Page 4 - RACE HEALER Mag Volume 1

A Blueprint for Diversity and Inclusion

By Sharon Armstrong

“Cultural diversity and inclusion thrive when people
with unique perspectives work together to achieve
common goals.”
–– Candice Bernhardt

There’s nothing new about diversity in the workplace. In the
past, we may have thought our organizations appeared homo-
geneous, but diversity was represented. We’ve just become
a lot more aware of it and realized that having a diverse and
inclusive workplace is really a good thing.

In our rapidly changing world, we’re increasingly aware that
focusing attention on managing a diverse workforce is not just
a good idea – it is a business necessity.
• Attract and retain the best talent.
• Reduce the costs of high turnover, absenteeism, and low
productivity.
• Have greater flexibility and adaptability in the rapidly
changing marketplace.
• Increase sales and profits.

How do you establish a diverse

culture?

To start, you need to be absolutely sure your organization’s
leadership supports, and will actively participate in, increasing
employee diversity. Without that support, nothing else will
succeed.

Once you have that support you need, review the organization’s
current policies, procedure, and practices to ensure they sup-
port diversity.

But what exactly is “diversity?” Review the organization’s website to be sure its diversity-relat-

ed material is true, useful, and meaningful.
In today’s complex, global environment, workplace diversity is
really about creating a respectful, inclusive work environment Review the organization’s Intranet to make sure that the in-
in which every employee has the opportunity to make a mean- formation available for employees states the commitment to
ingful contribution to the organization’s mission and goals. diversity and inclusion.

How can diversity strategies tie into an organization’s business Use representative employee photos and stories on the website
objectives? and on the Intranet that are natural and authentic. Include men
and women of various races and ethnicities.
Once the goal of enabling every employee to contribute is
reached, the organization is able to: