How do Inclusive Workplaces Drive Profitability and Success?

According to Gallup, individuals who feel included reported being treated with respect. They feel valued and confident to share their ideas. On a team level, those in the Gallup research reported higher levels of trust with their peers. They are willing to go beyond the expectations of their role and offer creative solutions.

Inclusion in the workplace involves leveraging diversity within a team and providing support to enhance that diversity.

Have you ever experienced the disappointment of eagerly anticipating a Christmas gift only to open something completely different? Or perhaps you received an online order that didn't live up to the quality advertised in the post?

It can be disheartening to receive the opposite of what you were looking forward to as a reward. The type of reward that appeals to one employee may not necessarily appeal to another. Understanding what each staff member values and how they prefer to be recognised or rewarded is important.

By recognising and rewarding employees in ways that resonate with them individually, employees will feel seen, heard, and feel appreciated.

As a leader, it's important to recognise and utilise the unique potential of each team member. This can only be achieved by understanding their individual strengths, values, work styles, and preferences. It's crucial to remember that your values, desire for recognition, and working methods may not align with those of your team members.

By embracing and acknowledging the diverse thinking styles, personalities, and work approaches within your team, you can tap into the full potential of your employees. Creating an inclusive environment makes every team member feel valued and empowered to contribute their unique strengths. Ultimately, the entire organisation will benefit from various perspectives, experiences, and values that bring fresh ideas, creativity, varied innovation and original thought to the table.

According to Myers Briggs research, the positive business outcomes from encouraging diversity and inclusivity far outweigh the investment:

Research suggests that inclusive workplaces start with leadership. According to Gallup, up to 70% of the team and wider workplace dynamics are influenced by the manager’s inclusive leadership style. Therefore, leaders play a vital role in establishing and nurturing an inclusive environment. According to Myers-Briggs, inclusive leadership involves core competencies such as humility, curiosity, openness to differences, leveraging diversity, empathy, courage, flexibility and self-awareness.

It is important to realise that leaders have the power to both motivate and demotivate their team. Therefore, knowing how to manage diversity and inclusivity in the workplace effectively is essential. For instance, when dealing with a team of many individuals, it is important to recognise and accommodate their unique needs.

To achieve inclusivity, managers can follow these steps:

Creating an inclusive workplace requires intentional efforts, starting with leadership. However, many leaders worry about the time and effort required to embed the culture of inclusivity. However, the cost of failure to create an inclusive workplace environment often results in missed business opportunities and loss of talent and clients. The quickest and most efficient way to address this is to outsource leadership training and staff development to experts to effectively manage staff development in an inclusive manner.