Is Your Company Actually Inclusive?

George Floyd’s death, the subsequent surge in activity within the Black Lives Matter movement, and the varied impacts of COVID-19––including racial inequalities––are giving us an unprecedented opportunity. We have the chance to take a hard look at our lives and businesses and think critically about what we want things to look like going forward. 

It’s easy to talk about how we want to create a more diverse and equitable world, elevate women, shatter stereotypes and create opportunities for others––but are we actually doing that? Have we really built companies with inclusive and empowering cultures, or do we just think we have?

Sometimes, we undermine our own vision without even realizing it. We lock into the idea that we aren’t racist, sexist or discriminatory, and fail to realize that some, or many, of the daily interactions in our company are having the opposite effect of what we intended. It’s important to remember: impact always outweighs intention. So, how do we check ourselves? 

Here are some of our tips:

Check In With Yourself: Start by asking yourself questions about what an ideal company culture looks like, what steps you’re currently taking to create this culture and what you wish was different. If your team is all one demographic, ask yourself why that is! Is it because not everyone feels welcome? Many of us have carried certain beliefs since childhood––how we were raised and educated has a huge impact on framing our perspectives and worldviews. Don’t be afraid to ask yourself why you hold particular beliefs.

Start Asking Questions: Try talking to your team to find out how they feel about the current work environment. Present the steps you’ve taken or plan to take, but be open to feedback. Consider putting out an anonymous or blind survey asking your employees if they feel valued and heard at work, or how they think the company is doing when it comes to diversity and inclusion. Instead of just asking open ended questions, try asking them to rank or score the company. If you see a low score, ask follow up questions that will help improve certain areas. This way, it is clear from the start that you’re open to real criticism and feedback and you aren’t just looking for polite answers. 

Go Straight To The Source: When it comes to issues of equality and inclusivity, the best thing you can do is to be more informed is to find information that comes directly from the community you’re trying to include and elevate. Do your own research first and try finding resources created by people of color, womxn, and LGBTQIA+ community members. Then, if you want more training or advice for yourself and your team, consider hiring Diversity & Inclusion experts who offer consulting or training services. 

Make Space For Emotions: Take steps to create an environment and company culture where it is normal and acceptable to talk about how employees feel. One of the biggest obstacles I faced when trying to speak up about microaggressions I encountered at a previous job, was that it didn’t feel safe to explain why these actions made me feel offended and hurt. As a woman at that company, I learned sharing how I felt with my male superiors would mean that every concern I brought up would be shrugged off. 

So, practice sharing emotions on your team. Here at Fearless In Training, we start off every team meeting by sharing two words that describe how we each currently feel. Being aware of how everyone feels helps us work together. This small action also normalizes talking about emotions in the workplace––it makes it feel acceptable to speak up when something is harmful. 

Celebrate All Heritage Months And Awareness Days: Celebrate various heritage holidays internally and externally. By acknowledging these holidays and honoring different races and cultures, you can create an environment that not only celebrates diversity and provides opportunities for learning, but also acknowledges race openly. It’s impossible to have conversations about combating racism and racial bias if people don’t feel comfortable talking about race.

Write It Down: When you decide to add diversity and inclusion messaging to your mission and values statement, create both an internal and external statement of your intentions. Write down exactly what you expect of your company, your leadership and your employees and what actions you’re taking when it comes to establishing an inclusive, anti-racist, safe space. It’s important to publish this publicly where customers, clients, and employees alike can see your policies. This way, you and your company can be held accountable for following up on what you’ve committed to doing and everyone can see that you’re serious about making a change. 

Invest In Ongoing Education: Find books and articles to read, podcasts to listen to or movies to watch that address issues of racism, sexism, discrimination and oppression. Take what you learn from those resources with you into the workplace––whether that means applying advice you read or discussing key concepts with your team. Think about how you can invest in the continued education of your entire team by setting up diversity and inclusion training, curating an internal library for the whole company to use, or giving staff funds to invest in this work. Use the resources you find to equip yourself and your team to better recognize, discuss and combat issues of racial or gender inequality in daily life and in your company. 

Right now, it feels like our whole world is changing. It feels like we are on the verge of something big and in a position to make pivotal choices about what we want our “new normal” to be like. Not just in our companies, but in our society.  Imagine how different our world could be if we committed to taking action, started talking to each other about how we feel and truly listened to feedback.