Tina Huang, an Asian woman, filed for discrimination based on gender, saying current employees hire and promote candidates who look and act like them. Do you find yourself guilty of this practice?
Making diversity part of your hiring process will provide the appropriate structure for learning and succeeding in this multi-cultural market.
It Starts from the Top
Diversity in the boardroom is needed to leverage a company’s full potential. Because a diverse management team has a positive impact on recruitment and retention, particularly in fast-moving markets, where attrition rates can be high. If recruits can see that the top management of a company include individuals from a similar background, gender or race to them, they will be more likely to consider that their experience will be valued at the company.
Rather than maintaining a cookie-cutter leadership style, choosing to embrace different styles of leadership is extremely beneficial. Wouldn’t you get bored surrounded by ‘yes people’? To the contrary, being challenged and reflecting on different ways of solving issues is extremely stimulating. In fact, it helps with your business growth and increases profitability. An inclusive leader acknowledges its strengths and weaknesses and acts with humility.
Diversity will not Work Without Inclusion
Encouraging diversity through policies and programs designed to create greater inclusion of employees from various backgrounds will ensure that employees understand and value the same behaviours you do; meaning no tolerance for discrimination.
Look for signals that you are having a positive impact. Are people copying your role modeling? Is a more diverse group of people sharing ideas with you? Are people working together more collaboratively? Ask a trusted advisor to give you candid feedback on the areas you have been working on. Challenging stereotypes, promoting skills and education, and advocating for inclusion is key.
Emotional Intelligence has become critical for the future. A culture of connections and collaboration, in which discounting alternative views is not tolerated, is the way to go in order to challenge the status quo and make diversity a priority.
Gender-coded words must disappear from job descriptions and job adds. Should AI take care of this, then those that are inputting the information must not be biased and must be gender-free.
Choosing cultural fit when hiring new employees is disruptive because it encourages bias and fosters stereotypes such as “if I hire like me, I will succeed”. You cannot make someone embrace your core values. However, you can find people who are already predisposed to sharing your core values.
