Diversity, Inclusion & Equity in Today’s Workforce

 

In the wake of BLM, a new election and COVID-19 we seem to hear a lot about diversity, equity & inclusion as many employers try to diffuse what has been overlooked and ignored for years, their integrity and the lack of acknowledging the good employees that have diligently sat by and carried the weight of all the inadequate leadership teams they have been forced to call management.

To go from a wonderful employer, one once appreciated and boasted about due to room for advancement within, to a company that one just basically wants to meet the required years of service to retire from does not say much about you as an employer.  As laborers we understand there are a certain few who deserve to remain where they are. These individuals do not anticipate nor want change, so they don’t mind not having to tip the scales, but when you overlook the ones that work hard. You can guarantee that eventually you will deplete them and their desire to produce.

Diversity, Inclusion and Equity means all employees are treated as equals.  Seek your employees opinions and input and hold off as classifying it as a complaint. Ensure they belong by letting them have a voice that is heard and not ignored. Demonstrate you have their best interest at heart by hiring one within their peers to advocate on their behalf, so they do not feel intimidated or pressured. Provide them with all tools needed to ensure their job duties are performed with ease and most importantly stop micromanaging. You work with adults, treat them as such.

Show them you appreciate them by giving them comp time, a needed day off on you and recognizing their accomplishments. Send them off with a lasting memory once they put in for retirement, some have dedicated more than 30 years to your company. They deserve more than an exit package. They deserve to be in the spotlight and most of all praised. Take a look at the two quotes below. What type of employer are you? One who believes in true Diversity, Inclusion & Equity or one that is only following a recent trend. “We Achieve” greatness, when we have the right leaders paving the way.

 

“Inclusion is not bringing people into what already exists, it is making a new space, a better space for everyone.”  ~ George Dei

 

“Gender and racially diverse teams perform better, innovate more and improve economic equality.” Stephanie Lampkin