What are the best practices for building a diverse and talented team?

1 Define your vision and values

Before you start hiring or developing your team, you need to have a clear vision and values for your practice. Your vision and values will guide your decisions, actions, and behaviors, and will also communicate to your potential and current team members what you stand for and what you expect from them. Your vision and values should reflect your commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and should be aligned with your practice's mission, goals, and strategies. You should also involve your team members in creating and reviewing your vision and values, and ensure that they are communicated and reinforced regularly.

2 Hire for diversity and potential

One of the most important steps in building a diverse and talented team is to hire for diversity and potential. This means that you should look beyond the traditional criteria of qualifications, experience, and skills, and consider other factors that can add value to your practice, such as cultural background, personality, cognitive style, motivation, and passion. You should also use fair and objective hiring methods, such as structured interviews, assessments, and references, and avoid biases and stereotypes that can limit your talent pool. Additionally, you should seek out diverse sources of candidates, such as referrals, networks, associations, and online platforms, and promote your practice as an inclusive and supportive employer.

3 Cultivate a culture of inclusion and collaboration

Having a diverse team is not enough if you don't create a culture of inclusion and collaboration that allows your team members to feel valued, respected, and empowered. A culture of inclusion and collaboration means that you foster a sense of belonging and trust among your team members, and that you encourage them to share their ideas, opinions, feedback, and concerns. You should also create opportunities for your team members to learn from each other, work together, and celebrate their achievements. Moreover, you should model inclusive and collaborative behaviors yourself, such as listening actively, giving constructive feedback, acknowledging contributions, and resolving conflicts constructively.

4 Provide ongoing learning and development

Another key practice for building a diverse and talented team is to provide ongoing learning and development opportunities for your team members. Learning and development can help your team members acquire new knowledge, skills, and competencies that can enhance their performance, satisfaction, and retention. You should also tailor your learning and development programs to the individual needs, interests, and goals of your team members, and offer them various formats, such as coaching, mentoring, training, courses, webinars, and podcasts. Furthermore, you should support your team members to apply their learning to their work, and to share their insights and best practices with their colleagues.

5 Evaluate and reward performance and potential

The last practice for building a diverse and talented team is to evaluate and reward performance and potential. This means that you should have clear and consistent criteria and methods for measuring and recognizing your team members' achievements, contributions, and growth. You should also provide regular and timely feedback to your team members, and help them set and track their goals and action plans. Additionally, you should reward your team members based on their performance and potential, and offer them various types of rewards, such as praise, recognition, bonuses, promotions, and career development opportunities.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?