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How to Build a Diverse and Inclusive Workplace

Diversity and inclusion is crucial for a successful business. The more varied your team is demographically, the more ideas and perspectives will be available, which will help drive innovation and better serve your customer base. Build a diverse and inclusive workplace with these tips:

Prioritize DEI Initiatives

It takes strategic and focused effort to successfully improve the diversity and inclusivity of your workforce. Prioritize diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives – have them be the basis for which all decisions are made, from your day-to-day management style to how you approach long-term overarching goals. Make a commitment to diving deep to learn more about the systemic issues that have contributed to lack of diversity, proactively attending DEI workplace training sessions, and researching and trying possible solutions.

Identify Opportunities for Growth

Take an objective view of areas of underrepresentation throughout your organization as a whole, as well as your particular team throughout recent years. Are there particular demographics that are not adequately represented as compared to your geographic area and the customer base you serve? In addition to evaluating overall trends, also consider if certain positions/levels tend to be less diversely represented than others (i.e., if entry-level support roles are more varied demographically than leadership roles). Determine where your challenge areas are systemically, so you can then identify specific opportunities for growth. For example, if you find that women tend to overwhelmingly work in support positions or as individual contributors, you could develop a leadership training program to encourage more female employees to advance into higher level roles within the company. 

Reassess Recruitment Processes

The root of disproportionate representation within a workforce is generally the recruitment process as a whole, which could unintentionally deter a wider range of candidates from applying. Reassess your current recruitment processes, such as the language in the job description, stated requirements in your postings, and where you source candidates, to brainstorm new strategies to try in order to expand your reach and organically attract a wider pool. 

Reduce Hiring Bias

Common hiring biases that can potentially hinder the goal of building a diverse and inclusive team include being drawn to candidates that remind you of yourself, having rigidly set expectations of the ideal candidates (such as someone just like the previous employee in the position), or focusing on characteristics that don’t necessarily correlate with being able to do the job well (i.e., a charismatic personality). To reduce hiring bias and open up the candidate pool, standardize the hiring process as much as possible – ask all candidates the same questions and have a rubric to evaluate candidates on so you aren’t making subjective judgment calls.

Attract Top Talent

IFG provides staffing solutions for clients for their hiring needs. Our dedicated team of recruiting experts has an extensive network of prospective candidates so you have a more diverse pool from which to choose . Contact us to learn more about our accounting and finance recruiting services.