, such as inclusive hiring practices and diversity training. Encourage open dialogue about the importance of diversity and its benefits. Collaborate with management to implement policies that promote inclusivity and actively seek out diverse perspectives in decision-making processes.

If there is a lack of diversity and inclusion in your company, begin by taking stock of the situation to determine what needs to be improved and what the underlying causes are. Next, take a stand and express your viewpoint to coworkers or management, emphasizing the need for diversity for success and creativity. Seek guidance and assistance from people committed to diversity efforts. Educate others and oneself by participating in talks, or training. Organize activities that encourage inclusion to celebrate and appreciate difference. Finally, empower your team by cultivating an atmosphere where diversity is not only recognized but actively welcomed for the good of everyone. This will ensure that everyone's opinions are heard and valued.

Diversity is critical for innovation and breakthroughs, so if the company’s goals include growing and innovating, assessing the root causes and building an action plan is needed. Changes won’t happen organically, and the points of resistance need to be worked on one by one.

It’s vital to understand the root causes from an internal perspective, but many neglect the external perspective. What are the barriers to access and participation? There may be systemic issues preventing people from participating that even the most observant leader is unaware of. How inclusive are your hiring practices? Where do you advertise? Is the job shaped to enable people to fulfil any customary/community duties they might have? Will they received pastoral and cultural support in the job? I could go on, but the point is that this is a complex and multifaceted area. Making some minor adjustments isn’t sufficient.

1.Understand the areas in which the workplace is lagging (People or Policy). 2.Start a discussion on the value and importance of diversity and inclusion with management and co-workers. 3.Provide concrete, implementable ideas for advancing inclusion and diversity through awareness training. 4. Create a diversity and inclusion group within the organization. The support of the leadership and HR is essential to improve the overall performance, employee satisfaction, and creativity. 5.Set a good example for others by showing respect to all and speaking out against harassment, discrimination, and exclusion.

I would like advocating for inclusive hiring practices, policies ,implementing diversity training programs, and fostering open dialogue to ensure everyone feels valued and represented.

Seeking out mentors and sponsors that believe in this in the organisation. If not start creating and building allies in this area. It need the top management buy-in to this. As a "I am Remarkable" trainer that builds on self-confidence to promote oneself and understanding that D&I matters and that will bring great innovation, creativity and ideas to the organisation; building this awareness is important to the workplace. As the mindset of awareness is build and rise up thus more voices can be raised. This is one way to gather momentum to speak up and driving change to change as well challenge status quo.

Es muy importante desarrollar una imagen congruente entre lo que se piensa, se dice y se hace, esto aporta credibilidad a quien desea participar en acciones tan relevantes como la inclusión y la diversidad en la Organización. Además de poder influir en opiniones sobre la dinámica empresarial, también otorga el "permiso" para opinar en oposición a los sesgos que suelen presentarse, incluso en las personas influyentes o de autoridad. Lo relevante es poder pararse en el espacio de la oposición al stastus quo siendo lo más objetivo posible, pero pudiendo develar lo sutil o subliminal que puede llegar a ser la no inclusión o la falta de diversidad en los equipos. La imagen de persona congruente, le dará la credibilidad necesaria para ello.

Encouraging open communication across all levels of the organization enables feedback, suggestions, and adjustments to be made to accommodate everyone. This is fostered by a workplace culture that empowers employees to voice their opinions and ensures they feel valued as integral parts of the organization.

Creating a self-support group is also important. I created the Lean In Circle in one of organisations where a small group of employees come together monthly to discuss and support each other on their work leadership and challenges in a safe way. And, the more we meet the more we gather momentum to share and support each other. Understanding challenges and getting ideas and support to overcome them. Ot also needs a variety of different management levels and enough diversity in the group as well as commitment to meet and support each other.

Seeking support and mentorship could be the best possible way for this problem. - Connecting with mentors, understanding their thought processes, and processing a solution from that could help a lot. - Connecting with colleagues from different organizations who are facing or have dealt with the same things, and their support can help a lot. Introducing diversity and inclusion is a very sensitive thing in the organization if the folks have the same thinking pattern. Sometimes this can fire back as well if the folks do not accept working together, so the best approach should be to go calculative and slow in this process. "Change is the only constant, but slow change woks best"

Reverse mentoring works well and educates the appointing managers / leadership team. I’ve learned huge amounts by being reverse mentored by diverse colleagues who represent the gender and / or cultural populations that you are keen to encourage to consider careers / roles in your teams to improve diversity and in turn your teams get different skill sets/ thought processes and all round become better for the wider range of backgrounds, cultures and genders.

For me, this is the most critical topic. Change must be initiated from the top down, without full support and understanding from senior-level leadership within the corporation, no HR department can effectively implement any D&I strategy.

Acquiring education or lessons from reading or shared experiences is instrumental in gaining knowledge and insights that influence decisions fostering diversity and inclusion. Managers, equipped with unbiased information, can make decisions based on merit rather than prejudice, thus driving a more inclusive environment.

When I was part of D&I committee in AXA, we ran many programs to showcase D&I and raise awareness such as workshop on sign language, sensory workshop to celebrating different culture days. When one participated it open up the mindset, bring joy to those who celebrated and disseminate more understanding to diverse cultures and disabilities needs. This is the power of knowing and doing it to bring forth a deeper awareness. And, seeing those joy and conversations flowing amongst the participants that showed a greater sense of belonging and understanding. This led to the AXA D&I team winning the CEO Award for the many activities ran and driven. We also won the UN Women D&I award too on the various D&I initiatives and ERG programs implemented.

Diversity and inclusion in the workplace are essential for driving the success of organizations. 1. Develop a diversity and inclusion strategy that outlines specific objectives, timelines, and metrics for progress. 2. Incorporate diversity goals into performance evaluations and reward systems to hold leaders and teams accountable. 3. Offer workshops, seminars, and online resources to raise awareness and foster a more inclusive workplace culture. 4. Establish Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) or affinity groups for underrepresented communities within the organization. 5. Implement mentorship and sponsorship programs to support the professional development and advancement of underrepresented employees.