Why inclusivity and equality are important for a sustainable and productive workplace?
Office Life

Advice for a more inclusive and equal workplace

Why inclusivity and equality are important for a sustainable and productive workplace?

Inclusion and Equality are key elements for a fairer and more sustainable workplace. Policies regulate organisational behaviour within companies, but as individuals and professionals, whatever role we hold, we have the moral obligation to support these values, which can increase productivity and improve relations.

In most cases, the senior management is asked to set an example for their subordinates, but to create a valuable company culture, a combination of top-down and bottom-up approach is required in order to fill any possible gaps.

So how can you define and accurately measure the progress of an inclusive and equal workplace? By carefully taking into consideration the language that people use and the actions they perform when interacting.

Let’s start off by tackling the two core elements:

Inclusion

According to Forbes: “Inclusion is the only scalable way to build diversity within an organization.”

Organisational policies put in place a set of standards that should inspire and guide all the people working within that company with regard to the behaviours that they should maintain by communicating the values that will inspire all employees. Specific programmes can become a source of accelerating the process and improving procedures.

An inclusive workplace is also a place made up of diversity (e.g of gender, nationality, education), and people have the need to feel accepted and involved in almost all areas of the business. Any case of discrimination must be quickly isolated, and managers should never underestimate any signs of exclusion. Putting in place a long-term strategy development plan will allow people to have a clear path and objectives to follow.

Equality

In the UK, equality in employment, is regulated by a combination of laws and regulations that led to the Equal Opportunities and Discrimination Act that contains the following ‘protected characteristics’: age, disability, gender reassignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, gender and sexual orientation.

The goal is to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation by improving equality. If you achieve diversity in your workplace you have equality, where differences are encouraged and considered an enriching aspect of different cultural backgrounds.

Adopting policies and practices that are assessed periodically will give your company an important competitive advantage in terms of regulating behaviours, improving culture and people management, and monitoring progress.

 

If you love working with people and would like to contribute to creating a company culture where values matter, Jobrapido can help you find your next role as Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Manager.