The attraction, recruitment and retention of people in your organisation are affected by the culture into which they come to experience, and how this aligns with what their expectations were before joining. Is the initial experience of what they perceived the company to be actually their lived experience upon commencement? Do you market your company as an open and inviting place to work? Perhaps this is what attracted a portion of your applicants, but this may not be what they experience. In a world of increasing transparency and windows into internal cultures through websites such as Glassdoor, organisations can no longer risk having a discrepancy between their marketed culture, and the real-lived and reported on experiences of their workforce. Additionally, people now expect companies to function in a socially responsible manner, and how they treat their workforce is one metric for this.
Many factors contribute to creating an inclusive culture. Understand these core features of inclusive organisations and define what each would look like in your organisation:
- Open and trusting environment – an open and trusting environment within which there is an absence of prejudice and discrimination; and where everyone is treated with respect and dignity and feels valued.
- Resources evenly distributed – a common acceptance that resources (jobs, income and access to information) are distributed equally.
- Policies that support – policies are in place concerning equality and human rights, working conditions, dignity at work, employee welfare and fair recruitment and procurement practices.
- Diversity and inclusion as a business objective – the establishment of diversity and inclusion as a business objective. Inclusive strategies are fully supported and promoted by senior staff.
- Devolved decision-making – decision-making processes that are devolved to the lowest point possible.
- Listening, encouragement, participation – the encouragement of consultation and participation, with management listening to and acting upon what employees are saying.
- Understanding of core values – an understanding of core values by all employees.
- Open flow of information – an open flow of information throughout the whole organisation between all levels, so that business goals are communicated to everyone, and an attitude of ‘us and them’ (employees and management) is discouraged.
- Innovation/creativity – the encouragement of innovation and creativity.
- A representative workforce – the workforce is representative of the local community or customers (or if not, under-represented groups are encouraged to apply).
- Encouragement – all employees are encouraged to develop and progress, and any barriers faced by specific groups are identified and action taken to address them.
We can help your organisation consider and answer some of these questions, through some introspective thinking, facilitated roundtable discussions and workshops, and advisory on best practice using case studies from other organisations.
Contact us for a free consultation to discuss how we can help you with a bespoke inclusive culture training program, or advisory on how to best create a more inclusive organisation.