Inclusion is “the action or state of including or of being included within a group or structure”. Encouraging inclusion within the workplace allows us to create a culture of involvement, respect, and connection between employees. This is where the rich diversity of ideas, backgrounds, experiences and perspectives are harnessed to create business value through better meeting your customers needs and improved business functioning. But are there other benefits?
Here’s what you might find…..
1. Increased employee engagement:
A strong ethos of diversity and inclusion can breed a passion that’s contagious and shared throughout the company, resulting in extra discretionary effort and therefore quicker progress towards goals. According to Gallup, highly engaged teams are 21% more productive and have 28% less internal theft than those with low engagement. The more productive your employees are, the more successful you’ll be as a business To achieve and sustain this it is worth having a clearly defined plan to keep employees up to date and involved with key messages, events and meetings.
2. Confidence to be creative:
In a culture that embraces diversity and inclusion, employees will feel more confident in the company, their peers and the management. This allows for a larger platform for innovation and creativity as individuals feel they are in a safe place to not just be themselves but to produce their best work and bring fresh perspectives to the table.
3. Improved employee wellbeing and attendance.
Inclusive workplaces foster well-being in a variety of ways, for example through efforts to increase flexibility regarding when and where work is performed. This degree of control over work commitments reduces stress and increases the physical and mental well-being of employees. This in turn increases productivity and reduces sick leave and other attendance-related costs.
4. Attracting top talent:
Companies with diversity and inclusion programs build up their teams from within and usually foster an environment that is attractive to a great range of potential employees. Inclusion messages can be a powerful part of an ‘employer brand’ (the company’s reputation and popularity from a potential employer’s perspective) and can attract a higher calibre of applicant to apply for advertised roles.
5. Retaining the team.
It is well documented that companies that report a diverse team and an inclusive culture tend to be better at keeping people from leaving for other jobs. Retention is an important issue for companies because the cost of replacing and retraining an employee is significant, and time taken can stifle growth and organisational success. The estimated cost of employee turnover is over £11,000 per employee (Croner). With diversity and inclusion comes improved retention – a win for any company.
If you would like support in introducing a powerful diversity and inclusion agenda in your organisation, get in touch with Redway HR.
If you are interested in learning more, book on to our upcoming training: Equality and Diversity Revisited on 12th October. Click here to book your ticket.