How to Build More Diverse Teams

The Benefits of a Diverse Organization

These days, diversity is at the forefront of many public conversations. But beyond being an important social issue, there is mounting proof that diversity is also a key factor in business success.

Here are some revealing statistics:

• According to a study from BCG, businesses with more diverse leadership teams have 19% higher innovation revenue than those with lower diversity
• According to Gartner, employee performance is 12% higher at diverse companies
• Gartner also found that organizations with more gender diversity outperform their more homogenous counterparts by an average of 50%

Needless to say, businesses hoping to thrive in the coming years will need to embrace the benefits of diversity and inclusion. So how do you build more diverse teams?

How to Promote Diversity at Your Company

1. Prioritize Diversity

First things first: in order to make a meaningful impact on the diversity of your organization, you’re going to have to be intentional about it. True diversity doesn’t just happen by accident. Implicit biases are inevitable in any work environment, and if you leave things to chance, you can expect to slip into toxic habits.

So before you do anything else, commit to making diversity and inclusion a priority for yourself, your colleagues, and your company as a whole.

2. Examine Your Current Organization

The first step to building diverse teams is to recognize the current diversity of your organization. Take a long, hard look at your teams. Are there any obvious patterns that may point to biases in the system?

Consider factors such as:

• Ethnicity
• Culture
• Gender
• Socioeconomic status
• Religion and spirituality
• Ability
• Age
• Sexual orientation

While some of these are private matters that you may not know about your employees, you might still be able to notice obvious trends.

A great way to start this process is by creating an org chart for your company. That way, you can see exactly how your organization is structured, who you employ, and how your employees fit together. Is there a clear lack of diversity in any particular departments or levels of hierarchy?

Once you know where your company stands right now, you’ll know how much change is required to promote greater diversity.

3. Review Your Hiring Practices

Next, examine how you hire. Are there any biases built into your hiring process that are hindering diversity?

Consider advertising your open positions on a broader range of channels. For example, you might need to sign up for job posting sites that cater to a diverse pool of job seekers. Some options include:

• Diversity Working
• Hire Autism
• Hirepurpose
• Recruit Disability

And no matter what sites you use, be sure to emphasize your commitment to diversity and inclusion in your job descriptions. Some potential employees may be discouraged after facing prejudice in the past. By making it clear that your goal is to build a diverse team, you can help give them the confidence they need to apply.

You may need to review your Human Resources staff, as well. Studies suggest that hiring managers are more likely to hire people similar to themselves due to their implicit biases. Establishing more diverse hiring teams can reduce the risk of this.

Read more: Recruiting, Hiring, and Thriving by Focusing on Diversity

4. Encourage Inclusivity in the Workplace

True diversity means more than merely hiring diverse candidates. You have to ensure that everyone feels welcome and safe in your organization, no matter their background. This comes down to cultivating a healthy company culture founded on inclusion.

To do this, you’ll need to:

• Build inclusivity into your company’s mission, vision, values, and goals
• Provide diversity training for staff members at all levels
• Hold regular meetings and talks that center around the importance of inclusion
• Create clear policies to combat discrimination and ensure equal opportunity
• Make a point of honoring holidays and awareness campaigns that matter to underrepresented groups, such as Juneteenth or Mental Health Awareness Week

All of this will serve to make diverse team members feel at home.

5. Give Everyone a Voice

No matter what steps you’ve taken, you should expect that some of your employees will feel marginalized and discriminated against. When that happens, they need to know that they have a voice—and that you’re listening.

Implement policies that guarantee that employees can expose discrimination and bias, no matter how subtle it may be. Make sure everyone understands that inappropriate, offensive behavior will not be tolerated. And in cases of implicit bias, be ready to help people understand how they may have inadvertently made a coworker uncomfortable, then educate them on how to avoid repeating their mistake.

But above all, never shrug these complaints or concerns off. Take them seriously. Give everyone a voice.

6. Start at the Top

Nothing is more important for building more diverse teams than getting the company’s leadership on board. If the C-suite isn’t committed, you won’t get far. The same is true for vice presidents, directors, and managers.

So make sure that everyone in a leadership position will use their authority to foster and protect a diverse, inclusive workplace. It is also incredibly important to build a diverse leadership team where people of color, women and individuals of other minority groups are able to be seen, heard and can make an impact from the top of the corporate hierarchy. This way the organization can work together to root out biases, confront prejudice, and set your organization on the path to a brighter tomorrow.

It starts with you.

Have you made a public org chart yet?

Creating a public org chart has many benefits but they can be especially helpful in building and retaining diverse teams. A public organizational chart enables you to show off the employees you currently have which allows potential hires to meet the team before they join in order to see if this organization is an environment where they will fit in and feel comfortable. Additionally, a public org chart allows employees to feel seen and appreciated which in turn can help to strengthen and grow your company.

To learn more about the benefits of a transparent organizational chart give this guide a read:

Why Companies Should Have a Public Org Chart

Or, if you’re ready to start taking advantage of the benefits of a public org chart right now, sign up below.