Multiplicity, diversity and such is the very essence and spice of life, and much the same can be said for start-ups and businesses alike. Diversity in a company’s workforce and personnel is nigh on essential, and encourages creativity, progress and a more rounded and nuanced approach to issues, situations and scenarios. Homogeneity on the other hand is ho hum, boring and almost perverse. Now, if you’re running low on ideas as to how to maintain your diverse workforce, or even if you’ve come up empty in this regard, we have a few ideas that we’re sure you’d like, so stick around.
…Flock together
First up, once you’ve painstakingly put together this smashing smorgasbord of an admittedly diverse workforce that dovetails so wonderfully together, why not ask them to bring more of their friends into the fold. Birds of a feather and all that, but there’s no knocking it, it truly works! Besides, even if you don’t expressly ask for referrals, please note that if you treat your employees well and let them feel comfortable, welcome and respected, they will naturally gravitate towards bringing more of their ilk in, so that’s something to wrap your head around too.
Get your drum out, and beat it!
If you haven’t already, jump to it right away! What’re we on about? Well it’s an equal opportunity manifesto or some such, of course! This document will identify your enterprise as an equal opportunity company. Moreover, seeing it in black and white provides the resonance and recall you so require, and will inform all your audiences of your stance. Furthermore, we suggest that you to put it out there in your hiring material and website as well – let your HR persons speak to the outside world about this, and encourage employees to do so too.
Point them towards the bigger picture
Groups of people, and diverse people at that, don’t get along, do they? So, WHAT can you do? Well, for starters, get around it with some regular diversity training. But that alone won’t do the trick. Be more proactive in this regard, run a survey and test the waters to see if your HR person needs to step in and intervene or gently help the process along. Another great way is to actively involve employees into the process, ask them to come up with suggestions, ideas and programmes as to how to make the workplace more inclusive and welcoming to everyone.
Whatta feeling!
Often, nothing works like ‘feeling’ included, appreciated, valued and ‘one of the crowd’. An easy way to do this is to respect and encourage opinions and contributions equally. This will prove without a doubt that diverse values, ideas and opinions have a pivotal role to play in the way the company functions. Besides, team leaders and management should champion this cause in their day-to-day activities. Something else a start-up or company can do, is to promote diversity in the management positions and in the boardroom. This will further cement the company’s position on the matter. What’s more, once this feeling or emotion sets in, it’s very hard to shake it off and the company has definitely achieved its objective!
We do hope these tips help you maintain your diverse workforce. Given where the world is headed, the best we can do is understand each other and embrace our differences, and there’s no better place than the workplace to kick this off!
