Build a Diverse and Representative Workforce to Help Fight Workplace Inequality

Workplace diversity is an imperative element to bridge the gap between gender, background, and racial inequalities prevalent across the workforce. The world continues to advance across technology, healthcare, and education sectors. To build an equitable society, it is important that we make positive strides and strive for equal workplace representation. 

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly 48 percent of the post-millennial demographic in the United States in 2018 were non-white. Catering to nearly half the country’s population group through workplace diversity is pivotal to ensuring growth across all sectors. 

Whether you are a human resource manager, company recruiter, or team leader, it is your responsibility to increase and facilitate an equally represented workforce. There are numerous educational mediums, workshops, and professional seminars that can help you create an inclusive work setting. 

Things to Consider to Build a Diverse Team 

There are an array of factors to consider while implementing measures to build a diverse team. You need to think about subconscious biases and preconceived notions that might fester at your workplace. 

It is crucial to conduct regular diversity seminars and workshops with your employees and company recruiters. According to Statista, 72 percent of full-time employees in the United States of America valued working with a diverse team in 2021. 

Educate Yourself on Workplace Stresses That Your Colleagues Go Through

The first step to building a diverse and inclusive team is to stay informed and open. The best way to attain this is to stay educated. You can encourage your colleagues belonging to minority groups to speak up about their daily struggles at the workplace. These conversations will need to be confidential and with Human Resources and team management representatives. 

It is vital that you provide a safe space free of any negative judgments and repercussions to make your colleagues feel heard. Once you educate yourself about the potential issues of your colleagues, it is essential to take on appropriate steps to address the issues. 

Facilitate Educational Opportunities for Minority Groups

The issue of a lack of workplace representation does not simply stem from a company setting. It is prevalent across all sectors and levels of education. One way to build a diverse team is to equip minority persons with the education and skills needed for job placement. 

There are tons of free online coding bootcamps that can help people from underrepresented backgrounds land lucrative software and tech jobs. Companies can create a minority education program that allows their employees to advance into a lucrative tech job designation with a bootcamp education.

Organizations can also look into partnering with the best online coding bootcamps, like Thinkful or General Assembly, or fund the education of their employees belonging to minority groups.

Conduct Regular Workplace Diversity Training 

Simply addressing personal employee issues isn’t enough to build an equitable workplace. Conducting regular workplace diversity training should be a requirement at every company. These workshops and seminars will help you keep up with the positive diversity trends in 2022. 

You can invite professional diversity and inclusivity seminar speakers or ask for workplace volunteers to lead the session. It is important to keep the seminar professional, appropriate, sensitive, and communicative. Frequent education on topics related to diversity is crucial for human resource recruiters and management personnel.

Provide Employees Access to Mental Health Counselors  

Creating a safe space is a necessity to maintain a diverse and inclusive workforce. Providing mental health support that extends beyond the company’s human resources team further solidifies a company’s effort to provide a safe space. 

Retaining minority employees is also a key factor in building and keeping a diverse and inclusive workplace. It is also crucial to have ample minority representation at the management level to ensure appropriate workplace promotion and equity. 

In Conclusion

Building and maintaining a diverse workspace requires your team to be informed and educated about workplace issues your employees face on a regular basis. It is also important to provide an open space for your minority employees to maintain an inclusive work environment.