Inclusion in the Workplace – A Benefit for All Involved

It may be your first time or tenth time celebrating National Inclusion Week, but it always helps to have some guidance on how to celebrate this awareness week.

Here are a few things your organisation (no matter how big or smaller they may be) could do to celebrate:

Educational Workshops

Hosting a workshop with a guest speaker is a great way to get your organisation started. It shows your employees that you support inclusion and in turn gives them a chance to learn more about how to be inclusive. The goal of this awareness week is to make as many people as possible, aware of the importance of inclusion and this is a simple yet effective way to do so.

If you are interested in arranging a guest speaker but don’t know where to start, please do not hesitate to contact the team.

Leadership Training

You might have heard people say ‘inclusion begins with good leadership’ and to an extent that isn’t wrong. As Jason Frazier said ‘It requires strong leadership and being unafraid of making bold changes’.

The implementation of inclusion requires leaders to have a comprehensive understanding of how to implement it and why they should implement it.

This is why leadership training is a great way to celebrate National Inclusion Week; by educating the organisational leaders on the importance of inclusion, it will have a trickle-down effect within the organisation and in turn promote a more inclusive workplace.

Social Media Channels

When it comes to inclusion in the workplace; some organisations may have already provided educational workshops, or even had dedicated training for leadership teams. If this is the case, another way to celebrate National Inclusion Week can be to become a voice of encouragement for other businesses out there who’ve not heard about the movement.

Utilising your organisations social media channels to extend the reach of the awareness week is an ideal way to celebrate National Inclusion. If you’ve already become an inclusive workplace, what better way to celebrate Inclusion week than promote how it’s impacted and benefitted your organisation. This may give insight to other organisations who are keen to take the first step.

Engage your Employee Network Groups

Your Employee Network Group’s are a great way to support colleagues, raise awareness and hear form those with a lived experience. They might have ideas about what you can do and ways to make an impact in your workplace.

Organisations may understand inclusion is important, but they might not know how to integrate inclusion or how it benefits them and their employees.

The Shaw Trust highlights that workplace inclusion can lead to benefits for both employer and employee. There is a strong social and ethical case for building inclusive workplaces; it also makes great business sense. With increasing job vacancies and an ageing workforce, ensuring that your organisation can effectively attract and retain talent from all parts of society will set you apart from your competitor. Read our 7 benefits for building an Inclusive Workplace.

Here at neurobox, we promote inclusion and diversity with a strong focus on neuroinclusion (inclusion of neurodiverse employees), some methods and examples provided below will reflect this, however it is important to note that the methods are interchangeable for other types of inclusion.

3 Ideas for Inclusive practice:

Access to Inclusive Training

This is a key method for promoting inclusivity in the workplace; providing leaders and employees with an opportunity to learn about what inclusion is and how to be inclusive, will provide a solid foundation to build upon. If the leaders and employees don’t know what workplace inclusion is, how can we expect them to integrate it into their everyday work lives. At neurobox we offer services such as neurodiversity awareness training (for both employees and/or managers), these sessions provide insight into how someone neurodivergent or disabled may be impacted in the workplace and how colleagues can minimise any negative impacts.

The benefit?

The benefit from these sessions is felt on both sides, with the employees likely having an improved morale after feeling valued/respected by the organisation. On the other side of the coin, employers are likely to see an improvement in employee engagement as employees have an increased sense of belonging, in turn improving employee retention which can see a reduction of turnover costs.

Inclusive Hiring Practices

Another effective way to implement inclusion into the workplace is through evaluating company hiring practices. An employer may be focused on biases without realising it’s happening. The key here is to start hiring focusing purely on skills and potential. One example of this might be making the application process as accessible as possible, so that it doesn’t exclude a group of society before they’ve even had a chance to apply. The removal of these biases can lead to a more diverse and inclusive workplace.

The benefit?

This method benefits the organisations greatly, as it expands the size of their talent pool. In 2021, a glass door survey revealed that 76% of job seekers saw diversity and inclusion as an important factor when deciding on applying. The organisation benefits from increased chances to hire exceptional individuals who may specifically be looking to work for an inclusive and diverse organisation.

Another benefit that can be seen by organisations is an overall improvement of customer/client experiences (potentially leading to increased profits), this is due to the fact that having a inclusive and diverse workforce increases the chances of having employees who understand certain demographics more than others i.e. a visually impaired employee is going to have more of an understanding about the needs of visually impaired customers in comparison to a colleague who isn’t.

Watch our How to build an inclusive Recruitment Pipeline webinar 

Employee Resource Groups (ERGs)

An ERG or Employee Resource Group is an employee-led group within an organisation who have a shared characteristic or interest (i.e. it may be a group of employees who are neurodivergent and/or disabled). Their focus is on promoting inclusion and diversity, creating a place of belonging that might not currently exist for their community. The Employee Resource Group provides employees with a network who can support them and their needs, they may use this platform to share their concerns and provide advice to HR or leadership.

For more on ERGs, check out UKGs blog

The benefit?

The benefit of ERGs can be seen by both employees and their employers. The inclusive nature of an employee resource group provides employees with an enhanced feeling of belonging and respect. It provides them with a platform support each other, as well as having the opportunity to be heard by senior leadership to further accommodate their needs.

On the other hand, the organisation and their leaders benefit from having access to a feedback loop from communities in the organisation. This provides the tools to implement meaningful changes tailored for their employees without having wasting time on generic solutions.

Watch our How to Champion your ERG’s Webinar